BALCONES HEIGHTS, Texas – The city of Balcones Heights this week confirmed it is reviewing a 2025 incident in which Mayor Johnny Rodriguez Jr. referenced a past quote about rape during a staff meeting.
The comment, which Rodriguez incorrectly attributed to the late T. Boone Pickens, was made during a Sept. 19, 2025 meeting while the mayor discussed the need to rebrand the city.
“Like T. Boone Pickens said, ‘if you’re going to get raped, just lay down and enjoy it’ (laughs),” said Rodriguez.
The comment was likely a reference to a similar quote from Clayton Williams, who while running for Texas governor in 1990 compared bad weather to rape by saying “if it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.”
The quote drew widespread condemnation at the time and Williams eventually lost the governor’s race to Ann Richards.
T. Boone Pickens, who like Williams was a successful Texas businessman, was considered a possible candidate to enter the race but ultimately chose not to run.
Legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight made a similar comment during a 1988 interview with then-NBC News reporter Connie Chung.
Knight, who was coach of Indiana University at that time, faced no formal discipline for the remark despite it leading to national outrage and on campus protests.
The Balcones Heights Community Relations Manager told KSAT in a written statement: “The City of Balcones Heights takes the comments made by Mayor Johnny A. Rodriguez Jr. seriously. The comments were recorded by an employee during a staff meeting with City staff on September 19, 2025, and were referenced during the August 24, 2026, Regular City Council Meeting. The comments do not represent the values, standards, or views of the City of Balcones Heights. At this time, no complaints related to these comments have been filed with the City. The City is reviewing the matter and will provide additional information as it becomes available.”
Rodriguez was arrested last week and charged with misdemeanor assault of the elderly, after investigators said he made unwanted physical contact with a former city councilman during the same Aug. 24 meeting.
During the meeting, Rodriguez left the dais and walked toward where Lamar Gillian, 78, was standing near the end of an aisle. According to the warrant, Rodriguez approached Gillian and “intentionally or knowingly caused physical contact” near Gillian’s arm and/or shoulder.
In a recording of the meeting posted to YouTube, Gillian can be heard telling Rodriguez, “Don’t you touch me.”
Rodriguez is free on bond and scheduled to be arraigned in the criminal case Sept. 29.
He did not respond to multiple calls from KSAT Investigates on Thursday seeking comment for this story.
In the Sept. 2025 audio recording, which is nearly 56 minutes long, Rodriguez bounces between speaking in English and Spanish and uses profanity multiple times, while addressing the city’s financial woes and the need to improve Balcones Heights’ public image.
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