JPs COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN DAN SANCHEZ'S VENGEANCE ON CONSTABLES WHO OPPOSED HIM BEFORE

By Juan Montoya
It is said that an elephant never forgets, and neither, apparently, dos Dan Sanchez, Pct.2 Cameron County Commissioner.

Sanchez, whose own justice of the peace position was eliminated in 2009, opted to run for the commissioner's post and won. Now he's made it known that he has made it no secret he has a few axes to grind against his political opponents.

He had made it known all around that he would move toward the elimination of the Pct. 4 and Pct. 7 constable positions ever since he took office. It just so happens that he blames Robert Lopez, the constable for Pct. 4 for running a candidate against then-Justice of the Peace Rolando "Mangueras" Muñiz, currently his administrative assistant and "secretary." 

"Mangueras doesn't even know how to turn on a computer," said a courthosue source.
Nearly two years ago, on December 2009, Cameron County Commissioners Court voted to eliminate the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 7, Place 2 position, held at the time by Sanchez, a practicing attorney.

At the time, Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos placed the item on the agenda because he – along with commissioners Edna Tamayo and David Garza – believed the county had too many justices of the peace as compared to other counties.
They cited neighboring Hidalgo County which has 45 percent more people residing there, but only nine justices of the peace compared to Cameron County’s 11.
Cascos said then that the number of cases filed at the Justices of the Peace offices in La Feria didn't warrant a need for two sitting judges and said a review of all justices of the peace office revealed that Sanchez’s office was producing the least number of cases.
"Those are numbers that are black and white," Cascos said at the time.
Accordingly, the majority on the court eliminated the position.
Sanchez, of course, disagreed, saying that he felt Cascso had had it out for him.
"It seems like Judge Cascos has an agenda..." Sanchez said.
Nonetheless, after the court did away with the position, Sanchez rebounded and won the election for Tamayo's position as Pct. 4 commissioner.
Now, some Pct. 4 residents say, he is using his position on the court to try to settle the score with those he feels are his political opponents in his precinct including some J.P.s and even some constables.
They point specifically to his move – backed by Cascos and Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez, to do away with Pct. 4 J.P. Manuel Flores and Pct. 7 Constable Cesar Diaz. Sanchez has made no secret that he wouldn't mind these two political foes disappearing by waving the magic three-vote wand on the commissioners court.
"He wanted them bad," said a Pct. 4 resident. "They wrecked his plans to consolidate his power. Esta es pura politica."
Flores, in particular, drew the commissioner's ire after he defeated Pct. 4 J.P. Rolando Muñiz. Muñiz, Sanchez's candidate, lost and Sanchez made him his Pct. 4 County Supervisor after his defeat, in effect his administrative assistant. Sanchez blamed Perez for supporting Flores in his victory over his in-law Muñiz.
Likewise, when Pct. 7 Constable Cesar Diaz took office, he terminated deputy constables Clemente Cantu and Jacob Borjas. Sanchez had created warrant server positions for the men but could not justify the positions for long because of the small amount of processes that the precinct generated.

Stymied in his efforts to pick the winners in those positions, observers say that Sanchez used his vote on the county court to convince his fellow commissioners to do away with both positions.

However, Sanchez is now backpedalling on the vote that also inadvertently did away with the JP Pct. 4 and JP Pct. 7 positions. In redrawing the boundaries to do away with the offending constables, county planners also did away with theirs.

"I clearly did not want to eliminate any of the JPs," Sanchez told the local daily.

While the constable positions Sanchez wanted out will not be reconsidered, Sanchez said he wants to bring back the items on the JPs to reinstate them. JP Pct # 3-1 Julian Sanchez, of San Benito, found out that his position would be merged with that of JP Pct # 7-1 Adam Gonzales, of La Feria. Gonzales is said to be a Sanchez supporter and backed him in his race for commissioner.

We now understand that both of these positions are back on the agenda for reconsideration and possible rehire in some way.

"It doesn't matter what Sanchez does in the case of Gonzales," said a La Feria resident. "We've got a candidate lined up against him already. If Sanchez thinks that we're going to take this lying down, he's got another thing coming."