GARZA PROTECTS DOUBLE-DIPPING GARCIA IN HIS FOLD

By Juan Montoya
As the mutterings of disapproval over the double-dipping  by some county employees gather momentum  some board members of the Cameron County Regional Mobile Authority have begin to recognize that changes have to be made to address the issue.
Not only doe Cameron County Administrator Pete Sepulveda get an additional $75,000 from the CCRMA as does his assistant David Garcia, bringing their respective salaries to more than $200,000 and $189,000 respectively.
First, Garcia's sweet deal:
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: $75,000Total (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.)

Then Sepulveda's:
County Airport Manager: $5,602

Planning and Inspection: $53,980

Veterans Bridge: $48,516

Los Indios Bridge: $19,391

Gateway Bridge: $14,151

Total (county) $141,580

Reg. Mob. Auth.: $75,00

Total (Salary): $216,580

30 percent benefits (est.): $73,190

(Est. Grand total): $288,770

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.
And as the move to stop the double, triple, and quadruple dipping continues, we understand that one commissioner – Pct. 3's David GArza – has been running interference for trhe duo, but particularly for Garcia, whom ha has taken under his wing.
"He's been talking to the other CCRMA board members on behalf of Garcia," said a source close to the commissioners court. "The commissioner likes to travel. He's logged more miles than John Wood ever did. He'll protect David at all costs,"
How the county can afford to continue paying these salaries and allowing the double -dipping by Garcia and his fellow county employees was a matter that the commissioner discussed at a recent meeting in executive session. But even as they were entering the chambers, Garza was overheard saying that he wouldn't evaluate Garcia's performance because he was simply an assistant to Sepulveda and that was rightly within his purview, not the court's.
But things get curiouser and curiouser. As an assistant administrator and planner, Garcia and his assistant Arnold Flores help put together the county's legislative agenda.
Tucked into that agenda is another proposal (Bill HB 3126) to allow Cameron County to raise its current $10 surcharge on vehicle registrations to an undetermined amount ($20?) to fund the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority. The bill is being carried by Eddie Lucio III and has not been assigned to a committee. If passed, Cameron County will have the highest vehicle registration fees in the entire state followed by Hidalgo County. Call it the David Garcia Welfare Act. If it passes, the doubled registration fees will kick in on Sept. 1, 2013.

Regional Mobility Authorities like the one in Cameron County have been in existence since Gov. Rick Perry established them across the state to fund toll roads and benefit large highway construction concerns.
In Cameron County, the CCRMA has built one toll road of dubious profitability (FM 511) and was turned down by neighborhood residents in Brownsville for the West Side Parkway.
But that hasn't stopped the CCRMA – and Garcia – from asking for more. Will Garza, his benefactor, be able to look out and make sure that Garcia's gravy doesn't stop?