Rio Grande City commissioners have voted to suspend Police Chief Noe Castillo once again, this time without pay.

Commissioners who voted for the suspension accuse Castillo of neglecting water meters while he was acting city manager, costing the city one million dollars. 

Castillo wasn't at the public hearing he requested through a lawsuit over his first suspension last month. 

Castillo’s attorney, Jay Peña, was at the meeting and said he planned to show commissioners evidence he believed would force them to reverse the city's first suspension decision.

Instead, Peña left the meeting before it started after he said he was told he wouldn't be allowed to speak for Castillo. 

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Rio Grande City Mayor Gilberto Falcon told Channel 5 News that Castillo was asked to be in the meeting. 

“The only one that can provide an explanation to his employer is Mr. Noe Castillo, and that's what we wanted from him today,” Falcon said. “We called him, we asked him to be here."

Four out of the five commissioners voted for the suspension. One commissioner, Rogelio Olivarez, abstained from voting.

“I don't think it's right to him to retroactively hold him accountable for that, with the facts that are now known,” Olivarez said.

Olivarez was on the commission for several years while Castillo was acting city manager. 

According to Olivarez, Castillo brought up billing problems and suggested looking into broken meters in the past.

Olivarez said commissioners at the time didn't believe there were any, and told Castillo not to investigate meters. 

“I cannot agree with holding him totally responsible when he was just going on the facts that were presented to him and on the direction that we as a previous commission were giving him,” Olivarez said.

Castillo's suspension is set to last until the city finishes their internal investigation. When Channel 5 News asked Mayor Falcon of the status of the investigation, he said the city still needs to confirm the amount of loss from several water accounts.  

Watch the video above for the full story.