THE SLATE REVEALS ITSELF: DIME CON QUIEN TE JUNTAS

By Juan Montoya
Just as those infamous (and anonymous) "hojas sueltas" make their appearance a few days prior to most elections emitted by some candidates or their supporters smearing their opponents, the newest wrinkle in this year's Democratic Party primary elections is the de facto slate being plastered all over town.

In fact, we don't know if the people who prepared this slate flier had the acquiescence of the candidates named in it. There is no political disclaimer as is required by state law.
And at the very top of this list is none other than indicted Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez and his daughter – herself also under scrutiny by law enforcement – and the surprising appearance of District 357 Court candidate Juan Magallanes and Brownsville Independent School District trustee Minerva Peña who is running for the new JP 2-3 position.
We don't know who sold Texas Senator hopeful David Almeel the goods to include his name with our infamous candidates, but being an outsider, we really can't blame him for not knowing who he's hanging out with.
There's a saying that if you lie with dogs you'll catch fleas. While Almeel may not be well versed in who the local players are, Magallanes and Peña know full well what the score is and chose to lie with the cur.
Why on earth would they?
Last month a grand jury issued an indictment charging him with eight criminal counts.

The charges stem from the illegal hiring of his brother-in-law Roberto Cadriel, and inconsistencies between the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses and the three-hour testimony Hernandez gave to a grand jury investigating it. They also deal with alleged Hernandez's involvement in tampering with the testimony of witnesses and government records.

One unrelated charge deals with Hernandez allegedly attempting to have Emergency Management administrator Humberto Barrera reopen an eight-liner business that had been closed by the county.

The indictment includes two counts of official oppression, one count of misuse of official information, two counts of witness tampering, one count of tampering with a government record, one count of obstruction or retaliation, and one count of coercion by a public official.

(To read a copy of the indictment, click on: http://www.valleycentral.com/uploadedfiles/kgbt/news/stories/erniehernandezindictment.pdf)
JP 2-2 Erin Hernandez Garcia, the commissioner's daughter, is also under scrutiny for a number of issues related to matters in her office.
We received confirmation that District Attorney's Office investigators are probing the possible cash payment fora ruling in at least one case, the sale of fraudulent waivers to bypass the state-mandated 72-hour waiting period before marriage, and an alleged scheme to take cash payments that allow a defendant to forgo community service hours. There has been one person indicted in the last case. And the DA's office is awaiting a response from the Texas Attorney General on the legality of the waivers before acting.
Sylvia Garza Perez, who is a past chairperson of the Cameron County Democratic Party is an ally of the Herandezes and has long associated with both Ernie and Erin and her mother Norma. A product of the War on Poverty programs where she built a client (and voter?) base, she left her [position to run for county judge.
However, not long after she declared, County Clerk Joe Rivera and other party functionaries (notably former county judge Gilbert Hinojosa,  now state chair of the Democratic Party) talked her into leting Joe run for judge instead and that she run for county clerk, Rivera's position.
She is facing four other candidates in that race. They are Jorge Kowalski, Don De Leon, Sylvia Garza-Perez, Letty Perez Garzoria, and Arnold Flores, Jr.
How teaming up with the two Hernandezes and BISD trustee Minerva Peña will help her is difficult to see. Peña is currently a defendant in a First Amendment lawsuit filed by her colleagues on the BISD board Catalina Presas-Garcia and Lucy Longoria.
She is facing Mary Esther Garcia, Pete Avila and Albert Garcia in the election.
Magallanes faces attorney Gloria Rincones in this primary.