PORT BALLOT POSTED, ED RIVERA'S RESIDENCY QUESTIONED

By Juan Montoya
The Brownsville Navigation District has finally released the names of the candidates for its May 7 commissioners election.
It took them a wile, but once they did, the ballot revealed a few surprises.
Most notable is the inclusion of Ed Rivera as one of the three candidates for the Place 5 position now held by incumbent Tito Lopez.
Patrick Anderson is from Los Fresnos and makes no bones about the fact that he does not want the coming of the LNG terminals to the port.
On the other hand, it is the candidacy of Ed Rivera – who decided not to run for a full term with on the Texas Southmost board of trustees – and jumped into the port race instead.
From the get-go, Rivera's candidacy has been suspect. He first filed against John Reed, but when he found out that this was not well received by those who urged him to run, he switched to run against Lopez. As a result, Reed is running unopposed.
Questions instantly arose about the eligibility of Rivera to run for the port district since he listed his residence at Laguna Vista, outside the district. After a little digging, we came up with a few indicators that a challenge to his candidacy on residency grounds might well derail it.
For example, a property search with the Cameron County Appraisal District indicates that Rivera is listed as the owner of a property at 22 Harbor town in Laguna Vista. Additionally, it states that he is receiving a homestead exemption for the home as well.
The CCAD page says the information is valid as of Feb. 24, 2016.
  In his application for a place on the ballot, Rivera lists an address in Brownsville on 14 Ebony Drive not under his name. We later found out that he claims it is the home of a girlfriend.
Now, if Riveras no longer lives on 22 Harbor Town, does that mean he gives up the homestead exemption?
And if he has moved, has he notified the CCAD he is no longer there?
There are other questions. His Cameron County voter registration card reads that he lives at 22 Harbor Town in Laguna Vista.
In fact, as of last December, when all the voter registration cards were renewed, that the address listed for him in Laguna Vista.
We asked whether there had been any changes lately and the elections office clerk indicated that Rivera had asked for a card replacement Feb. 23, on Tuesday, and that he was given one.
The address listed on that card? Would you believe 22 Harbor Town, Laguna Vista?
Now, the deadline to file for the port elections was Feb. 19, four days before he asked for his replacement card. Did he forget he had moved in with his girlfriend when he accepted the replacement card with the Laguna Vista address? Or was it just an oversight by this Harvard grad?
Port officials have said they would not remove Rivera from the ballot unless they are told to do so by a court. And we have learned that some Lopez supporters might do just that and have the court issue subpoenas to question Rivera, his children, and the woman on Ebony Drive on the residency eligibility of the candidate. Stay tuned.