San Antonio Express
DONNA — While many residents of the Rio Grande Valley took offense at Attorney General Greg Abbott's reference to the third world while talking about corruption in their communities, most nevertheless believe corruption on the border is rampant.
Abbott's comments this month ignited a political firestorm and a public backlash, but they also called attention to a spate of corruption cases in the Valley, adding to the perception it is plagued by corruption.
Corruption in the Rio Grande Valley is amplified by the flow of illicit trade across the border, and, culturally, by the traditional Mexicanmordida, or a pay-to-play system, Knopp said.“I think there are a lot of people down here who think we have a big problem, more so than the rest of the state,” said Anthony Knopp, professor emeritus of history at the University of Texas at Brownsville. “The common response is corruption is everywhere. Well, there is corruption everywhere, but it's intensified here along the border.”
Though quantifying corruption is far from exact, a study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago ranked South Texas 11th in the nation for public corruption convictions.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which covers about 50 counties from near Houston southwest to Laredo, recorded 610 corruption convictions from 1976 to 2010, according to the study by the Department of Political Science and the Illinois Integrity Initiative of the University of Illinois' Institute for Government and Public Affairs. The Chicago area, with 1,531 federal convictions, topped the list.
In Texas, the South Texas district had 261 convictions, at least a third more than the 185 in the Western district, which includes San Antonio, and the 188 in the Northern district from 2001 to 2010, according to the study, based on Justice Department figures. The Eastern district had only 63.
But there are factors other than total convictions to consider, such as the variety of institutions infected with corruption over time, said Dick Simpson, former head of the University of Illinois political science department and co-author of the corruption report. By that measure, corruption in the Rio Grande Valley appears considerable, said Simpson, who hasn't studied the area but based his comments on a general description of recent convictions, which have spread into law enforcement, a county government and a court system.
“You're talking about multiple patterns of corruption occurring and embedded in institutions,” Simpson said. “People talk about a rotten apple; this indicates a rotten barrel.”
The late Enrique Escobedo was on the Brownsville board for a decade.
Two federal agencies, the FBI and the Justice Department, have taken the lead in pursuing public corruption, including three investigations in Hidalgo County alone.
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BISD
Days before Lugo's suicide, Enrique Escobedo, 44, school board president of Brownsville ISD, the Valley's largest school district, committed suicide in his home.
At the time of his suicide on Dec. 19, Escobedo, known in the community as “Dr. Escobedo” though he never received a medical degree, was director of American Firing Range, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His family has not publicly disclosed any information about what might have driven him to shoot himself.
Escobedo held a seat on the school board for the past decade and became board president in 2012. More recently, relations among some on the board had grown tense.
Brownsville ISD school board members Luci Longoria and Catalina Presas Garcia filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 14, accusing district Superintendent Carl Montoya and fellow board members Herman Otis Powers Jr., Minerva Peña, Hector Chirinos and Cesar Lopez, and school district counsel Baltazar Salazar of retaliation, libel, slander and favoritism in awarding contracts to American Surveillance, a company the lawsuit says is owned by Escobedo's brother and that Escobedo was the vice president of. When Longoria and Presas asked questions or raised objections, Escobedo had them censured, according to the suit, which seeks $2 million in damages for violating their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit alleges Salazar and Escobedo chose Lopez, a purchasing administrator at Mercedes ISD, to fill a vacant seat on the Brownsville school board soon after the Mercedes board awarded a contract to American Surveillance.
The former assistant superintendent for finance and operations for Mission Consolidated Independent School District, Lucio Mendoza, was hired as Brownsville ISD's chief financial officer after the Mission school board awarded American Surveillance a contract for $865,000, the lawsuit alleges.
Mission CISD records show the board approved contracts with American Surveillance on three occasions between January 2013 and June 2013 worth $1.3 million. Mendoza left Mission CISD on Sept. 5.
The defendants on the Brownsville school board have not yet responded to the lawsuit and attorneys for them did not return calls for comment.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, who was elected to an office still reeling from the conviction last year of his predecessor, made prosecuting corruption his first priority.
About the Brownsville ISD lawsuit, Saenz said, “It's something we have been looking into and investigating for months and months.”
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(To read the rest of the article dealing with BISD, poliitiqueras and racketeering, click on link.)
17 comments:
Judging the extent of corruption by convictions is like determining how many cattle a man owns by the size of his hat.
The border is the flywheel that makes the engine run. Move away from the border and there is much less endemic corruption. Throw in the mix that you have arguably the richest country the world bordering a very poor county and the drug trade/human trafficking business to boot and you have all the ingredients for nitro-corruption. Brownsville was founded on a solid bedrock of corruption because of the border. Without the border "biznes", it would be the size of Premont.
Greg Abbott did nothing but speak the truth. The push back came from the Democrat machine who wanted to do anything they could to keep Hispanics home on election day.
The blond bimbo from Ft. Worth, with the juiced rags to riches story and is so strongly in favor of abortions, flies in the face of every cultural and religious value held dear by Hispanic people.
Better they stay at home than go to the poles and vote for a Republican. Can't let that happen as it might start a trend that breaks the lock the Democrats have on the people of South Texas.
Greg Abbott is married to a Hispanic woman and his children are of both races and cultures. Unless the Democrats can paint him as a racist then they are in deep doo doo come election day.
How could we ever form an "integrity unit" in Cameron County....where there is not political integrity. We would have to import folks to review the integrity in government and integrity of the judicial system. Tony Knopp is correct....the corruption here is worse than local officials will admit. People with integrity don't run for public office here....we prove that with every election. We thought Tony Martinez was a man of integrity....but we have been proven wrong by his authoritarian administration. BISD is run by a bunch of idiots who only seek to grease their own palms....while the kids are left to an incompetent system which produces kids illiterate in two languages and in need of significant remedial education to pass basic college courses. The local governments avoid nepotism laws by official's hiring each other's family members. Everyone has their hand out or are feeding from the public tit. Voters seek only to maintain their entitlements and plead ignorance as a defense for everything. With illegal immigration, illegals in our schools and a welfare populace....we creat new Dumbokrats every day and that is the mission of the Dumbokratic Party....to keep the public "dumb and happy".
So Luis Saenz is involved with the BISD problems?????????????
Bottom line the reason for the excessive corruption here is because the democRATAS are in control. I've yet have known an honest democRAT. Just try and google WHO ARE THE HONEST DEMOCRATS AND NOT ONE NAME POPS UP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joe Rivera promises if elected he will be a 24/7 judge. Heck, this MF doesn't get to the county clerks office before noon. He is just another fat Mexican. Keep your paws off Letty maricon
ITS TIME TO DO ANOTHER STORY ABOUT BOOBIE JUAN. COJETELEO JUAN.
You posted a story by an outsider? He's not from here and doesn't vote here! LOL!!!
Corruption among democRATAS is nothing new. Voter fraud is the only way they can get elected here's a related story cause it a NATION WIDE problem for dems:
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/obamas-voter-id-scam-is-busted/
From New Mexico, Arizona, and all the northern Texas knows the Rio Grand Valley is full of Corruption the Valley is just in denial.
I can see no reason why a person of integrity and high morals would aspire to public service in this area. The crooks and the corrupt would destroy him or her in short order. The establishment can not accept nor tolerate honest people in public office.
It doesn't matter because people won't vote for honest people, they want their tamales, five dollars or promise of a favor. They don't gain anything by electing honest people and the people are as corrupt as those they elect.
The people of Brownsville have the government they choose and deserve and this will never change. Asi marcha la vida in Browntown.
Escobedo, Pena, Chirinos, Powers and Cesar along with Montoya and Salazar have rape BISD and the taxpayers of Brownsville, they have totally distroyed our district.
Thank you for bringing this to light Juan, great article.
"Vox populi vox Dieu???????
WTF? San Antonio? Don't they have anything better to do? Get out of my fucking town.
its the border politics 101, just ask any of the long standing loco politiciana like hum let me see, where do i start???? gilberto hinojosa started at bisd and then on t the county, joe rivera first an al bundy selling shoes and then hooked up with ray ramon, juan magallanes is a partner with gilberto hinojosa and al was chairman of the democRAT party los dos, aurora de la garza, tony yzaguirre, elia lopez, sofie benavides whose mom worked with joe rivera for many years till she retired. etc etc etc, all of them are in the same boat. its just a way of doing bizness to get elected to make some money and/or or you roll over and die, its that simple. the ole public titty, an dits very good. plus later on well then its time for the kids in the family to jump in right? cca el flecha fria
Talk about corruption? Check the Texas legislature! That's where the den of thieves hang-out!
Are Hispaniscs of a different race? According to Republicans we are a Race apart. I was born in Sonora,Texas , in the 30's. The dumb ignorant Idiots wrote that Iwas of the Mexican race.
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