SAN ANTONIO – Last week, a half-dozen employees with the Bexar County Military and Veteran Services Department (MVSD) stood before commissioners and publicly vouched for its embattled leadership.
“We come here today a little bit in the blind,” said George Westfahl, an MVSD veterans service officer and retired member of the U.S. Army.
Recommended Videos
Westfahl spoke on behalf of other staff members who also signed up to speak at the commissioners’ court meeting, but yielded their time to him.
“There’ve been some allegations. Some might consider them malicious or false, against unsuspecting and undeserving people among our leadership. A witch hunt instigated by some ambitious people,” said Westfahl.
The county agency assists veterans, service members and their families by providing benefits counseling, claims assistance, peer support groups and connections to local, state and federal resources.
MVSD has suffered significant turnover in leadership over the past six weeks, according to records compiled by KSAT Investigates.
Its deputy director, Nancy Taguacta, retired at the end of October, after she was given a letter of proposed termination by MVSD Director Keith Wilson.
A months-long investigation by the Bexar County Ombudsman substantiated multiple misconduct allegations against Taguacta, concluding her behavior more likely than not violated county policy, state law, and federal employment protections.
The findings, detailed in a 34-page investigative report obtained by KSAT Investigates, document a pattern of conduct that included targeting employees based on service-connected disabilities, disclosing protected medical information without authorization and creating what investigators described as hostility, isolation and intimidation in the workplace.
“Your actions have caused significant harm to the work environment,” said Wilson, summarizing the lengthy investigation in an Oct. 30 notice of proposed termination.
Taguacta resigned her position that same day in a handwritten note.
Her last day on payroll for the county was Oct. 31, records show.
Taguacta had been on paid administrative leave since Oct. 16 while the ombudsman investigated her workplace behavior.
After KSAT Investigates requested an interview with Wilson about the county’s investigation of Taguacta, officials acknowledged that Wilson had also been placed on administrative leave.
“Keith Wilson has been placed on paid administrative leave as of December 10, 2025. There will be no further comment as this is a personnel matter,” a written statement attributed to Bexar County Deputy County Manager Thomas Guevara states.
Officials have not provided any details about the latest personnel move within MVSD.
Reached by phone, Wilson told KSAT that he is in the dark about why he was placed on leave and that he has only been told the leave is for 30 days, with the possibility of that timeframe being extended.
He said Guevara is overseeing the main pieces of the department along with a “capable” group of managers.
Investigation laid out reasons to terminate Taguacta
The county’s investigation claims that in May, Taguacta began referring to an MVSD employee as a “ticking time bomb” and openly discussed his medical diagnosis.
Taguacta, according to the investigation, admitted to openly discussing another employee’s disabilities “widely in the office.”
In 2023, after a staffer complained about privacy partitions being removed from around her desk, Taguacta told her the concerns “were all in her head” and that she did not believe the employee, according to the investigation.
The employee was “extremely triggered by these comments, and experienced an intense emotional reaction, which led to a state of crisis,” the investigation states.
The investigation stated the incident “escalated into a suicidal crisis,” requiring law enforcement to intervene to ensure the employee’s safety.
“Witnesses reported that Ms. Taguacta’s manipulations and retaliation had caused their heavier drinking, broken marriages, and increased need for mental health treatment. Many of the witnesses interviewed stated that they had called the VA Crisis Line due to workplace stressors caused by Ms. Taguacta,” the investigation states.
Another employee revealed to the investigator that “Ms. Taguacta’s behavior had caused him to cry on his couch many nights,” the report states.
The investigation summary states the ombudsman received five statements from MVSD employees in late October supporting Taguacta, but that the statements “were notably similar in phrasing and content, suggesting possible coordination.”
“Even if taken as accurate, these statements do not disprove the allegations under review,” the ombudsman concluded.
Reached for comment via telephone, Taguacta told KSAT, “My lawyer would tell me not to make comments but a lot of things are incorrect.”
Asked specifically if she bullied employees, discussed their private medical information publicly and caused them to go into crisis, Taguacta responded, “I don’t know that.”
A separate 2023 investigation of Taguacta found that she made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature about a coworker and failed to safeguard donations received by the agency for veterans.
Taguacta provided the investigator a log of donations she presented as preexisting, but metadata later showed it was created after Taguacta had been interviewed as part of the investigation.
The ombudsman recommended that an audit be conducted on the agency, as well as discrimination and sexual harassment training be given to all MVSD staff, records show.
The ombudsman also recommended that additional supervisor training on sexual harassment should be completed by Taguacta within 30 days.
“I have no knowledge of that whatsoever,” said Taguacta, when asked about the 2023 investigation.
She referred additional questions from KSAT to her attorney, who did not respond to a phone call seeking comment for this story.
That same year, an MVSD employee recorded several conversations of her and Taguacta discussing issues in the workplace.
The employee is heard telling Taguacta she feels targeted and isolated in the office.
“I think we need to get an ombudsman in here, because I honestly have nothing else to say. I don’t think it’s getting better. There’s a lot of tension,” the employee says on the recording.
In a second conversation recorded the next day, Taguacta is heard arguing with the employee about timesheets and leaving the employee’s door open.
A third conversation recorded the following day includes audio of Taguacta terminating the employee and telling her she had no recourse for appeal, because the staffer had worked for MVSD for less than six months.
The former employee shared the recordings with KSAT on the condition that her name not be used in connection to their release.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.