AHUMADA, BASTIAN: WHY THE DOUBLE STANDARD?

By Juan Montoya

Remember the memorable arrest of former Mayor Pat Ahumada for DWI on Alton Gloor Road by the brother of commissioner Ricardo Longoria?



It was memorable because on the same day that it happened, were were treated to video form the police car camera that was widely disseminated on local news broadcasts and on the local newspaper's online edition.
Fast forward to a week ago Friday when assistant city attorney Allison Ann Bastian was arrested after she allegedly drank alcohol, drove and got involved in an auto accident.
In Pat's case, there was no accident and he starred morosely at the camera as he is handcuffed and hauled off to the drunk tank.
In Bastian's case, it took a full week before her mugshot was made available to local media. There is no word on whether the video of the arrest will be made available.
Now, we are privy to the fact that in Ahumada's case, then-police chief Carlos Garcia ordered Jimmy Manrique – over his objections – to release the video to the media. In Bastian's case, who ordered police to stonewall the media for a week before her mugshot was released?
In other words, what makes Bastian different from Ahumada? Gosh, don't tell us its politics. Hard to believe that could happen in a town like Brownsville, ain't it?

NEW, IMPROVED ELECTIONS DEPT.; SAME OLD SAME OLD

By Juan Montoya
We were told that with the compromised Roger Ortiz gone from the scene and a new, improved media-savvy director at the Cameron County Elections Department things would be different.
In his days, Ortiz would withdraw into his shell, make soothing noises and weather the storm or criticism with noncommittal responses.
The new boy in town – Chris Davis – in response to the unacceptable delays in getting the voting results to the public, shifts the blame to:
a. precinct judges
b. glitches in the voting machines
c. untrained staff
d. jammed counting mechanisms
e. 2,000 more voters than in 2010 (?)
The local newspaper noted that there were 11,102 total voters in the Democratic primary runoff races this month compared to 9,642 in 2010, the last similar election.
Davis , the master of the understatement, said there were "a few hiccups that delayed Democratic returns until after 11 p.m."
In fact, Channel Five aired a segment of an empty building with the reporter standing in the dark awaiting the final tally after all the candidates had gone. One of those candidates – County Clerk Joe Rivera – sits on the county's elections board that evaluates Davis' performance and had to leave before he knew the final outcome.
In the case of the Leo Lopez-Alex Dominguez race where the outcome was uncertain and hung by a mere 72 votes, it was nail-biting time until near midnight for both candidates and their supporters.
“It did take a long time,” Davis admitted Wednesday, explaining that he felt the delays were largely due to the efforts of poll workers to do things openly.
OK. So for the sake of transparency and doing things neatly, we are back to the same old Ortiz formula of delayed results?
And now we know that the rumors of uncounted votes (yikes! shades of Wood-Cascos debacle under Roger) were true.
Davis admitted that at two polling places the ballots were not counted because the darn machine wouldn’t take them and the presiding election judges sequestered them under seal and brought them in separately. It wasn't until they were brought into the main central counting room at the courthouse that the totals were added to the count.
In Brownsville, a nasty machine ate five votes that delayed the count as well.
 That required the order of a district judge to have the box opening in front of poll watchers, further delaying the count.
“I’d rather finish late if it means getting the count accurate and correct and doing it all transparently and according to law,” Davis said lamely.
It may work out to the elections department advantage if voter apathy remains as it is. Only about 6 percent percent of the registered voters cast their ballots last Tuesday. God forbid if more than 10 percent had. We might still be waiting for results today.
Canvassing is set for June 5 and the provisional ballot board will meet June 3.

WHAT IF THEY HELD A REDEDICATION...AND NOBODY CAME?

By Juan Montoya
Back in the hippie days the saying went "What if they had a war, and nobody came?"
Now, in a show of dismal planning and poor execution, the trustees of the Texas Southmost College has a renaming and dedication of the UTB Fine Arts Center to the TSC Arts Center and no more than perhaps two scores showed up in the cavernous venue.
In fact, when Dr. Jonathon Dotson performed his exquisite classic guitar piece, he was basically playing before an empty auditorium. The other artists also had the sparse audience to see them perform. The minuscule attendance to the renaming and rededication event seemed even more so because of the grandeur of the place.
Say what you may about the former administration, they did have a knack for putting on a show and filling up the place. Sure, most of the time the events they scheduled were self-congratulatory affairs where they patted each other on the back, but hey, it's either bread or circus with us Latins, isn't it?
There was a little bit of that with TSC board president Kiko Rendon being presented a plaque to place on the wall outside the building announcing the "new" name, but that was about it.
A casual observer who passed by the center to witness the ceremony, upon seeing the dismal turnout, stayed for a few minutes and left, embarrassed.
The TSC board and administration have a few public relations wrinkles they have to iron out if they are to compete in the marketplace of ideas, a critical issue in our social and mass media world.
In fact, the poor planning extended as far as some trustees getting called late in the day that the same event was scheduled. And were local city officials and community leaders even aware the event was happening?
President Lily Tercero might be a master in the inner workings of a community college, but a ring master she certainly is not.
One would think that after years of competing with the Julieta Garcia-Michael Putegnat-Mary Rose Cardenas-Letty Fernandez hype machine the new outfit would have picked up a few tricks, but apparently they haven't.
Maybe a little remedial course work is in order here.

EMILIO, THE BLUZANOS WITH TIM GONZALEZ AT HALF MOON

IS THERE A TSC PROFESSOR KIKO RENDON IN THE WORKS?

(Ed.'s Note: Someone sent us this photo of Texas Southmost College board president Kiko Rendon and college president Lily Tercero decked out in their academic garb and wondered aloud is there are plans for Kiko to join the faculty there when he completes his doctoral work. We haven't been able to track Kiko down to ask him if if he's contemplating an academic career over at TSC or if he is contemplating running for another six-year term when his term expires in 2016. Meanwhile, however, things seem to be chummy between the board and community college president. Tercero, who came in with the full support of the board when she was hired, is now having to bear some grumbling from some of the members over her governing style. However, from the looks of it, she is OK by Rendon.)

CATY NAMED TO NATIONAL C.U.B.E. STEERING COMMITTEE

By Juan Montoya
The director of the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) has announced the appointment of Catalina Presas-Garcia, a Brownsville Independent School District trustee since 2008, to its 16-member steering committee.
The announcement was made Thursday afternoon by director Deborah L. Keys who said that she was selected to serve the unexpired term of Dr. Patsy Taylor of Sugarland "because of her consistent presence at and support of CUBE events and her energies and enthusiastic spirit..."
"Caty will certainly be an asset to the SC team, especially since we recognize the importance of having a representative from the great state of Texas," Keys announced. "Her presence on the SC ensures that CUBE will continue to have a strong voice from that region of our country."
The BISD was named as the recipient of the CUBE award in 2008 Award for Urban School Board Excellence, the same year that the district won the Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual $1 million award that honors one U.S. school district each year making the greatest progress in raising student achievement.
The last time a BISD board member served on the CUBE Steering Committee was when Dr. Christina Saavedra was elected in 2013 and in 2010 when BISD vice-president Ruben Cortez was named to the position.
Since then, no BISD board member has been selected even though several, including trustee Minerva Peña, have applied for an appointment but was turned down.
According to its website, "CUBE supports urban school boards and fosters effective leadership for excellence and equity in public education, with a specific focus on underrepresented students.
CUBE provides educational opportunities that engage urban school districts and district leaders, working through their state school boards associations, while addressing challenges in urban centers.
CUBE represents nearly 100 urban school districts in 35 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The districts that comprise CUBE educate nearly 7.5 million students in over 12,000 schools, with a collective budget of approximately $99 billion."
Presas-Garcia will serve until March 2015. She will then have a chance to run for another which expired in 2017.

DOMINGUEZ TO BE SWORN IN MONDAY AS PCT. 2 COMMISH

By Juan Montoya
Fresh from Tuesday's narrow victory at the polls over Leo Lopez to replace Ernie Hernandez as Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner, Alex Dominguez will be sworn in at 11 a.m. Monday at the Dancy Building.
Dominguez.
Dominguez eked out a 72-vote squeaker over Lopez in the closest race in the runoff of the Cameron County Democratic Party. He will be joining Sofia Benavides (Pct. 1), David Garza(Pct. 3), Dan Sanchez (Pct. 4) and County Judge Carlos Cascos on the commissioners court.
(Will he ask Elia Cornejo-Lopez, Leo's wife, to swear him in, some wondered? Not.)
Hernandez resigned his position as commissioner as part of an agreement with Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz who said he did not relish the thought of having Hernandez serve until the end of his term December 31 even if he was found guilty on any of the eight charges of official misconduct. Saenz said Hernandez could not be made to step down if he appealed a conviction. The precinct has not been represented since Hernandez resigned.
Dominguez had run previously in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Texas State Rep. Rene Oliveira.
He edged out three other contenders in the March 2014 primary and beat Lopez in the May 27 runoff.
The son of migrant parents, Dominguez graduated from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2002 and then went on to do legal work for the Law Offices of Howard Wien, in Los Angeles, California. Before then, he was seventh-grade history teacher and English as a Second Language in the Garland, Texas, ISD.
Before graduating from law school, he served as an intern for Chief Judge Stephen M. McNamee, United States District Court, District of Arizona, in Phoenix, Arizona.
He also served as an attorney with the city of Tempe, Pheonix, and with the Cameron County District Attorney's Office under Yolanda De Leon.
Since then, he has established a successful private law firm since 2005 before entering politics.

AYER GUITARRA CLASICA, TODAY, FLAMENCO

IS U.S. EDUCATION LURING LESS FOREIGN STUDENTS?

By Karin Fischer

The Chronicle of Higher Education

MAY 25, 2014
SEOUL — Each fall, thousands of students from South Korea arrive on American campuses. They come from a culture that views education as the key to success, where mothers and fathers save to send their children overseas. On top of tuition, parents shell out for test prep and cram schools, supplemental English lessons and recruitment agents to shepherd them through an unfamiliar admissions process. In the past, only a small elite pursued advanced degrees internationally; today, many sons and daughters of the nation’s emergent middle class go abroad.
This is South Korea but the description could fit  China equally well.
Recently however, after years of robust enrollment increases, graduate applications from South Korea to American colleges have fallen off; and last year the number of South Korean undergraduates in the United States also dropped. Fewer South Koreans study in the United States now than did five years ago.
South Korean students who study abroad often find that they lack the local connections to get a job when they return home, says Jaeha Choi, director of student recruitment and admissions at SUNY-Korea, the State University of New York’s campus outside Seoul, South Korea’s capital.Continue reading the main story

Softening interest from South Korea, the third-largest supplier source of international students to the United States, could serve as a warning to American institutions that have grown to rely on tuition revenue from China, the largest source.
The two countries differ in politics, population and economics, but they share common educational traditions and motivations for sending their students abroad, and their international mobility patterns have followed corresponding trajectories.
“The Chinese market is very much like Korea 10 years ago,” said Jekook Woo, an education consultant in Seoul.
And recent hand-wringing in China about the return on a pricey foreign degree echoes qualms among South Korean families that overseas study is no longer the guarantee of economic security that it once was.
For decades, sending top students abroad was a pragmatic choice for both countries, a recognition of the lack of educational capacity at home, particularly at the graduate level. But as their economies and educational systems changed, so did the reasons for foreign study.

For the full story, click on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/world/asia/for-some-foreign-students-us-education-is-losing-its-attraction.html?ref=education&_r=1

LETTER FROM CONCERNED PARENTS TO STISD IGNORED

(Ed.'s Note: After years of operating under the radar, the operations of the South Texas Independent School District have been questioned by concerned parents who feel that the expenditures of the three-county district are extravagant and its directors have little or no accountability to the taxpayers. According to its website, STISD "serves junior high and high school students who live along the southernmost tip of Texas, the region known as the Rio Grande Valley. The district stretches over three counties, Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy, and overlaps 28 other school districts, an area of 3,643 miles." The following is a letter and explanation of the parents' concerns. Click on graphic to enlarge)

 In addition to the letter, here is a summary of what's going on at STISD:
South Texas ISD has enjoyed the power of taxation for years to fund their exclusive multi-county campuses.
STISD is the only public school district in the State of Texas to have had this unbelievable power of taxation, considering that they only serve about 3400 students.
In addition to the local school property taxes paid, taxpayers who live in Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties must pay .0492 per $100 valuation to STSID. This allows STISD to generate around $25 million dollars from local taxes. They also get around $23 Million dollars from State and Federal funds (Federal funds are very insignificant).
This of course is encouraging STISD to continue wasting so much money instead of lowering the tax rate. School officials continue to increase the budget knowing that they are collecting more local taxes. The budget grew more than 10 Million dollars just in the last few years.
The district approximately tax about $52 Billion dollars worth of properties in the three counties. The district has the luxury to continue spending more money by building more schools, add more buildings to the existing campuses and create more useless positions at different levels. Most families who live in the three counties don't even benefit from STSID since their kids don't attend the school system.
They also had the audacity to charge students for summer school even though parents have been over-burdened by paying two school taxes. Parents have expressed their concern by notifying the superintendent and school board members, but they didn't even bother to act on it. They chose to ignore the parents knowing that they have the upper hand in calling the shots. School officials gained too much power after running the district freely without any challenge or accountability.
Other examples of waste in the district would be the hiring of a marketing director and a secretary, liaison between STISD and UTPA, three full-time librarians to service 1500 students and the creation of the New Scholar Academy to help new comers adjust to the new environment. Keep in mind that this particular program is unnecessarily costing the school district around $250,000 every year, which is not needed at all. The district has around 75 school buses traveling around 1.3 Million miles annually. They have certain buses transporting a hand full of kids from the other side of the Valley. They don't really care about the cost of fueling knowing that they have too much money designated for transportation and other wasteful spending.
We believe that the school district is not worried about all this waste since they are getting around $48 Million dollar annual budget. Community and lawmakers need to hold STISD more accountable by investigating their spending habits and the entire operation. They might even have to get more involved to put a stop into this abuse and lack of fiduciary responsibility.
It's time to get the ball rolling by protecting taxpayers in Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties.

ONCE A SNAKE IN THE GRASS, ALWAYS A...

By Juan Montoya

Remember a while back when a majority of the Texas Southmost College trustees decided they'd had enough of the abusive arranged marriage between the community college and the University of Texas System and voted to separate the institutions?

At the time, only two trustees, David Oliveira and Robert Robles held out against the move arguing that if the "partnership" was dissolved, it would mean the end of Western civilization as we know it.When the separation finally occurred, there was moaning, gnashing of teeth and ashes ans sackcloth on the part of these two.

“It’s a divorce. I don’t know how else to put it,” said David Oliveira, a trustee on the TSC board who opposed the split. “We’re dividing up the assets. And the children of this divorce are the students.”

Francisco “Kiko” Rendon, the current TSC board chairman who ran on a platform of lowering costs for community college students said, “A year and a half from now when we start publishing the new tuition rates, the community will start realizing why those painful changes took place.”

Rendon said higher education in the area would benefit from the split. “They needed it to raise their level of excellence,” he said of UTB, “and we needed it to be able to refocus on the basic community college mission, because it was being forgotten.”
But that didn't sit well with Oliveira and Robless who were content to have UTB-TSC President Julieta Garcia turn over more than $200 million in assets of the community college – with exception of the bond debt – to the UT System in return for the prestige of having a UT-Brownsville campus under Garcia's dominion.
And along with his cuz State Rep. Rene Oliveira, David justified keeping both UTB-TSC and Pan American University – both with overwhelmingly Hispanic student enrollment – out of the Permanent University Fund billionaire pie.
Not only were these two institutions excluded, but Oliveria wanted the community college to continue subsidizing the UT System. And he was content to sing the praises of Saint Garcia even though the Texas Higher Education Board showed that UTB-TSC's graduation rate was abysmal even after 20 years under her unsteady hand. And he didn't care that the partnership's tuition and student fees were the highest of any community college in Texas. (see chart)
Now we have come upon a text message showing Oliveira smooching it up with UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa like they were the best of chums. Looking back on Oliveira's role in the whole "partnership" scam, it should come as no surprise now why Oliveira favored the UT System over his community college. In fact, someone commented that he would have given TSC away for a hug from Francisco.
Snake in the grass, indeed. 

UT SYSTEM GIVES JULIETA PAPITA FOR SERVICES RENDERED

By Juan Montoya
The woman who single-handedly work tirelessly to have the poorest community in the United States subsidize the oil-and-gas wealthy UT System to the tune of $1 billion over the last 22 years, has been given her due.
In a statement by outgoing University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa he said Julieta Garcia will oversee the University of Texas Institute of the Americans which "will foster the convening of scholars and other experts to engage in a dialogue of ideas and search for solutions in education, societal and policy issues."

Garcia, for her part, was not at a loss for words for getting the papita assignment. She said:

"The chance to lead this incredible new institute that focuses on an area so important to me — both personally and professionally — is truly an honor.. "The UT Institute of the Americas is unlike anything that currently exists and I am so eager to get to work developing our nation’s next great leadership institute."

Many wondered where Garcia would be put out to pasture after her disastrous tenure at UT-Brownsville following the dissolution of the UTB-TSC "partnership." Now we know.

To read more of the story from the Texas Tribune, click on the link below.
https://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/28/juliet-garcia-lead-new-institute-south-texas/

ON WEDNESDAY, AT HALF MOON, CLASSICAL GUITAR

FALLOUT FROM RUNOFF ELECTIONS SHOWS POWER VACUUM

By Juan Montoya
As predicted, this year's Democratic Party runoff elections for seven county positions drew a diminished number of voters who nominated the candidates for the November elections.
And since there are no Republican Party candidates for six of those positions, only one of the candidates – Cameron County Clerk Joe Rivera – will face Republican incumbent Carlos Cascos for Cameron County judge.
With 183,211 registered voters on the rolls, only 11,102 took the time to vote, a dismal 6.06 percent.
The closest race of all was between Leonel "Lito" Lopez and Alex Dominguez for commissioner of Precinct 2. That race was decided by a margin of 72 votes of the 4,788 cast, or 1.5 percent.
Many were surprised at the number of votes that went to Lopez, but insiders say it wasn't so much Leo drawing the electorate, but rather the influence of his spouse, 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez's influence working behind the scenes. Lopez came in second in the March election and trailed Dominguez with 464 votes. he ended up losing in the runoff with only 72. In fact, even with Elia's pressure on the contributors and electorate, Dominguez beat Lopez by 58 votes in the early voting (1,572 to 1,514), by 11 votes on election day (821 to 810),  and by three votes in the mail-in ballots (37 to 34).
After the forced resignation of former Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez, Lopez obviously saw a power vacuum in the county's Democratic power structure and encouraged three candidates in the March primary – Gloria Rincones against Juan Magallanes for the 357th District Court, Dolores Zarate against David Gonzalez III in the County Court-at-Law III race. Rincones and Zarate came close, but no cigar, so only "Lito" was left in the Lopez ticket. With his loss, it was close, but as the man said, close counts only in horseshoes and hand grenades. Still, the narrowness of the margins in all three races – but especially her husband's –  means that the Lopez influence will be around for some time to come.
On the eve of early voting, the Lopez campaign accused Dominguez of having a conflict of interest if he were elected commissioner because he would have to vote to approve his ad litem payments when he is appointed to  represent indigent and mentally-impaired clients. They also charged him with a "blatant disregard for the law" because of complaints filed against him with the Texas Ethic Commission by local blogger Robert Wightman,a resettled disbarred lawyer from Dallas. That, too, backfired on Lopez when Dominguez showed that he had stopped receiving appointments in 2011 and that the TEC had no-sanctioned him on four of the five Wightman-initiated complaints.

For now, though, the residents of precinct 2 will have representation on the commissioners court with
Dominguez probably appointed to that position as soon as the votes are officially canvassed.
Instead of Lopez filling the vacuum, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa's ticket of Rivera for county judge, Eric Garza for District Court Clerk and Sylvia Garza-Perez for county clerk to replace Rivera has emerged as the moving force in the primary. Garza beat Elvira Ortiz and Garza-Perez beat Arnold Flores. This last one is important because halfway through the campaign Flores was taken under the wing of the Lucio dynasty (state senator Eddie Jr and state rep. Eddie III) who spoke sweet nothings in his ear through mouthpiece Joseph O'Bell and took over his campaign and Flores bit the bait and left the group that had gotten him into the runoff with Garza-Perez.
Whether Rivera can unseat Cascos in November will be the litmus test for Hinojosa and his ticket.
This morning we ran into the state party chairman as he walked past the courthouse and inquired about Rivera's chances at defeating the incumbent.
"I think he can," Hinojosa said.
The other races of note were Jonathan Gracia beating Yolanda Begum handily for the JP 2-2 position now held by Erin Garcia Hernandez. Gracia came out of nowhere to get into thew runoff with Begum. Backed by the clique headed by attorney Ernesto Gamez it is obvious that Gracia is looking at this election as a stepping stone for higher office. Some people have heard Gamez bragging about how they are grooming Gracia for state office and later U.S. representative.
Begum, who did the yeoman's work of toppling the Ernie-Norma-Erin Hernandez vote-harvesting machine unfortunately was associated in the minds of the voters with the corruption and manipulation of the Hernandez group of politiqueras and Gracia slid in behind a squeaky-clean image and a hefty campaign treasure chest.

"I learned a lot," Begum said. "I met many people made many friends that I wouldn't have met if I had never run for office. I worked very hard and endured many things, but maybe he worked harder. I will not run for office anymore, but I will still try to do something for truancy. Maybe all these exposure will be good for something."
Begum also endured the slings and arrows of embittered Wightman who accused her and her son Alex of being the scourge of the earth because of their alleged blaspheming of everything holy and sacred. He accused mother and son of engaging in countless conspiracies which he said he had reported to the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and God Almighty. His bizarre assault against the family will doubtless continue.
Up until the end, Begum was assured by local pollster Dann Rivera that her numbers looked good.
"We have hit 50 percent versus 37 percent with more to come," he emailed her. "Looking real good at this point. When variance hits 50 percent, the confidence level soars. the chances of our winning this thing looks better today. we shall talk soon."
Alas, neither the numbers nor the votes showed up on early voting or election day. Gracia won by 64.88 percent to 35.12 percent.
In the other JP race,  Mary Esther Garcia defeated former constable Pete Avila by 1,227 votes. Avila was mortally wounded by revelations that the county had paid a former secretary and her lawyers $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit in federal court. Avila, who said he didn't want to settle and fight the lawsuit instead, lost by 894 votes in the early voting (2,594 to 1,700) and 336 on election day(1,316 to 980). He won by three votes in the mail-in vote (49 to 46).
In this case, even Wightman's allegations of barratry against Garcia and her employer, local lawyer Luis Sorola, didn't deter the electorate from ignoring the allegations and overwhelmingly electing her.
Now the Democrats will have to see if after all the bloodletting of the primary and runoffs will allow for a cohesive and united party to get Rivera elected over Cascos in November.

HUDSON ELEMENTARY END-OF-YEAR SPRING CONCERT ROCKS

Special to El Rrun-Rrun
At the end of every school year, the Hudson Elementary band and choir students put on a goodbye concert for parents and visitors at their school.
Music Director Alejandro Rivera said this year the concert was going to be different and gave the students discretion on what selections they would play. With four lead guitars, a drummer, percussionist and four piano players, this year's show also featured rap singers (in the middle with the baseball caps) belting out the tunes.
The students belted out "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars, "Roar" by Katy Perry, Feel This Moment" by Christina Aguilera, and the old standby "In the Summertime," by Mungo Jerry.
The first three songs and the rap performances were the students' ideas and they took to them like fish to water. The last selection is a reference to the coming summer vacations and the students invited their parents to join them in dancing to the tune. A few brave souls did as the rest of the visitors looked on.
For those students going ton to middle school (some to Oliveria) and others to private schools or to Los Fresnos, this was their last time to perform together and they took the opportunity to bond with their bods like the girls above. Director River and principal Loretta Dickson took time to thank the parents who attended for their support.  

COPS ON THE BEAT, BROWNSVILLE'S BEST OF THE PAST

(Ed'.'s Note: One of our three readers sent us this photo hoping the other two could help him identify the men in blue pictured above. "Brownsville's best...when cops were cops and Brownsville was a sleepy town...they were not so quick to arrest you," he wrote. "Today, the criminals wear ties. Who are they?" Does anyone know the men above or the year the photo was taken?)

MANY RACES ALREADY DECIDED, BUT EVERY VOTE COUNTS

By Juan Montoya
Coming as it is just a day after Memorial Day when we honor the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice that we may enjoy our freedoms, election day in Cameron County should be one in which we should participate and cherish.
Conventional wisdom tell us that the early vote cast in any one election just about determines the final outcome of a contest. Some estimate that as much as 70 percent of the vote is cast during the early voting period.
Yet, with many races often determined by as few as 100 votes or less, this is not necessarily true.
For example, in this year's primary in March, 18,472 votes were cast in Cameron County elections, 10,546 of which were cast in the early voting period.
If you do the math, this equals to 57.09 percent of the votes cast in the early voting period, much lower than the 70 percent. That means that about 43 percent of the votes (7,812) cast in those contests was on election day.  
That is really a sorry turnout when you consider that the Cameron County Elections Office website indicates that there were 181,534 registered voters here. The voting percentage in the March primary equals to a sorry 10.18 percent.
The runoff voting will, of course, be lower. There are fewer candidates and fewer races still undecided.
Yet, the same website indicates that during the runoff early period (only five days compared to 10 in the primary) 6,780 Democrats cast early votes while 677 Republican voters cast theirs for a combined 7,457 total.
If the trends hold, then we should expect much fewer voters going to the polls today than in the primary in March.
We once likened the voting turnout in this county to 10 people in a lifeboat. If of the 10 people in the boat only one decides how the water, food, and other resources are to be divided, then the other nine will be at the mercy of that person and how he distributes the goods, or even limit them to himself.
Voting is very much like that. Only instead of water or bread, or a life jacket, the resources to be divided are things like paved streets and drainage, community parks, street lighting, service centers and the like.
We would all like our candidates to win, of course. But the wishes of the electorate are sometimes finicky or influenced by slick or misleading advertising. When Brownsville elected our last mayor, he and his supporters painted the town with aqua blue campaign signs. Everywhere one turned, it seemed, there was a Tony Martinez sign pleading with us to "Believe in Brownsville." The people responded and Martinez won. Of course, he turned out to be a disappointment, but even that experience can be of benefit. Perhaps people will look through the propaganda and seek out the truth behind the candidate. We can only hope.
If the numbers above hold to be a true measure of the voter turnout, there is still a little less than half of the votes still to be cast today by county voters. It may sound like a cliche, but your vote can make a difference.
Recently we were at a political function attended by former Cameron County Judge Ray Ramon. Ray is making a comeback from a devastating stroke, but he showed some of the old vigor that allowed him to virtually take over county government in the 1970s. It wasn't until Tony Garza, the current U.S. ambassador to Mexico, came in as a Republican in 1988, toppling a controversial reign by Ramon.
But the reason I mention this story is that before Ramon ran for county judge, he had run for Pct. 1 county commissioner against Lucino Rosenbaum Jr. In a runoff in that election, Ramon wanted a recount and ended up losing to Lucino by a mere six votes.
So think about that if you haven't voted. And convince as many people that you can go go vote today.
The candidates have done their best, spending time and money to reach you with their message and platforms. Some have walked door to door to spread the word personally. We have honored veterans who died in battle for allowing us this right. It's up to us now to do our civic duty.

ON MEMORIAL DAY, A STORY OF QUIET HEROISM

By Juan Montoya
I met Roy Benavidez during a campaign rally for fellow Medal of Honor winner Bob Kerry who was making a run for the presidency way back when in 1992.
The rally for Kerry was held at the old Ft. Brown Resaca Club (the Aztec Room, I believe). I was standing next to Roy as Kerry made the rounds working the small crowd. I mentioned to him that it seemed funny how many Hispanics were awarded so many medals for bravery in combat.
"I wonder why that is?" I asked the diminutive warrior.
"Nosotros somos como el mesquite, Juan," he said. "Nos cortan y nos queman pero nunca nos rajamos (We're like mesquite wood. They cut and and burn us but we never crack(?).
At the time I thought that was a nice note of bravado. But after I looked into the deeds of that quiet, self-effacing man, I was astounded at what he had endured during the time when he earned the medal.
Here's his story. Some portions of the following first appeared in "Above and Beyond: The Medal of Honor in Texas," Capitol Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas. Benavidez, Roy P. and Oscar Griffin, The Three Wars of Roy Benavidez, Corona Publishing Company, San Antonio, 1986.)
Roy Perez Benavidez was born in Cuero, Texas, on August 5, 1935. He was the son of a sharecropper and endured much racism in his life because of his mixed Yaqui Indian and Mexican heritage.
Benavidez was orphaned as a child and raised by an uncle. He dropped out of school in the seventh grade. For a period of time in his teens, Benavidez worked as a migrant farm worker and traveled as far as Colorado to harvest sugar beets. Benavidez joined the Army in Houston, Texas, in 1955.
Benavidez was first stationed at Fort Ord, California. He was then transferred to Germany, where he received parachute training.
By the time Benavidez was ordered to Vietnam, he had risen to the rank of Staff Sergeant with the Fifth Special Forces Group, Airborne, Detachment B-56, First Special Forces.
On the morning of May 2, 1968, a 12-man Special Forces team was inserted in Cambodia to observe large scale North Vietnamese troop movements and was discovered by the enemy. Most of the team members were close friends of Benavidez, who was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh, Vietnam.
Three helicopters were sent to rescue the team, but were unable to land due to heavy enemy fire. When a second attempt was made to reach the stranded team, Benavidez jumped aboard one of the helicopters, armed only with a Bowie knife.
As the helicopters reached the landing zone, Benavidez realized that the team members were likely too severely wounded to move to the helicopters.
Benavidez ran through heavy small arms fire to the wounded soldiers, and was wounded himself in the right leg, face, and head in the process. He reorganized the team and signaled the helicopters to prepare for extraction.
Despite his injuries, Benavidez carried or dragged half of the wounded men to the helicopters. He then collected the classified documents held by the now dead team leader. As he completed this task he was wounded by an exploding grenade in the back and shot in the stomach.
At that moment, the waiting helicopter's pilot was mortally wounded and the helicopter crashed. Benavidez rushed to collect the stunned crash survivors to form a defensive perimeter. He directed air support, ordered another extraction attempt, and was wounded again when shot in the thigh. At this point, Benavidez was losing so much blood from his face wounds that his vision became blocked.
Another helicopter landed, and as Benavidez carried a wounded friend to it he was clubbed in the head with a rifle butt by an enemy soldier. The enemy soldier attempted to bayonet Benavidez while he was on the ground, but Benavidez grabbed the bayonet and pulled it toward him.
This took the enemy soldier by surprise and enabled Benavidez to kill him, but also slashed Benavidez's right hand and embedded the bayonet in his left arm. Benavidez was loaded onto the helicopter and taken back to base.
There, the triage doctor declared him dead, but Benavidez spit at the doctor's face as he zipped the body bag, and was taken into the hospital.
He spent almost a year in hospitals recovering from his injuries. Benavidez's commanding officers felt that he deserved the Congressional Medal of Honor, but recommended him for a Distinguished Service Cross because they thought Benavidez would die before the lengthy application process for the Medal of Honor would award him his medal.
He was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross for saving the lives of eight soldiers at extreme risk to his own safety by General William C. Westmoreland at the Fort Sam Houston Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Years later, one of Benavidez's former commanders found out that he had survived his injuries and began the process to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, the eyewitnesses and paperwork necessary to upgrade the Distinguished Service Cross to a Medal of Honor were difficult to locate in the massive bureaucracy of the Army.
Benavidez was finally awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Ronald Reagan on February 24, 1981, in the courtyard of the Pentagon. Benavidez had reached the rank of Master Sergeant by the time of his retirement from the Army.
He died on November 29, 1998, and was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, His funeral was attended by roughly 1,500 people. An elementary school in Houston and a boot camp for problem youths in Uvalde are both named in his honor.
In 1999, the Army built the Maser Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez Special Operations Logistics Complex at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
In 2003, the USNS Benavidez, a supply ship, was christened as part of the Navy's Military Sealift Command.
In 2001, the Hasbro toy company released the Roy P. Benavidez G.I. Joe action figure, the first G.I. Joe to portray someone of Hispanic heritage.

WTF?: LEO ADMITS IT, HE'S LOOKING FOR A JOB

BETTER VOTE FOR THESE GUYS. YEAH, THAT'S THE TICKET

(Ed''s Note: We've heard of how someone infiltrated the Brownsville Independent School District's email directory and urged them to vote for Leo Lopez for Cameron County Commissioner of Precinct 2. Now we understand that the above-depicted message has been given to all BISD bus drivers by unnamed parties. While we admire the bilingual touch of the note, we are more amazed that someone may think that by passing these anonymous and surreptitious missives it will help their candidates. Hey, Art Rendon, over at BISD Transportation, put a stop to this stuff.) 

HERALD RUNS INTERFERENCE FOR JONATHAN GRACIA

(Ed.'s Note: When the Brownsville Herald has was sued for publishing a political ad listing the names of people not prosecuted for child abuse, it had its lawyers cite bible and verse defending itself with the First Amendment and the right of the public to know. Yet, the ad below was to be paid by a Yolanda Begum supporter questioning a serious lapse of judgement by Jonathan Gracia, Begum's opponent in the JP 2-2 runoff election. Even when the documentation was provided to the new publisher Frank Escobedo, he still refused them the space and demanded a letter of release by the person buying the ad. The backup consisted of a police complaint, below, and certified copies of the transcripts of Gracia's testimony in the Armando Villalobos corruption trial). It's funny how the First Amendment only applies to the newspaper and not the public at large. We reprint the ad below as a public service and a form of community self defense.)  

By Juan Sifuentes

THE JONATHAN GRACIA-ARMANDO VILLALOBOS CONNECTION  

We’ve all seen the slick campaign signs and mail-outs of JP 2-2 candidate Jonathan Gracia. But do we know the real candidate?

On December 2009, Jonathan Gracia was Asst. District Attorney, Felony Second Chair, appointed by now-convicted D.A. Armando Villalobos, a position of high responsibility.

On the night of December 11, Brownsville Police Dept. officers received a call about a 27-year-old woman running barefoot on the expressway frontage road crying for help (See full report at right. Click to enlarge).
When they found her at the hospital she was disoriented and highly intoxicated.

She said she met Jonathan Gracia at nightclub and then both went to another night spot and were drinking heavily before she drove both of them to a motel. She told officers she grew afraid of him and ran barefoot out of the room seeking help. She appeared disoriented and could not recall why she was afraid of him or why she fled from the room.

Officers found Gracia asleep on a sofa in the motel room and he told police he did not know what happened to the woman.

They learned that he was an Asst. District Attorney under Villalobos and they took the report and closed the case.

Gracia was in a position of high responsibility to protect victims, prosecute criminals, and to uphold the integrity of that office. His failure to do that could be interpreted – at best – a serious lapse of judgment, and at worst…an attempt to seduce a helpless woman.

PROBATION FOR A VIOLENT DOMESTIC ABUSER

As Felony Second Chair, Gracia was given the authority to order prosecutors under him to try defendants for serious crimes, including domestic and sexual abuse of women.

Gracia was subpoenaed to testify in the Villalobos trial about why probation was granted in the case of Hervey Roel. Roel was awaiting trial for aggravated assault of his common-law wife (10-CCR-3003-C) when he was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon for stabbing her on the neck repeatedly with a pair of scissors (10-CCR-1001-E). While awaiting trial for that assault, he was implicated in a murder case.

On the stand, Gracia couldn’t even recall how many times the woman had been stabbed in the second assault.

--------------------------------------------

US Atty. MICHAEL J. WYNNE: What were the general facts in the second case?

GRACIA: After the first case, which was a beating, the second case was – involved a pair of scissors Mr. Roel had taken to the neck of his common-law wife.

WYNNE: Do you remember how many stabbings it was?

GRACIA: I believe it was one stabbing directly in the center of the back of her neck.

--------------------------------------------

WYNNE: I’m going to show that (exhibit) to the jury then. Okay. What is it Mr. Gracia?

GRACIA: Those – that looks like (the victim) and the different puncture wounds that she suffered.”

As Felony Second Chair, Gracia was in a position to protest when Villalobos chose to give Roel probation at the request of his friend Oscar De La Fuente. He did nothing. The case was later dismissed.

Gracia can claim to be “dedicated public servant” in his political ads, but the truth belies this claim. In both cases cited above, women (the victims) do not fare well. My family and I urge you to vote for Yolanda Begum in this runoff for JP 2-2.

THE TRUE STORY OF CREATION ACCORDING TO LA BABOSA

1. In the beginning Robert Wightman created the heavens and the earth.

2. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the tubby Spirit of Bobby was hovering over the waters seeking a victim for his lawsuits.

3. And Wightman said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. However, the sudden light aggravated a long-forgotten military-related psychosis and Wightman had to rush off to the San Antonio Veterans Administration Hospital to push his way ahead of the Korean, Vietnam, Iraqi and Afghanistan  combat veterans and demanded treatment, or he would sue.

4. Wightman, after browbeating the VA doctors, saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. But, people, after all that heavy lifting he was exhausted and had to invent morphine to continue his good works and altruistic deeds. Seeing that helping acquire benefits for veterans would in turn help him get more freebies to treat his hypochondriac delusions, he fought he good fight against the overburdened VA system in their name and got free lodging.

5. Returning to unfinished business, Wightman called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6. And Wightman thought there should be a vault between the waters to separate water from water. So he drafted a demand letter to the universal powers threatening to sue them for all their stars and galaxies if a vault was not delivered by 5 p.m.within the next two working days of His creation or else.

7. So Wightman got his vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 

8. Wightman called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. But the labors of that day aggravated a metacarpal injury of his middle finger and he had to take some more legal dope to deal with it and desist from using the offending digit.

9. And Wightman, after waking up, said in a daze, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

10. Wightman called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And He saw that it was good. And he made nude beaches and saw that was good. And he named it Boca Chica.

11. Then Wightman said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” When Nature hesitated, he filed a writ of mandamus with the Powers That Be and forced the recalcitrant "moron" to do it. And it was so.

12. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And Wightman saw that it was good. He counseled for the use of hemp for other uses than smoking, and when there were no takers, cursed the "morons" for having no vision.

13. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. On that day Wightman read in the papers that there was a district judge dispensing favors for money and remembered that he had tried to nudge the the feds a few millenia ago to indict Abel Limas. When his edict went ignored by one FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, Wightman heavily censured him for being a disobedient being. Tired after taking credit for righting that wrong, Wightman slept.

14. And Wightman said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,

15. and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

16 Wightman made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

17. Wightman set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth,

18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And Wightman saw that it was good.

19. And when He looked up at the sky and saw that a being named Quintanilla whom he called the Great Deceiver had introduced an airline to Brownsville, Wightman was vexed because he hadn't thought of it himself. He whispered into Pan Am's ear and urged them to fight the Evil Q and try to get some of the money the city had used to lure the much-desired regional flights. "Steal Fly Frontera's name, win the fame," He said. But his flyboy at PanAm liked looking at nude pictures of little boys and got himself in a jam. And it was so.

20. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

21. Wightman took off to Peru and spent the next two days hanging out in the Andes watching the Incas build their cribs in Machu Picchu and smit them down because they were dark, thin, and short and not in His image.

22. Then Wightman returned and said, “Let us make mankind in my image, in my likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

23. So Wightman created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. He then thought better of it and created hermaphrodites and homosexuals for good measure. And he saw that experimenting with the different orifices was good.

24. Wightman saw all that he had made, and it was very good, matter of fact, superb. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

25. And on the seventh day, Wightman created Tony Martinez in his likeness, anointed him as the mayor of Brownsville and rested.

WOOD, MASSO, SWORN IN AT PORT, SANS BUDDY DAVID

By Juan Montoya
The two elected commissioners at the Brownsville Navigation District were sworn in today.
John Wood (Have Ticket Will Travel) and Calos Masso took their seat at the port boardroom as they began their four-year terms.

But the story within the story is about who Wood chose to swear him in today. If you remember, when Wood was a member of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, he practically toured the United States and Texas Dept. of Transportation confabs with Asst. County Administrator David Garcia at his side. The two were virtually inseparable and often traveled together almost everywhere. So some people were surprised, none more than Garcia, when Wood asked County Administrator Pete Sepulveda to swear him in instead.
"David was miffed," said a source close to the action at the Dancy Building. "He thought John would ask him to the port to swear him in and Pete was asked instead."
Wood, whose former administrative assistant when a county commissioner Carlos Cisneros got into hot water when time sheets showed he was in the county and he was elsewhere, is known to love a quick weekend jaunt somewhere in the Lower 40. During his many races for elections, his opponents dug up travel records showing him jetting off to Baltimore, California, Austin, New Orleans, you name it.
In a way, they say, being a port commissioner opens up the world of travel for him. If the travels of other port officials is any indication of the new horizons, let's just say that Shanghai is not out of the question. Or perhaps Vancouver? Or Colombia with Mayor Tony Martinez?
The world, to quite a phrase is now his oyster. But be kind and remember to bring back a post card for David for old times' sake..

THE HOME STRETCH: NO LOOKING BACK FOR RUBEN AND JOE

By Juan Montoya
If you think the voters are tired of having so many elections this year, imagine being one of the candidates who have gotten into the runoff after surviving the culling in the March primary.
Not only did they survive the initial slug fest, but then they had to wait nearly three months to go one on one with their nearest rival in their particular races.
One of the most bruising was the Cameron County Judge contest. There were four candidates in March who split the 16,640 votes cast then. Joe G. Rivera, the current county clerk got 7,271, Brownsville attorney Ruben R. Pena, who had run for county commissioner in 2012 against Ernie
Hernandez was second with 4,730, Martin Arambula, a school district employee and Port of Brownsville commissioner got 3,980 and bail bondsman T. Rivera got 659 of his friends to darken the oval for him.
In this runoff, Peña not only has to make up the 2,541 vote difference between his votes and Rivera's, but also try to entice the 4,539 voters who cast their ballots for Arambula and the other Rivera. It's been done before, but very rarely.
At this stage of the game, after months of enticing voters with their qualifications and platforms, candidates have turned to casting a bad light on their opponents character, history and ancestry. Peña has pointed out in his mailouts and social media spots the fact the after 36 years Rivera has gotten more than 20 raises and that he seems more interested in feathering his nest and burnishing his image at public expense (a personal portrait) rather than providing a service to the people.
The "Friends of Joe Rivera" political action committee, in turn, is distributing fliers with snippets of newspaper articles focusing on what they say are the dishonest dealings they say that Peña performed in the execution of La Paloma farmer Rex McGarr estate in 1982. The flier state that Peña and Robert Pedraza, McGarr's foreman, swindled McGarr out of  $1.8 million so that at the time of his death in 1986, the estate was worthless.
That, however, was more than 40 years ago so it makes it hard for the immediacy to sink in..
And in spite of many legal actions taken on that case, no legal charges were even proven against either man. They cite special prosecutor (De Witt County Assistant District Attorney Alger Kendall) telling a court “that Peña escaped indictment on misapplication of trust and other charges brought against him by the heirs because the statute of limitations had run out on the allegations against Peña.”
When you hear Joe on the hustings, he recites the tale, adding a few appropriate comments and hinting at other Peña wrong doings against his clients. As is the case with most legal arguments, unless you're on a jury, they become confusing and complex things to follow and people listen politely until the time comes for the food to be served.
The McGarr factor was played heavily by Hernandez in his race against Peña in 2010. Did it make a difference? It's hard to say, those elections were marred by the manipulation of the mail-in votes harvested by the Hernandez political machine. Hernandez beat Peñ2 by 49 votes in the runoff 2,159 to 2,110. But Hernandez got 240 mail-in votes to Peña's 34, a difference of of 206. Without the mail-in voter manipulation, Peña would have been county commissioner.
A local polling firm has released their survey results to us in that race and they say that a poll of 343 respondents yielded the finding that Rivera leads Peña 53 to 30 percent. with 17 percent undecided. There is, however, a 5 percent margin of error either way. Take these results with a beach full of sand.
In all fairness, the polling company (Dann Rivera's Victory Data) is paid by Rivera for his labors so one has to factor that into the mix.
This is South Texas and elections are emotional things here. Figure that Joe Rivera's name probably appears on your birth certificate, marriage (or divorce) certificates, property and home sales, business filings, etc. In other words, people are side to having Joe Rivera's name in their homes. Peña will be pressed to overcome the name ID Rivera has acquired for good or ill after 36 years.
 But just as having name ID is an advantage, it can also cut both ways. Your name can be associated with a too long longevity in office, excesses in spending, or a perceived personal entrenchment in public office.
The data from the Victory Data poll indicates a generational split between both candidates, with those between 18 and 34 favoring Peña and those 35 and above leaning toward Rivera. If Peña can excite the young voter to come out between now and May 27, he might have a credible chance to make an impact on the final outcome.
However, if that group is not awakened and motivated, it might favor those that feel comfortable having Joe over at the courthouse in Brownsville for another four years in a different office. The decision will be left up to you, dear readers, the voters.

BROWNTOWN'S THE BREW, AND DR. DOTSON, A CLASSIC, AT GEORGE RAMIREZ AND BEN NEECE'S HALF MOON TONIGHT

LA MENTIRA DURA HASTA QUE LA VERDAD LLEGA

By Juan Montoya
Mexican dichos are popular because they are succinct and contain folk wisdom gained over hundreds of years.
That's why the one contained in the title to this post seemed so appropriate.
Last Sunday the Leo Lopez Campaign bombarded the local newspaper with ads which at best were misleading and at worst were meant to deceive the voting public. Lopez is one of the contenders in the Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner's race. That's the position which has been left vacant after the forced resignation of Ernie Hernandez. Lopez's opponent is Brownsville attorney Alex Dominguez.
In Lopez's ads (there were two of them) he takes Dominguez to task because as an attorney who gets paid for his appointment to ad litem cases his stipends would have to go through commissioners court and – to Lopez – this would constitute a conflict of interest. He then listed a number ($86,000 or so) that Dominguez had been paid in the past for those appointments.
The other ad was about complaints filed against Dominguez by Lopez ally and megaphone Robert Wightman, a disbarred lawyer from Dallas who combs through political contribution and expenditures reports to find something he can embarrass people with and files a complaint withe the Texas Ethics Commission.. So far he has filed five against Dominguez, a fact that the Lopez ad people called "a brazen disregard for the law."
Until today's response from Dominguez in the local newspaper, the lie endured.
Now we find out that Dominguez had stopped taking ad litem court appointment since mid-2010 to tend to his successful law practice. Since 2011 – more than three years ago – Dominguez had taken only $550 from a previous appointment from the county over the last four years. So the blaring headlines and the mass mailout claiming the "CONFLICT OF INTEREST" turned out to be a lie. What's more, Leo Lopez's wife – 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez – should have known this to be a lie since she appointed Dominguez to those cases way back in 2005 to represent mentally impaired patients.
As far as the TEC complaints by Wightman used by the Lopezes to imply Dominguez was a scofflaw, it turns out that two were dismissed, two resulted in no sanctions, and the latest one filed by the disbarred lawyer is still under review. In baseball, that's 0 for 4 and the batter would be on his way to the bush leagues where he belongs.
In his small feel-good ads, Lopez says he is "a family man," a "man of faith," and a businessman." He forgot to add that he and whoever worked on those ads are also liars.
Llego la verdad.

  

WAS BISD EMAIL USED FOR LOPEZ POLITICAL MESSAGES?

By Juan Montoya
"Thank you for your vote in the primary," the email started.
Then, it says, "I am in a runoff election. Please vote once more. Early voting started yesterday, Monday May 19th, and ends on Friday, May 27th (sic ). Your vote is important. Voting polls are available in the following locations."
Whether the sender was mistaken in saying Friday was the 27th (actually the 23rd), it is obvious that either Lopez or some of his supporters have tapped into the BISD electronic message system to forward his candidacy.
Another caller told us a similar message appeared before the March 4th primary with a biblical quote about the last being the first because Lopez was last on the ballot.
A recipient of the message states that on Friday at 4:07 p.m., he received the mass mailing  for Leo Lopez from Leonel Lopez b"docleotx@yahoo.com, actually copied to the BISD personnel, it was addressed to Elia Lopez "eclopezla"
With the 404th District Judge the target of criticism for her apparent personal involvement in her husband's partisan political race, the fact that either they (or one of their supporters) has used the BISD's electronic mail of all district personnel to campaign for Lopez raises new questions about the impartiality of the system.
We understand this matter has already been brought o the BISD administration's attention. But don't hold your breath on something being done about this violation of its political neutrality.

WIGHTMAN: LIES, ALL LIES! I'LL SUE! I SWEAR I'LL SUE!

"I ALEX DOMINGUEZ SWEAR TO NEVER TELL THE TRUTH"

Dominguez Montoya continue with their lies - because they know that is all they have - from Montoya "Judging by the mass mailouts where Leo alludes to his wife as being the "Judge of the 404th District Court." Where in the ad does it say Judge of the 404th District Court? It does not. It is just another bought and paid for lie by Alex Dominquez." Blogger Robert Wightman
By Juan Montoya
Well, used as we are to bear the slings and arrows of Outrageous Mad Queen Robert Wightman, this one stuck in our craw just a wee bit.
In the Ethics Opinion Number 295, the following opinions are rendered.
...Canon 5 (2) further provides in part that “A judge … shall not authorize the public use of his or
her name endorsing another candidate for any public office….”

It is the committee’s opinion that the conduct that is the subject of this opinion is distinguishable from the conduct addressed in Opinion No. 180. 

By avoiding the use of the title of the judge, the judge avoids lending the prestige of office to his spouse and the conduct does not amount to an endorsement of the spouse. This opinion is strictly limited to the questions stated. A judge who is the spouse of a candidate and who attends campaign events with the spouse should be ever vigilant to avoid placing himself in situations where hi/her conduct could be construed as a public endorsement of his/her spouse.

Now, the Lopez mailout clearly states that Leo Lopez is claiming that his wife is the judge of the 404th District Court.

Now, did Leo do this without Elia's permission? Or not?
And how long will they continue to think that Wightman can help them?