DID CHAVEZ-VASQUEZ SNEAK IN WITH WOMEN'S TICKET?

By Juan Montoya
After the 2016 Democratic Party primary results in the Cameron County Court-at-Law #5 race between three candidates came in giving former City of Brownsville commissioner Estela Chavez-Vasquez a majority of the vote, many local political observers were left scratching their heads.
"How in God's green earth did she get 11,168 votes compared to Noe Robles' 7,987 and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia's 8,266?"
Robles, for example, is a former county court-at-law judge and many thought he would draw a substantial number of votes from knowledgeable voters who recognized his name. Garcia, while a first comer to politics, is well known and respected in the legal community.
Chavez-Vasquez and Garcia are in the runoff election this May 24.
Shelia Garcia Bence is in a runoff with Dan Robles (no relation to Noe) for the other new court, County-Court-at -Law #4.
How was it that Chavez-Vasquez  who has never tried a case, picked a jury, and had to resign from office after it was disclosed she didn't live in her district, and is generally held in low regard by seasoned attorneys get to be in the runoff?
Many point to the totals in the 138th District Court race between Arturo Cisneros Nelson and until this election, unknown Sonia Herrera as the key to the results in the Vasquez-Sanchez race.
"If you look at the totals, Herrera got 11,391 and Estela got 11,168," said a courthouse watcher. "Gloria Rincones, who was running unopposed, got 20,470."
Some candidates who were running in the same primary have commented that Rincones, Herrera, and Chavez-Vasquez were running together as a all-woman ticket, resulting in Chavez-Vasquez coming in by way of the other's apron strings.
"Rincones will deny it, of course," he said. "But the numbers don't lie. Now that Gloria is not in the runoff, and records are compared, it will be hard for Chavez-Vasquez to draw that many votes out on May 24."
Brownsville residents remember that Vasquez-Chavez resigned by proxy after it was disclosed that she was no longer living in the city. Although she told an interviewer earlier this month that she had "followed the law and I was still criticized for it. I did what the law required."
Not quite, say some city residents.
"She didn't even resign in person." said a local attorney. "In fact, she had commissioner Rose Gowen read her resignation for her. She was caught serving illegally and she knew it."
Chavez-Vasquez served as city commissioner from 2011 until she resigned in January 2015. She was supported in her bid for office by Mayor Tony Martinez, and locals remember that she consistently cast her vote for his proposals. Insiders say that it was Ambiotec's Carlos Marin (of United Brownsville) who convinced her to run so the group could have a sure vote on the city commission.
Locals remember her inane comments and questions for city staff during the telvised meetings of the commission. She showed city residents that independence wasn't her forte.
She, for example:
- Voted to commit the city and the PUB to build a $500 million, 800 MW natural gas-fueled power plant with private energy company Tenaska. The construction – scheduled for 2016 – has been delayed time and again because Tenaska has to find buyers for the 600 MWs left over after PUB claims its 200 MW share.
- At the time she voted for the Tenaska boondoggle, she also voted to increase utility rates to pay for the bonds that the city had to issue to pay for ites$325 million share of the cost. Those rates have been in effect since 2013 and are scheduled to keep on rising past 2017.
- As  city commissioner, Vasquez-Chavez signed off on the city's RFP proposal to the University of Texas System to hand over Lincoln Park to the oil-and-gas wealthy university system for $6,1 million, a fraction of its appraised value of over $25 million.
- She also approved Martinez's purchase of the Casa del Nylon building for $2.3 million even though independent appraisers place its value at somewhere near $650,000.
But what may be more damning than anything else is that while she was a city commissioner, her voice was rarely heard in defense of her constituents.
"She didn't even attend the only debate that was held for the county court-at-law judges held at the Bernie Sanders headquarters on Boca Chica," said a person who attended the event. "I have nothing against women attorneys seeking office, but if it's going to be a blind vote versus an educated one, we're going to end up with someone with very little legal experience making decisions tat will affect people's lives."