The county is considering taking legal action against a former employee in charge of purchasing.

The county's purchasing board met Wednesday in executive session to discuss former head of purchasing Piti Vasquez.

But there are still a lot of questions after the meeting in executive session. The five-member board, made up of three district court judges, Judge Veronica Escobar and Commissioner Dan Haggerty, took no action on the item.

The board is staying tight-lipped over what it is about. Vasquez told KFOX14 he still doesn't know either.

KFOX14 sat down with Vasquez, who recently retired after 35 years as the purchasing agent.

He said no one from the county notified him at all about what they've been discussing and he wouldn't be able to comment on camera until he has more information.

Haggerty said while he may have had his differences with Vasquez in the past -- the two were known to argue over bids -- he doesn't believe it has anything to do with performance.

"Piti has been here a long time, and I've got to tell you, he's done an outstanding job all those years. In all the corruption, in all the problems at the county, Piti has never been implicated or identified," Haggerty said.

Choosing the right bidder to award taxpayer dollars can be a challenging task. In 2010, KFOX14 reported Haggerty raised a red flag that something was amiss after an internal audit revealed 25 percent of contracts were not awarded to the lowest bidder.

Vasquez told us then, and again on Wednesday, that can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the lowest bidder doesn't meet specifications and sometimes the cheapest isn't the best quality for the county. Choosing cheaper products that need to be replaced frequently can cost the county more than purchasing better quality products that last a long time.

Wednesday Haggerty shot down speculation that the agenda item had anything to do with Vasquez work or corruption.

"Piti has been here a long time and I've got to tell you he's done an outstanding job all those years. In all the corruption in all the problems at the county, Piti has never been implicated or identified. No," said Haggerty.

Haggerty said an item related to Wednesday's meeting will be on the county commissioners' agenda for Monday.

Meanwhile, another source close to the situation told KFOX14 that Vasquez "never compromised his integrity despite widespread corruption and the threat of his job; he did what was right."