Sunday, February 28, 2016

PORT DECLINES TO RULE ON RIVERA'S ELIGIBILITY

By Juan Montoya
It has become apparently clear that the adminstration at the Brownsville Navigation District will now rule on the eligibility (or non-eligibility) of current Texas Southmost College trustee Ed Rivera who is one of two challangers for the position now held by Tito Lopez.
ed-riveraThe other is Los Fresnos resident Patrick Anderson.
Lopez wrote port elections administrator Deborah Lee Duke protesting Rivera's inclusion in the elections because he did not meet eligibility requirements over his residence.
If the past performance of port counsel Daniel Rentfro Jr. is any gauge, he probably will defer any advice to the commissioners or the port. After all, oit was Danny Boy who said it was OK for the port to transfer millions to exchange houses in Mexico as payment for non-existing work by Mexican subcontractors hired by Dannenbaum Engineeering in the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere."
To the layman, the list below would seem to indictate that Rivera is not eligible to run for a position in a district where (until very recently) he has not lived.
In his application, Rivera listed 14 Ebony, Brownsville Texas, as his residence.
The office of the Texas Secretary of State and Duke, who is overseeing the BND elections, investigated the following:

1. Cameron County Appraisal District Records Search for Eduardo R. Rivera which shows his homestead exemption as 22 Harbor Town, in Laguna Vista, outside the district boundaries. (See graphic below. Click to enlarge.)

2. Sergio Tito Lopez' letter
3. Copies of the BND Policy 202 (Legal);
4. Screenshot from the Texas Southmost College webpage for trustee Ed Rivera;
5. Statement from Cameron County elections Administrator Remi Garza (Feb. 23, 2016)
6. Voting history record for Eduardo R. Rivera
7. Replacement Voter Registration Card for Eduardo R. River issued Feb. 23, four days after the filing deadline which lists 22 Harbor Town as his residence.
8. Homestead address (22 Harbor Town, Laguna Vista)
Duke, based on a comment from the Election Division of the Secretary of State, determined that the public records do not conclusively establish Mr. Rivera's ineligibility, however the information does not determine Mr. Rivera's eligibility to run.
Section 145.003 of the Texas Election Code states:

(f) A candidate may be declared ineligible only if:
1) the information on the candidate's application for a place on the ballot indicates that the candidate is ineligible for the office; or
2) facts indicating that the candidate is ineligible are conclusively established by another public record.
The BND is not allowed to resolve fact issues regarding a candidates' eligibility, she told the other two candidates. Resolution of fact issues, it would seem, will likely have to be in the courts.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems that again, there is an effort from some group to control the BND Board and are attempting to manage a/their candidate or a candidate. Behind every candidate is someone or group that seeks to manage the election of someone. I might of support any candidate for the BND Board who advocates elimination of the taxes we pay to BND. We should not pay anything for this commercial entity.

Anonymous said...

He does not, nor never has lived at 14 Ebony. Does that make it a crime to say so on the application?

Anonymous said...


I used to think Ed was a stand up guy, one that would play by the rules. Evidently Harvard doesn't teach ethics.


Eduardo "Tiny" Sauceda

Anonymous said...

How can someone claim that he lives in the district if he gets a new replacement voter registration card after the filing deadline and has the address of his hometead as his address which is not in the district?

Naw, he don't live in the district and should not be able to run for a place on the navigation board. What kind of con job is he trying to pull? Instead of him being convinced by his Harvard roommate to run, he is the one that hould have convinced his Harvard roommate to run, at least Ed's Harvard roommate lives in the district!

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

"2) facts indicating that the candidate is ineligible are conclusively established by another public record."


???? What is the issue? Did everyone involved get a Common Core education? When did black become the new white?

rita