Bexar County is laying plans to replace its controversial purchasing agent, whose office has come under criticism from county commissioners, the sheriff and companies who do business with the county.
The purchasing agent oversees contract procurement for the county across its roughly $3 billion budget — a role that’s designed to create a check-and-balance system between the elected officials making spending decisions and the budget office executing the contracts.
But the position’s employment is overseen by a panel of three district court judges and two county commissioners that does not meet regularly, making it difficult to change directions if county leaders believe there’s a problem.
The current purchasing agent, Patricia Torres, has taken heat from some county commissioners and department leaders who say she’s moving too slowly on county contracts, and on policy changes aimed at allowing more vendors to business with the county.
In one of the most public disagreements with commissioners, Torres faced criticism for failing to implement new purchasing policies that would use race and gender preferences when awarding contracts. The county spent about $500,000 on a study that’s required to create such policies in 2021, but leaders say Torres delayed the process so long that the data can no longer be used.
Until recently, Torres also retained an employee who faced felony drug charges following an arrest in 2020, according to KSAT. The move drew complaints from Sheriff Javier Salazar, who said the employee shouldn’t be working on behalf of his agency.
“My frustration goes back a long ways,” said Judge Peter Sakai, a former civil district judge who ran for county judge in 2022 to address some of the county’s internal procedural issues.
“I always knew that the bureaucracy of getting a county contract through the system was just a horrible experience,” Sakai told the San Antonio Report. “It wasn’t fair to vendors who were waiting for payments. It wasn’t fair to the recipients of contract services. … We have had to stop services because contracts were not approved.”
After meeting almost entirely in executive session earlier this month, the Purchasing Agent Oversight Board listed a job opening for the position on Monday.
The job listing specifically mentions executing “competitive purchasing best practices that provide a strong, proactive and equal opportunity approach that is inclusive for all vendors.”
In an interview Tuesday, Torres defended her work, saying she’s followed the letter of the law. She continues to hold the role in a holdover status, and said she intends to apply again for the position.
“I feel that there’s a lot in procurement that people don’t understand,” Torres said.
“The procurement process is based on the law,” she added. “I don’t know how much can you modernize it.”
Per state statute, the position is appointed for a two-year term.
Torres has been in the role since 2020, but she was not reappointed after her first term.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the size of the county budget.
