Meet the Coveys

By Jon Melendez

Meet the Coveys.  Their KEM Texas Ltd., where father Paul is president, is the owner and landlord of the Migrant Resource Center (MRC) at 7000 San Pedro Avenue.  They bought the old CPS Energy building last December. 

How did they get into the business of processing some of the most impoverished and exploited people from Latin America?

Before sitting at the helm of KEM, Paul was CEO of Quimica Dinamica SA in Nuevo Leon.  The Mexican manufacturer produced raw materials used in the pharmaceutical and electronic industries.

Since then, he has partnered with son Kevin at GrayStreet Partners, a local real estate developer. 

Mexican-born mother Beatriz hails from the affluent Barrera-Segovia family of Monterrey.  One of her brothers, Lorenzo, was CEO of BBVA Bancomer.  She is currently listed as Executive VP of Sales for KEM. 

For nearly 40 years she has played important roles in her family’s business dealings on both sides of the border.  To make those dealings a bit smoother here, they’ve made friends at City Hall.

Since June 2018, Paul, Beatriz and Kevin have given $5,000, $2,000 and $3,000, respectively, to Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s campaign efforts.  Not to lose his place in the family business, “guitar virtuoso” brother Mark, an assistant professor of voice and opera at Angelo State University has chipped in $1,000.

Also during this time span, all four gave a combined $3,500 to 2-time mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse.  Regardless of political leanings, when matters of business are in question, the Coveys are no stranger to hedging their bets. 

There are two areas of the MRC lease agreement worthy of looking at: the duration of it, and the costs associated with it.

Assistant City Manager Lori Houston justified the facility by citing the growing number of migrants, especially if Title 42 was eliminated.  If the building was established as a response to a humanitarian crisis though, why was the lease set up with an initial term of 10 years?

According to the lease, the monthly rent is almost $113,000.  That’s over $1.3 million annually.  While three-quarters of that is “base rent,” the other $31,000, tied to certain operating expenses, is merely an estimate that does not appear to have a cap.

Is the City of San Antonio awarding the Coveys a blank check on the backs of migrants, at the expense of taxpayers?  Only time will tell how much KEM ultimately profits from this contract, made possible by the  Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program. 

However, it is set to expire at the end of the year.  The city will then have an important decision to make: will it extend the deal, thereby putting more money in the pockets of donors, or will it put an end to the madness at 7000 San Pedro Avenue?