SAENZ USES BOOKKEEPER CASE TO DISCREDIT COUNTY CLERK

By Juan Montoya
The arrest of a former Cameron County Clerk's Office bookkeeper accused of stealing public funds and tampering with evidence has provided District Attorney Luis V. Saenz with a soapbox to criticize on of his political opponents' biggest supporters.
Saenz said the arrest of Jose Tovar in Orange County, Florida, came about as the result of a "tip" that later led to a grand jury indictment against the man who had resigned prior to the grand jury indictment.
He also took the opportunity to say this about Cameron County Clerk Sylvia Garza Perez: "The County Clerk would be the ultimate person in charge of Tovar and had we not received the anonymous tip this would have gone uninvestigated," Saenz said.
Well, not quite.
Tovar, in fact, was a carry over from the Joe Rivera administration at the county office and had been kept by incoming county clerk Garza-Perez.
In fact, it was Garza-Perez who caught a discrepancy on the receipts processed by Tovar on at least two occasions and called his attention to the matter.
The first time, Tovar said he had misplaced the receipts in another money bag and when a recounting was done after a lunch break, the receipts  reconciled with the records. However, this placed him under scrutiny and when it happened again (the $750), he again made up for it.
By this time, however, Garza-Perez had consulted with the county's legal counsel and asked for guidance on how to treat the matter.
Since there was no actual shortage of funds, she was told to apply progressive discipline on the bookkeeper and Tovar was demoted and made aware that he was under close watch. He later resigned. She was never advised to report the matter to the DA's Office by legal counsel.

Saenz said he felt bad for the public. He said it was "upsetting and disheartening" that these events kept coming to light even after he launched a Public Intergrity Unit to crack down on corruption.
For months after the incidents, DA investigators kept interviewing Tovar's supervisors to the point where one asked them whether they were insinuating she had covered for Tovar and asked whether she should seek legal representation. The investigators backed away and the grand jury issued the four-count indictments including theft by a public servant, tampering with a government document and tapering with physical evidence with intent to impair.
Over the last few months, the constant visits to that office by DA personnel has created a level of stress that some find unbearable.
Tovar waits extradition from Florida.
Does the fact that Garza-Perez is supporting Carlos Masso, Saenz's opponent for the DA's Office, prompt Saenz's sharp criticism of the county clerk over the misconduct of an underling?
Nowadays it seems that as the March 1 primary election date approaches, every case – however mundane – that passes through the DA's Office is seen as an opportunity to elevate Saenz's electability and berate his opponent's supporters.