All members of the City of Devine Council (with the exception of Debbie Randall) voted to release details of a confidential report given to the city council back in 2019 by City Attorney Tom Cate who was hired to provide facts and give his professional opinion on the possible Golf Course management agreement with Scott and Shirl Grego. His recommendation of “Do not enter into the proposed golf course management with Scott and Shirl Grego…they do not have the qualifications needed to make the golf course a viable financial project” was ignored by the sitting council who voted 2-2 to give it to the Gregos, with Mayor Cory Thompson throwing the tie breaker vote to 3-2. It was a Debbie Randall- Jennifer Schott motion on November 21, 2019 to give SG Golf Management the contract. David Espinosa and Steve Lopez voted against it. At the time the District 1 seat was vacant.
The City was running it at the time after bailing out a couple of other management teams prior to 2018. Since August 2018 the city had already spent close to $1 million dollars in operating the course prior to handing it over to SG Management according to the report. It also states they had gotten bids to refurbish the course and to renovate the clubhouse, but decided not to do either.
Cate had recommended the council advertise to find a more qualified team, or close the course, or continue for the city to run it as an amenity to the public like it does the parks, library, police dept. and animal control.
He also recommended not spending the money required to renovate the clubhouse.
Cate stated in the report, “The City Council is supposed to be good stewards of the public funds. Entering into the agreement with Scott Grego would not be in the best interest of the taxpayers of Devine. It is my opinion that if a board of directors of a publicly-held corporation entered into an agreement similar to this proposed agreement, the board would be sued for mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duty.”
An 18 page report was voted on to be released to the public at the January 28, 2025 board meeting, with some redactions to include financials and personal contact info. In it are Cate’s report, letters from S Grego, and Mayor Cory Thompson. Grego as a new start-up company didn’t have a financial statement, but said he had the financial backing, drive, and passion to give the city of Devine the best municipal golf course in the area.
“The decision was made in the interest of transparency and community engagement, to release the report to the public,” said David L. Jordan, City Administrator City of Devine in his release. “The report provides an in-depth assessment of past management agreements for the golf course, qualifications of the company to operate the business, analyzing financial obligations, operational feasibility, and potential impacts on city resources.”
A full report is available for public review on cityofdevine.org and is available at city hall.
Currently the city is under contract with a new management company who is running the course.