WILL SYLVIA GARZA-PEREZ BE A NO-SHOW ON WEDNESDAY?

By Juan Montoya
With less than 24 hours before the bevy of winning office holders line up at the Dancy Building to take their oath and get bonded on Wednesday, it is anyone's guess whether Cameron County Clerk-Elect Sylvia Garza-Perez will be among them.
By now the news that she has been unable to get an insurance bonding company to issue a sufficiently large amount ($500,000) to cover her office has been making the rounds all over the county. Sources tell us that she has been visiting several area brokers trying to purchase the coverage.
It now appears that there is no majority on the commissioners court to authorize the county to set aside $400,000 from the general fund to cover the bond requirements of that office.
In a year fraught with quirks and turns of events that seem to develop almost on cue, if she can't acquire the coverage may result in her not taking office. In fact, her current boss and incumbent county clerk Joe Rivera was set to have her take the oath until the bonding glitch surfaced.
Why is Ms. Garza-Perez not bondable? Some sources tell us that there might be a loan default from years ago that makes insurers wary of issuing the required bond. Others say that it may be the result of some litigation or perhaps even a judgement against her.
When she was the chairwoman of the Cameron County Democratic Party, the organization owed the Cameron County Elections Office something in the amount near $44,000 for running their primaries and elections. At the time, Garza-Perez was said to have gone to Elections administrator Chris Davis claiming penury. In fact, the party was asked to vacate its meeting place in the old Majestic building when they could not pay the rent to the landlord,
In an ironic turn of events, if Sylvia had remained as a candidate for county judge and not for county clerk, the $1000 coverage she has now would have been sufficient to cover the office. However, the money generated by the various functions of the county clerk's office require the additional $400,000. Will we see the unthinkable take place that Joe Rivera will stay on as county clerk as a holdover until Ms. G-P straightens out the mess?
You know Cameron County, never a dull moment.