ARE THE BELLS TOLLING FOR 2-DIPPING DAVID GARCIA?

By Juan Montoya
Has a majority of the Cameron County commissioners finally had enough of the double-, triple-, quadruple- and even quintuple-dipping antics of the $186,000-salaried David Garcia and his boss County Administrator Pete Sepulveda?
In an item to be included in next week's regular meeting, there is an item having to do with discussion and possible action on evaluation of performance of Asst. County Administrator and County Administrator.
As our three readers are well aware, Garcia, who used to work with former U.S. Rep Solomon Ortiz and was chums with his assistant Lencho Rendon, commands a hefty salary drawn from at least four county departments in addition to a $75,000 annual salary from the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority.
How that came to pass no one can remember except that among his duties was one for the formulation of the county's legislative agenda. However, those duties are now in the able hands of Arnold Flores, his assistant who himself used to be employed by State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. Suddenly, Garcia is now saying like Juan Gabriel says in his song "En esta vida nadie es indispensable" (No one is indispensable)."
Garcia's stock has dropped dramatically since Flores' arrival with the county and his success at passing some legislative initiatives such as the exemption of disabled veterans from property taxes and the possible use of a motel-hotel tax to fund a county marina, among others. Using his contacts at Austin, he has pushed through at least the very least 15 important initiatives.
IN addition, he is responsible for covering the HR, IT, Engineering, Right-Of-Way, GIS departments. So what exactly does Garcia do?
"They call him Do-Nothing Garcia," said a county insider. "It's no wonder he didn't want to hire Flores when the position was filled."Garcia, a political hire holdover from the bad old days of Gilbert Hinojosa, has been riding the county's gravy  train for the better part of a decade, earning a combined $186,900 a year from his $111,900 salary from the county and an additional $75,000 from the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (CCRMA).
The justification for hiring Garcia was that he had worked for Solomon Ortiz for close to a decade and had the ear of Ortiz's assistant Lencho Rendon. He has ridden that claim to fame even after Hinojosa and Ortiz were kicked out of office. In other words, his raison d'etre has long since disappeared.
Likewise, Sepulveda in February 2012 was named executive director of the CCRMA, which in a press release stated he would stay in the county for a  transition period. It has almost been a year and the transition has not happened and Sepulveda and his able assistant continue to double dip as do others in the CCRMA and the county.
In fact, at least six other on the regular county payroll also command attractive candy money from the CCRMA at the same time they are drawing their annual salary from the county.
Put it in this perspective. Garcia takes home more than $7,500 every two weeks for his troubles.
And what are his troubles? Let's just say he is a modern-day Atlas if we are to believe he and Sepulveda can actually administer the departments they are paid to run. The source of both of these men's salaries come from at least four different departments within the county and the CCRMA.

Planning and Inspection (Asst.): $56,089

Veterans Bridge (Asst.): $16,222

Los Indios Bridge (Asst.): $16,222

Gateway Bridge (Asst.): $17,121
Total (County) $105,654

C.C. Reg. Mob. Authority: $75,000


Total (Salary) $180,654
(This total does not include any benefits or raises given Garcia for the 2012-2013 budget year which raises it to the $186,900 figure.)

What, a reasonable person may ask, can he Garcia possibly do to command a salary higher than the commissioners and than any other county elected official including Cascos and Sheriff Omar Lucio?
Other employees besides Garcia and Sepulveda drawing a pretty penny from the CCRMA in addition to their salaries include court legal counsel Dylbia Jefferies Vega, $1,100 Martha Auditor Galarza who takes home an extra $800 a month, Sylvia DeHoyos, $400, Maria Robles, $450, Jesus Martin Peña, $200, and Hendrick Quelhorst, $125.
When he left, Hinojosa tried to saddle the county with a special department where he placed some of his protected employees only to have Cascos dismantle it for being redundant of tasks performed at other departments. Garcia has been able to stay under the radar so far. However, there are murmurs in the underbrush that that might not last for too much longer.
To add insult to injury, Garcia has been seen consorting with Port of Brownsville commissioner Martin Arambula who has made it no secret that he wouldn't mind filling the position that Cascos now holds as county judge. It has been reported elsewhere that Garcia volunteered to bankroll Arambula's candidacy for Democratic nominee for county judge.
Add that to the fact that he is in hot water with at least three commissioners (Sofia Benavides, Carlos Cascos and Ernie Hernandez) for bad-mouthing them and the stage is set for a public hanging.
Just recently Garcia had made himself scarce when DA investigators were trying to question him on the hiring of Robert Cadriel, Hernandez's brother-in-law. We are told that as soon as he saw the agenda item he ran to the DA and pointed his finger Ernie's way. As an assistant administrator in charge of Human Resources, he may well have had a small hand in breaching the Civil Service process to please the commissioner.
We'll soon find out if playing political scorched earth politics is part of his battle tactics.