SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County Commissioners will allow a private citizen to donate his boat to the sheriff's office, quietly ending a dramatic saga that dominated court hearings in 2021.
Javier Gomez, a Bexar County resident who owns an air conditioning company, has already given his 2005 Sea Fox boat to the department. He told KENS 5 he didn't use the vessel often.
The donation is worth about $20,184. Commissioners also approved a $9,335 donation from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office Foundation earmarked for upgrades to the craft, including lights and sirens.
Commissioners signed off on the deal March 22 without discussion.
Sheriff Javier Salazar initially asked the court for $20,000 to pay for a new search and rescue boat in June 2021.Then-commissioner Trish DeBerry questioned whether the boat should be a priority.
"We are tracking toward $14 million in overtime at the jail, at taxpayer expense," she told KENS 5 then. "My point in questioning the sheriff the first time he came forward was: Get your house in order and prioritize what needs to be done."
DeBerry also asked how the sheriff's office would pay for boat maintenance and insurance.
After a contentious back-and-forth between Salazar and DeBerry, the court tabled the discussion.
The Black Rifle Coffee Company appeared to resolve the matter that same month when its owners presented the Bexar County Sheriff's Office Foundation with a $32,000 check for the vessel.
But Black Rifle co-owner Jarred Taylor called DeBerry a "garbage" politician in a post about the donation. Soon after, his followers flooded DeBerry's social media pages with insults.
In a letter to Taylor, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff called the incident "one of the ugliest and most blatant displays of sexism and personal attacks that I have ever seen in the fifty years I have been in politics."
He vowed to reject Black Rifle's donation. The court did not take further action related to the boat after the spat until March 22.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office Foundation still deposited the Black Rifle Coffee Company check, though. It's not clear if that donation will directly pay for court-approved upgrades to Gomez's vessel.
The San Antonio Area Foundation, which manages the sheriff's foundation, does not disclose details about the fund.
In Dec. 2021, DeBerry announced she would resign from the court to run for Bexar County judge. About two weeks later, Gomez formally offered to donate the boat in a letter to the sheriff's office obtained by KENS 5.
Interim commissioner Marialyn Barnard, DeBerry's appointed replacement, did not object to the donation.
"I'm pro-law enforcement," she said. "Private citizens, I think, can do whatever they want to do. I am all for private citizens supporting law enforcement."