DOES THE COUNTY'S HIRING SYSTEM, ELECTED OFFICIALS AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY LACK INTEGRITY?

By Juan Montoya
In theory, the county's Civil Service system of hiring employees is a model of integrity and fairness.
But if you ask current and former county employees how it works in real life, they'll tell you that the system designed to prevent patronage and influence peddling by politicians is alive and well.
"When the consolidation of the Road and Bridge system transformed the individual precinct crews into Public Works, the idea was that there would be no political meddling in the hiring and firing of county employees who worked on the road crews," said a former county foreman. "But somehow or another, the political supporters of the commissioners kept getting employed and the applicants without political pull were not."
Then, after the county shifted to a Civil Service system of employing new workers, the same justification was give: that the applicants would be judged on their merits and scores on the test without undue influence by elected officials or others.
In the brewing scandal concerning the hiring of Precinct 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez and the hiring of his brother-in-law Roberto Cadriel as a security guard at the Veterans Memorial Bridge at Los Tomates, this system apparently fell apart.

Or did it? Perhaps, just perhaps, it is really business as usual.
As Emma Perez-Treviño at the Brownsville Herald has shown through her investigation into the matter, the system is susceptible to political meddling. And no matter how disingenuously Hernandez may try to dissemble his role in the matter, the fact remains tat his hand is readily visible behind the machinations to get his relative a tailor-made job at the county.
Now we need to know just how it was that Brownsville City Manager and Sen. Eddie Lucio came to be listed as a references for Cadriel on his application for employment.

After all, Cadriel was fired by the city for taking kickbacks and was a felon on probation at the time he was hired by the county.
Right about now, a stand-up District Attorney would have stepped into the fray and start squeezing those involved to spill their guts or face prosecution for breaking the law.
Do we think that Armando Villalobos will move vigorously to prosecute this obvious violation of the Civil Service system's integrity? Don't hold your breath. Mando at this moment is trying his damnest to get the full support of the Democrats for his run for Congress. Alienating an obvious political broker is not something you do lightly.
Even if Roberto Cadriel is a felon who has apparently used the influence of his brother-in-law to get people in the Human resources Department to wrangle his way in to get a job he obviously was not qualified to perform, it'll be interesting whether this will be enough to propel Mando to do his job.
Squeeze had enough and the employee who took the test will tell you who told her to take it in Cadriel's name. Squeeze hard enough and Robert Lopez – who conveniently resigned to avoid the fallout from this bogus employment – will tell you who guided his hand.
Squeeze hard enough and Lopez and that employee will tell you Hernandez's role in the whole sordid affair.
Squeeze hand enough and the HR employees will tell you whether this is just an isolated incident, or whether this is just the latest example of a pattern that has been going on for some time, even before the former HR director left.
Actually, if you did offer immunity from prosecution to former HR head Carlos Villarreal, he might just tell you why he was always so upset when elected officials meddled with is office to get their cronies employed.

Emma and the Brownsville Herald have already given you plenty reason for an official investigation to be undertaken by your office and a grand jury seated to hear the evidence. Don't stop with Ernie. Fix the system.
The ball, Mr. Wannabe Congressman, is in your court. Are you going do your job, or if not, will you just continue to look the other way?