YZAGUIRRE: BETWEEN FELLOW DEMOCRAT GILBERT HINOJOSA AND REPUBLICAN CARLOS CASCOS "BILLETE MATA CARITA."

By Juan Montoya
Word is out that Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa is livid after learning that Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre is hosting a BBQ at his now-famous

Ranchito Escondido in honor of Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos and 357th District Judge Juan Magallanes.
The "appreciation" BBQ was to be held today at Yzaguirre's home at 1305 Honeydale Rd. (rear) from 5 to 8 p.m. Entry is $20 a pop (to defray the cost of BBQ), the ticket reads.
However, we have learned that due to inclement weather, the event will be held a week from today, Thursday, Jan. 29.
So why would Hinojosa throw a tiff?
Well, think about it. Cascos defeated him for Cameron County Judge in 2006 and four later in 2010 defeated his candidate John Woods. And just this last year (2014), he defeated the Democrats' candidate Joe Rivera.
On top of that, Cascos has been tapped to become the next Texas Secretary of State by Gov. Greg Abbott.
It gets worse.
Magallanes and Hinojosa arrived in Cameron County many years ago and made good here as law partners. In fact, both Magallanes and Hinojosa held the Cameron County Democratic Party chairmanship at one time or another. To have your former law partner and Yzaguirre, one of the Democratic Party's most stalwart elected officials hosting his nemesis would be like adding insult to injury and has to sting a bit, we would think.
Yzaguirre has been holding these types of "fundraisers" for years, even during years where he has had no opponent. It is a side income event that always draws a good crowd. It stands to reason. If you are the owner of one of the countess car lots in the county, you might just need a favor in selling a car when there might be some glitch with the title or you run asunder of some new state or county regulation governing the sale of vehicles.
One of Tony's guys shows up at your used car lot office with 10 or 20 tickets at $20 a pop and then a couple of weeks later shows up to pick up the cash. We haven't heard of too many car lot owners who don;t fork over the cash to keep Tony happy. Whether they go to the BBQ or not is immaterial.
The Yzaguirre-Cascos relationship is one grounded on cold hard cash.
When Pct. 4 commissioner Dan Sanchez moved that Rivera and former Cameron County District Clerk Aurora de la Garza be awarded $2,200 raises each, he cited as that both Rivera and De la Garza have been with the county longer than had Yzaguirre who, according to figures from the auditor's office commanded $93,210 in total compensation.
Yzaguirre, who had the court honor his request to have his car allowance of some $7,200 transferred to his salary during the court's efforts to trim the budget by 5 percent in the 2010-2011 budget year, had been making more than either since.
"Well, he did cut the his department's auto allowance line item to zero, but he gave himself a $7,200 raise by having it transferred to his salary," said a county worker.
And even though the 2011-2012 approved budget has him listed at .a $77,530 salary, his salary at the county auditor's office has him listed at $84,730 with an additional $960 per month telephone allowance. If these numbers are correct, he is receiving about $93,210 in total compensation.
By comparison, Cascos makes a base salary of $64,062 which is augmented by a $5,400 stipend for serving on the County Juvenile Board.
"When Yzaguirre requested that the court transfer the car allowance to his salary in 2010-2011, the commissioners were all were under the impression that he was going to retire and was requesting that to increase his retirement benefits at the highest salary," recounted a county employee. "But he didn't retire and he ran again and won. The other two thought they should paid the same."
There is a saying in Spanish that "billete mata carita," translating roughly to "money trumps good looks."
In the case of the Cascos-Hionojosa duel, it appears that to Yzaguirre "money trumps political ideology."