SANCHEZ OUT OF TOUCH WITH PCT. 4, RESIDENTS SAY

By Juan Montoya
With Cameron County Pct. 4 Commissioner Dan Sanchez throwing his hands up in defeat about laying a coat of caliche over a community-used road to a nearby cemetery near El Ranchito because it didn't show up as a dedicated county road, residents there have decided that they will do it themselves.
Sanchez made his cameo before a local television crew after residents complained that they had gone to him to address the condition of the road to no avail.
"He just said that it was out of his hands because the road didn't show up on county maps," said one. "But if you look at the road that is not underwater, you can still see that there is a layer of caliche there from time gone by. Who does he think spread the caliche there if not county crews?"

Sanchez is running for reelection against two opponents, Roberto Juan Kornegay Esquivel and Steve Brewer. Kornegay is first on the ballot, Brewer is third and Sanchez is sandwiched in between on the second place.
The muddy, potholed road has become a rallying cry for those opposed to a second Sanchez administration for precinct 4. They say that Sanchez has not done enough to address that issue.

The cemetery has been donated to the county for the residents' use. In the past, local residents say that county crews used to service the road periodically under commissioner Edna Tamayo, and by commissioner Tivie Valencia decades ago.
"How can he say that the county hasn't serviced that road?" asked an incredulous resident who lives near the cemetery. "The crews have been fixing that road and laying caliche on it for decades. It's not like ther's a caliche tooth fairy in precinct 4."
To prove it, residents showed a visitor where the thin cap of old caliche could be seen at the edge of the potholes under water.
Surveyor's poles are visible near the site, but no one knows who may have put them there. Some speculate that the Border Patrol may have had it surveyed to see whether they could improve it. The cemetery is on the river side of Military Highway.
"If Sanchez says that the county can't, or won't, fix it, then we'll do it ourselves without his help," said the neighbor. "The condition of the road has even delayed the burial of some people and that's embarrassing. You don't just say you can't do something about it and let it go."
In fact, some former county employees say that if the residents can submit affidavits from former county commissioners and longtime county road crew employees to show that the road has been serviced for at least 10 years, state law says that the road can be accepted by the county commissioners. It doesn't take the commissioner for that precinct to place that on the agenda, but rather a petition of request bearing the affidavits attesting to that fact.
"It's called a prescriptive easement under Texas law," said a former Pct. 1 foreman. "We used to do that all the time when the county maps didn't show road we knew had been serviced by the county for at least a decade. It ain't rocket science."
Residents say they have already started the process to present the petition and affidavits to the county judge to place before the commissioners court.
"If we wait for Sanchez to do something, it'll never get done," said one.
Both Kornegay Esquivel and Brewer have criticized Sanchez for his negative response to the residents' needs. Kornegay, in particular, has hammered on this detail to highlight Sanchez's lack of disconnect with the needs of his precinct.
Kornegay Esquivel was also the subject of a minor controversy because the Democratic Party chairwoman Amber Medina had given the Cameron County Elections Office a ballot where his first name appeared as "Robert" instead of Roberto. His supporters have shown a copy of the handwritten application where he registered as a candidate for Pct. 4 which clearly shows he spelled his name 'Roberto."
"When he go to the party office, they typed it up for him and notarized it and put "Robert" instead of "Roberto" on the typewritten application," said a supporter. "He just signed it thinking it was the same as he had handed it to them. It was their mistake and he didn't catch it."
In fact, it wasn't Medina, the party chair who typed the application for Roberto, but rather notary public Cynthia Hinojosa, the wife of former Cameron County Judge and current Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa.