Don't look now, but can you believe that it has been one year since Cameron County District Attorney took over the embattled office from his outgoing (and then indicted and convicted) predecessor Armando Villalobos?
In his own words, Saenz said that the staff and the entire office suffered from a lack of direction when he raised his hand and took the oath to uphold the law in the county.
"I think I equate it to a ship at sea without a captain at the wheel just listing with the tide," Saenz said during a year-end interview at his office on the third story of the county's administrative wing. "I think it's been well documented what the state of the office was back in January 2013 when I took office. It still still challenging.There was nobody in charge literally.
"From where I sit as a taxpayer and as a parent, to me it's all about law enforcement and education," Saenz said. "I think that from those two thresholds the quality of life in a community comes forth."
Saenz literally hit the ground running and set about to eradicate the burgeoning and lucrative eight-liner parlors that had been growing exponentially in the county and which a joint strike force targeted in Operation Bishop. He credits the combined city, state and federal task force with eliminating "97 percent of illegal gambling operations in the county."
He said Operation Bishop has cut down on the incidence of crimes associated with the illegal payments to customers. He pointed out that just yesterday there had been a holdup reported in Starr County where five men stormed the business and took purses and wallets from customers. They also made off with cash from the business.News reports indicate that deputies are searching for gunmen who stormed an 8-liner business at La Victoria Grocery in Alto Bonito last night.
"One of the first things that happened when I came here, when I took office, I had agencies visiting me, the Brownsville, PD, the sheriff's department, the federal government saying we would like for you to take these cases now that you're here we'd like to bring them to you...we brought them before but nothing happened," Saenz said recounting how law enforcement had avoided dealing with Villalobos and some of his staff.
"There was a total breakdown, the office is an island, it was not communicating. Again, without talking bad about Mr. Villalobos, without looking back, what happened happened. It's time to move forward, and just move forward. I'm not going to waste my time on what happened or didn't happen. That's not my job. My job is to take this ship and ride it and move forward. That's what the public wants."
Saenz said that Operation Bishop was named after new Brownsville Catholic Diocese Bishop Daniel E. Flores since the clergyman complained about the establishments because he felt that they were diminishing the amount of money made in local parish bingo halls and church collection plates. That dovetailed with law enforcement concerns about the salons being used as fronts from money laundering by cartels and inciting the type of crime like in Starr County.
"It got to me second hand that the bishop had visited our county judge (Carlos Cascos) and had implored on him to do something because his collections had fallen down on Sundays and that's understandable," he laughed. "So when it came around to pick a name for the operation, we said, well, why not Operation Bishop? It was a catchy name and it just stuck. I am very proud of that...we started in April and within a matter of four or five months we had shut down the vast majority of them. I'm very proud to say that we were able to do in a matter of months what other administrations hadn't been able to do in years."
Saenz said that his new policy of not selling back the eight-liner machines back to the owners contributed to the success of the operation. In the past, he said that the DA's office would allow the owners to purchase them back and then set up shop again.
"What made the difference was my decision to say 'we're not going to sell these eight-liners back to you. That's what had been happening. You would seize them today and in a matter of days they would make and agreement where they would resell them. What do you think they were going to do once they resold them? They would put them back. So when I put the word out that we're not going to sell them back to you that set off shock waves to the eight-liner community. Some of them started loading them up on their own and moving out."
He said that the Texas Legislature might help local law enforcement by coming down firmly on a decision whether to legalize gambling in the state.
"I certainly wish the the legislature would be more definite about it," he said. "You and I know from day one that you can't legislate morality. So perhaps the day has come when gambling should be legalized in the State of Texas. That's not for me to say. Perhaps it will come. We are in dire need of help for our taxpayers and for education.
Sanez said it had been an uphill struggle to rehab the office that had been associated in the public eye with payoffs and bribery scandals. Regaining the public's trust and faith in law enforcement is listed as his main priority in the year-end report that he put together.
""People ask me 'what do you want?' I'm a simple guy. I want for my family what you want for yours," he said. "In other words, I want to leave my house in the morning and I want to come back and not being broken into. Simple. I want to go to Walmart park my truck and I want to come out and I want to see it there not stolen. I don't want my wife assaulted on the way to Walmart. I want to take my grandson to the park and not run into people who are intoxicated or smoking drugs. Simple. I just want a safe community where we can work, where we can educate ourselves where we can have fun and where we can worship in peace. Simple. It's very simple."
After a year, Saenz said that his staff in collaboration with city, state and federal law enforcement agencies have made some progress in earning the public's trust and respect given the state of affairs a year ago.
"I think we've made considerable progress from when we started," he said. He points out that the renewed collaboration with the U.S. Attorney in Charge Rick Lara, the FBI, U.S, Marshals, Homeland Security and the DEA, has been reestablished after eight years of being virtually non-existent. Lara has called the new relationship between Cameron County and the U.S. Government "historic."
Saenz said that an internal restructuring of the DA's office has paid off in timely processing of cases, reducing taxpayer costs, and alleviating jail overcrowding.
"Our inmate count is the lowest it's been in the past eight years," said Chief Jailer Mike Leinart. "We have been able to accommodate additional USMS inmates that assist the county's coffers."
Not only that, Saenz added, but the centralized intake system has allowed the office to alleviate the backlog of cases. Saenz said that when he came in last January, there were cases that had been languishing for two or more years.
"There were cases that had just been sitting in 15 or 20 boxes full of intake that were just sitting here. And we put together a force to deal with that. Now as we speak we're indicting cases in December from October November, which is how it should be."
The quicker turnaround in prosecuting cases has resulted in savings to the county, he said.
"Do the math. To keep a prisoner in jail, every day it costs $45, every day," he said. "Multiply that times 1,500 and that's your money and mine."
Even then, Saenz said that not all his priorities and policies have been popular. His efforts to collect bond forfeitures has earned him the wrath of some local bondsmen who say they plan to run a candidate against him the next time around.
In fact, the year-end report indicates that the office had collected $101,453 in bond forfeitures in all of 2012. The report indicates that figure rose to $232,751, a difference of $131,289.
"For years, bail bond companies were able to avoid on-time payment of their required fees to the county," the report states. "Fees collected go to the Road and Bridge County budget allowing for additional resources to be provided to taxpayers."
"Sometimes doing the right thing is not popular," he said. "A lot of these have not been popular. Operation Bishop, and the bail bond amounts where we doubled the collections from last year. That decision to just collect the money that belonged to the public, the decision to engage in Operation Bishop have not been popular. Those decisions cost me. I've been threatened politically. In other words the bondsmen have threatened to run someone against me.
"Sometimes doing the right thing is not popular," Saenz said. "But it's not about being popular. It's about doing the right thing."
One loose string that rankles Saenz is the continued freedom of escaped murderer Amit Livingston who was released from court and given 60 days to straighten out his affairs and absconded. Saenz said that his office is working closely with federal authorities to capture him.
"I can't disclose confidential information, but we're working very closely with the U.S. Marshals. We're are going to get him. I've made that one of my priorities. I think that as you know a lot of these defendants have been tried and convicted and some of them are serving their time ands that's helped with the healing process, but I think that the healing process won't ultimately begin until this guy – who is a literally bad guy who profited from those ill gains – is brought to justice. And that's one of my priorities. And I'm working with the marshal's and the FBI and were tracking him down and I won't rest until we get him. It just flies in the face of our justice system."
Perhaps more than the nuts and bolts of prosecuting and convicting criminals. Saenz said that the two foundations of a safe community rests upon education and law enforcement.
"From where I sit it's all about law enforcement and education," he said. "Those are the two cornerstones for the quality of life. From education flows economic development. From law enforcement flow just the peace and tranquility that people want to have to be in safe place....You look at any good community and it all comes down to law enforcement and education. If you've got that solid everything else falls in place."
4 comments:
There is definitely a BIG difference in the air , as you walk into the Administrative Bldg. A cleanliness , a feeling of positive energy, the DA office is very professional, employees dress and act professional. Thank you Luis Saenz keep up the good work and continue this movement. Muchas Gracias.
One year ago when he took office, the Hon. Luis V. Saenz addressed a collection of local lawyers at a continuing legal education ("CLE") forum (offered each month) called the "Brown Bag" noontime talk. The atmosphere was tense. He stepped into the lions' den of about 80 criminal defense attorneys and laid it on the line: announcing that formerly popular programs like the pre-trial diversion (which had come to be misused) were going to be shut down pending a total review. That decision was not popular. Saenz drew criticism at the CLE forum. But he stood there and articulated an intelligent policy for that change and others that made (without any notes or any outline). He also stressed that law enforcement and education were the "twin pillars" as he called them of civic life. I know he won the respect of the undersigned and of other men and women who are used to standing up on their hind legs and speaking extemporaneously in public. This article is correct in all things, expecially that DA Saenz hit the ground running.
The changes in his office are profound. For example, whenever I call the appellate division, I either get Mr. Christopher Gonzalez on the line or he calls back soon after. Only Mr. Peter Gilman had done that previously.
The county's prosecutorial duties are again moving forward with favorable changes under DA Saenz. One of those changes includes the goal of mandatory and fixed discovery on a DC or DVD of all documents and statements and photos of evidence that the DA has. That shuts down or forecloses any arguments later (in costly habeas corpus proceedings) about evidentiary violations or a breach of the prosecutor's duties to play fair. It's a change the time for which has come in this digital age. DA Saenz got it done.
In sum, from one face pressed against the glass from the outside looking in, it appears to the undersigned that the Hon. Luis V. Saenz is indeed earning the title of "Honorable."
J. Schmid,
Brownsville lawyer
The only problem Mr. Saenz has is his PIO Melissa Zamora. Her continuous attempt to steal the spot light has put a dent on the public perception of Mr. Saenz. Mr. Saenz does not need a PIO, he speaks eloquently, knows how to spell and can deliver a message a lot better than she could ever do. Mr. Saenz needs to continue addressing the news media by himself. We elected Mr. Saenz and Melissa is just dead weight for the whole District Attorney. The county could save a lot of money be eliminating her position and hiring a qualified investigator to gather evidence to give to the ADA’s to put criminals behind bars where they belong. Armando Villalobos had Jason Moody as a PIO and he did a lot better job informing the public but we never saw Armando Villalobos addressing the public. Seeing our DA in the news and reading what his take on a case is refreshing. Who cares what Melissa says….her opinion means nothing in a court of law and less weight than a paper clip. Id rather read or hear a statement from the actual Prosecutor that prosecuted the case.
The reference to "A ship without a captain floating at sea" seems to indicate that Luis Saenz saw the movie "The Firm". Tom Cruise presented this anomaly far better that our DA. We really don't know what Saenz has done as DA....just what he says. The presence of Melissa Zamora makes us all uncomfortable, because we know she has no moral compass and serves herself....no matter whether what she needs to do. Luis would be well served by having some noteworthy news in the press....not just campaign jargon offered up by Melissa.
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