A group that hosts beauty pageants said they're out thousands of dollars after the city of La Grulla parted ways with them.

They called Channel 5 News’ 5 On Your Side for help.

As the spokesperson for the Miss Grulla Pageant, Emmanuel Camacho said they received a cease and desist notification from the city over a dispute with the name of the pageant.

According to Camacho, the city hosted the Miss La Grulla Pageant in 2024, and Camacho and his team were tapped by the city to manage it.

This year, Camacho said he was told if he wanted to hold the pageant, he couldn't use the city's name and they would no longer be affiliated with the pageant — but he could call it "The Grulla Pageant."

Camacho said he believes the move from the city is retaliation for supporting former city leaders.

La Grulla City Manager Roberto Salinas declined to do an interview, and referred all questions to a statement on the city's Facebook page that says in part that the city’s decision was “not political.”

The statement says the city won't be affiliated with the pageant because it wants to focus on infrastructure improvements and restoring the city's essential services.

Camacho said signs, sashes and more will now have to be redone.

“The problem here is that we have the sashes saying “Miss La Grulla” — she's the queen — we don't know if she will participate to crown the next Miss La Grulla for our pageant, or if she's going to stay until 2026,” Camacho said.

Camacho said he and his team have spent more than $2,000 on the pageant.

Watch the video above for the full story. 

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