It was Friday afternoon and outside it so muggy you needed a snorkel to breathe.
I pulled into the Cameron County Courthouse parking lot and trudged through the steam-laden air toward the inviting glass doors of the courthouse administrative wing. It's like this in South Texas when a northern approaches.
The bicycle moustache gave him away. So did his starched white shirt, pants creased so they could slice through a open-house ribbon, a tie that shouted out at you: "I was born to prosecute."
It was Saenz, the D.A., Luis to his pals.
"Hey, Juan" he said giving me the campaign smile and ready handshake."What's up Mr. D.A.?," I ventured.
"Call me Luis," he said and released his grip.
He looked up at the two men on the ladder on the facade of the second floor of the building. They were using a rope to fasten something atop the parapet of the wall.
"It's a surveillance camera," Luis volunteered.
"Oh, good," I replied, knowing full well that stolen cars and break-ins into employees rides was one of the main squawks of the working stiffs at the block building on Harrison Street.
Constable Abel Gomez, who was in charge of security in the judiciary wing of the courthouse, had assigned some of the bailiffs under his charges to make periodic patrols of the parking lot. But our Browntown amantes de lo ajeno were too swift for the roving bailiffs and timed their comings and goings to perfection to g about their dirty work.
"Unfortunately, it's too late," said Saenz, who – if he had chewed tobacco – would have spit a juicy wad disgustedly just about now.
"How so?" I asked.
"See that ledge there?' he asked. He was pointing to a small ledge about knee-high that circled the courthouse and ended where steps to the building began. A few fronds of grass struggled weakly through the rock-hard dirt. "These guys installing the surveillance cameras had a monitor lying right there and when they went to the parking lot to get some fixtures and they returned, it was gone."
"What?," I asked disbelieving. "You mean to tell me that someone stole the monitor in plain daylight from right in front of the courthouse?""May my favorite quarter horse give his last kick in the stretch if I ain't telling you the truth," said Saenz, a lover of the ponies. "They're good and they're fast."
To make matters worse, the camera hadn't been installed yet and there was no recording of the heist. Not only were they fast, they knew their stuff.
Saenz went on to say that he had been trying to install the surveillance system since January but that the crews of the surveillance system company he hired first had taken their sweet time and were piece-mealing it like it was government work so he fired them and hired this new crew. It was now November.
"I guess you're out a monitor," I said.
"No, I'm not," he said. "They are," he said pointing to the truck that bore the logo of the Extreme Security Company. "I hadn't taken possession of the finished job so it wasn't mine yet."
Possession, he left unsaid, is nine-tenths of the law.
"Town's going to hell in a hand basket," I said as we parted.
"They're good," I heard him mutter as he walked away.
8 comments:
The incompetence rolls on at the tax payer's expense. Corruption and incompetence is the reason this community is so backward and broke.
There are no "fronds" in grass, only blades.
Don't we have a highly well paid computer center,that we can do it in-house?When you call them for a service call;The Dog sents the Cat and the cat sents the Rat;What they need to do is Contract all the services like(phone/computer/time clocks/bridge counter etc..)and save all this wasted monies;payroll,cars/vans/equipment;Now Who is Watching Who?coyote is in the chicken coop;
Who owns Extreme Security? The Escobedo's?
Mamalo!
County Watch Dog:
Don't forget about how each elected/appointed department is pulling totally at odds with each other on the service department.
Carlos Cascos, lets put in a very sophisticated surveillance system where we can get rid of some of that dead weight in Constable 2's office. Too bad, we're stuck with Abel Gomez till the next election!
Lets see, taxpayers monies, waste, waste, waste, thats all i see, some big wigs at the top (son 2 cabritos at the county) have been pulling in huge salaries from various department, those 2 clowns at the top who make $200-250k plus a year. Hum I was just wondering who is watching who? no one my assumption, its all on autopliot, no wonder cameron county, city of brownsville are on the top 10 list of the poor cities, counties in the good old USA. Thank you to all our elected officials. Que Chingones.
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