DAN SANCHEZ: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

By Juan Montoya
In an article where two challengers for a county commissioner's seat charged that he was out of touch with his constituents, our local daily showed how its reporters and its editors are also out of touch with their readers when they mistook the precinct where they are running.
The Brownsville Herald states in today's hard edition that "Democrats fight for primary win in Precinct 2" and then go on to say that "Incumbent Dan Sanchez faces two challengers as he campaigns to keep the Precinct 2 seat on the Cameron County Commissioners' Court."
There's just a tiny mistake. Sanchez is the commissioner for Precinct 4. How is it possible that the mistake got through not only the reporter, but also the city and the night editors?
A later online version of the story corrected the mistake and listed the right precinct with no mention of the snafu.
Sanchez's opponents – Juan Roberto Kornegay Esquivel and Steve Brewer – took him  to task for being out of touch with the constituents of his precinct and for not doing enough for those living on the western side of the county. Precinct 4 abuts Hidalgo County on the west, The Rio Grande on the south, and the rest of the county on the east.
Sanchez, who is an attorney and works in Harlingen, defended himself saying that he is always "mobile."
Now, we won't belabor the fact that "mobile" isn't exactly the first word that comes to mind  when one thinks of the hefty commissioner, but it is no secret that he has made it obvious in his very first term that he is more interested in seeking higher office (county judge) than in worrying about, say, improving precinct roads.
The recent case involving the improvement of a cemetery road in El Ranchito where Sanchez out and out said there was nothing he could do because it wasn't listed as a dedicated county road comes to mind. Former Pct. 4 commissioner Tivie Valencia and Edna Tamayo took issue with that statement. County road maps are notorious for not listing roads serviced by the precinct crews, sometimes not listing roads that are there and in some cases listing roads that are not.
Both former commissioners said that their crews had graded that road and had filled the potholes with caliche when it was necessary.
We noticed that no mention was made of Sanchez supporting raises of $2,000 each for County clerk Joe Rivera and District Clerk Aurora De la Garza effective budget year 2012-2013.The action came during an item to publish the salaries of elected officials. The motion was made by Sanchez and was included in the minutes of the Aug. 2 meeting.
Sanchez said that he would transfer money from his salary to add the additional $2,000 each for the two longtime office holders. It wasn't until afterwards that the commissioners were notified that taking money from an elected official's salary and transferring it to others was not legal.
"We're locked into it now and it will come from the Road and Bridge budget, not from Dan's check," said a county staffer.
Brewer also accused the incumbent of putting his private practice ahead of his public duty as commissioner. He said that Sanchez is an attorney who often accepts court-appointed cases as a public defender.
“He’s way too busy being a lawyer to be a county commissioner,” Brewer told the daily.
But it was what he told the reporter when the accusations were made that raised eyebrows.
Sanchez said he only handles law cases after 5 p.m.
“My days are spent serving the citizens of Cameron County,” he said, saying that he often isn’t at his commissioner’s office because he is meeting with residents in the field and attending meetings. “I don’t sit in one office and expect everyone to come to me. I have to be mobile.”

Well, if he doesn't handle legal cases during the day, what is his car doing in the law enforcement-restricted spaces at the county courthouse parking lot?

For months, constables had to endure Sanchez and his secretary arriving at the courthouse and using their parking spaces to conduct his legal business.
It wasn't until the complaints got too loud and the social media picked them up that he was forced to stop using their spaces.
All this however, escaped the notice of the reporters and editors at the local daily. It's no wonder they mistook Sanchez for the commissioner for Precinct 2. You know that guy. He's the guy (Ernie Hernandez) who might be standing in the unemployment line with Sanchez come January 1.