AT SANTA ROSA, A FEEL-GOOD XMAS AMONG CONTENDERS

By Juan Montoya
It has often been said that politics breeds strange bedfellows, and this was amply demonstrated at the Santa Rosa Christmas parade this Saturday.
It seemed that everyone and their brother (or sister) was at the event. Brownsville Navigation District trustee (and also former Cameron County Democratic Party District Attorney candidate ) Carlos Masso was playing nice with an inflatable Santa and Cameron County Clerk-Elect Sylvia Perez-Garza. His former opponent and current incumbent Luis Saenz was also out there pressing the flesh and showing off his new wheels.
About the only one who didn't make it was former county clerk Joe Rivera, who explained through social media that he was attending his grandson's graduation in San Antonio.
These three leading politicians may play a major role in each other's political future.
Garza-Perez is fighting for her political life and needs Rivera and perhaps even John Wood (another port commissioner who has been named as a possible county judge appointee once incumbent Carlos Cascos leaves for greener pastures in the hill country of Austin) to support her to remain with the county of things don't go well at Tuesday's meeting where her failure to acquire professional performance bonding will be hashed out by the commissioners court.
Saenz, of course, has to make sure everything's on the up and up with whatever happens.
There are several scenarios.
If Perez-Garza cannot acquire the full $500,000 surety bond (she has $100,000, but lacks the $400,000 in coverage as far as we know), it is possible that she can remain at her current paid position as chief deputy county clerk.

If Rivera cannot get the three votes to be come county judge, then the possibility opens for Wood.
If Wood can get the three votes for the county judge's position after Cascos leaves, he will have to vacate the port commissioner's seat, opening it up for someone to be appointed there.
There are several scenarios contingent on these moves. County administrator Arnold Flores is said to be considering a job officer as city manager up the Valley (Pharr?) and will join his wife who is working for the City of Edinburg.
Floes was the second runner-up after Garza-Perez for the county clerk's position. Coming in third was Don de Leon, who has run for both the county clerk nomination and a position at the port.
The commissioners at the port can decide (if Wood gets the nod) whether to bring in de Leon or possibly even former port commissioner Martin Arambula who came in behind Rivera in the Democratic Party primary for county judge.
It has been rumored that Armabula has already reached out to some commissioners for a return to his old seat on the port if that should occur. Arambula is the records manager for the Brownsville Independent School District and has taken on the task of making BISD "green" through a half-hearted attempt at district-wide recycling fort which he was given a $15,000 raise.
Then, of course, the commissioners court can decide to let Rivera stay as a holdover in his old position, if not county judge.
There are also reports that former City of Brownsville mayor Eddie Treviño – among others – has been trying to reach out and touch county commissioners and anyone near them to get the nod for the county judge position.
So we now have Rivera, Wood, Treviño, and even some talk of county administrator Pete Sepulveda – the highest paid county employee – being talked about as taking over Cascos' old seat. Pct. 3 commissioner David Garza is said to have a distant chance of getting the nomination even though there is talk that Cascos would vote for him in  a heartbeat.
Another dark horse is Pct. 4 commissioner David Sanchez, who has not made it a secret that there is nothing more that he would want than to get three of his fellow commissioners to pull the lever for him. If Rivera can convince Sanchez to vote for him and promise him his support for election in two coming years, it will be up to Pct. 1 commissioner Dominguez to cast the deciding vote. This is heady stuff for the shiny pated first-time commissioner who himself was appointed to fill Ernie Hernandez's unfinished term after Hernandez agreed to resign in exchange for the dropping of seven corruption charges by...DA Saenz.
With so many contingencies at hand, is it any wonder that so many local politicians are reaching out for others in a spirit of good cheer and perhaps a "yes" vote on their behalf?