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Front Page November 19, 2008  RSS feed

Willacy County Navigation District dispute to evict resident moved to January

ROBERT WILCOX Editor/Reporter

Temporary County Court Judge Jaime Garza reset the eviction case of Port Mansfield resident Steven Banyai to January 20th, after both parties made claims at yesterday morning's hearing. Willacy County Navigation District Attorney Jerry Stapleton had filed a default judgment to continue the eviction of the disabled former fisherman who has been fighting the district over architectural rules.

Banyai, 54, won an initial court round when Justice of the Peace George Solis ruled in his favor. Banyai stands to lose his entire investment of $49,200 if he is evicted.

Judge Solis at the time stated, "The judgment is going to be for the defendant (Banyai), because the county attorney has not ruled (on the ordinance)," Judge Solis said. "The losses to the defendant are very large, and are without precedent."

Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, who is representing Banyai on the appeal question, contends that Stapleton did not file an appeal within the five day appeal period, according to legal aid attorney Pedro Cruz.

Port Director Mike Wilson said that Stapleton did file an appeal within the five day period for Justice Solis's ruling.

"The justice's secretary prepared the (written ruling) document several days later after the (verbal) ruling," Wilson said.

Judge Garza will sort the matter out in January.

E-mail comments on this story to; robert@raymondvillechroniclenews.com


Readers Comments

Submitted by n5pvl@rgvham.com on Mon, 05/25/2009 - 10:20.
Driving through Port Mansfield, I notice how a large percentage of the properties there are for sale...

No wonder!

Hopefully Maj. Shuey will prevail in this, and help the community get back on its feet again.

Submitted by stevebonzai@yah... on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 16:40.
Judge GEORGE SOLIS ruled in my favor on the 5th. They had 5 days to appeal. stapleton filed the appeal on the 13th. This is just more HARASSMENT by mike wilson. The QUESTION is about Malpractice. DO they owe the TAXPAYERS a REBATE? STEVE BANYAI
Submitted by rhwilcoxc@yahoo.com on Thu, 11/20/2008 - 17:51.
Judge Jaime Garza now will have to rule on whether the Willacy County Navigation District (WCND) filed timely or not...Mr. Banyai and others like him lease their land for xx number of years and only own the improvements above the land...

The bigger issue still hanging over leaseholders at Port Mansfield is one that Maj. Richard W. Shuey (USAF-Ret.) raised April 16, 2008.

Maj. Shuey at the time wrote; "Many of the people who live in Port Mansfield are not happy with the way they are governed. It is time to review the charter of the WCND and make the changes necessary so government will be, as it should be, by and for the people governed."

Note: Shuey was the Libertarian Party's candidate for the Dist. 43 state representative's race!