LINDA'S FIRED CLERK: SHE MADE US LOOK FOR WEDDINGS..."

By Juan Montoya

In the picture above, two county workers for two justices of the peace are seen flipping a sign that had been placed on the lobby of the second floor by JP 2-1 Linda Salazar to snag couples seeking a judge to perform their wedding ceremony.

Their actions were captured on surveillance tapes Sept. 20, 2017.

As a result, a civil clerk from Salazar's office, one Angelica Castillo, was written up and fired for "insubordination and disrespect to her employer."

On January 29, Castillo appealed her termination before the board of the Cameron County Civil Service Commission.

Salazar was represented by commissioner court legal counsel Juan Gonzalez who had three witnesses, including Castillo and her personnel records. The fired clerk told the commission her lawyer was out of town and that she had to defend herself in the hearing. Her appeal was denied and Castillo's termination was upheld.                                                                                                                                                                                The placement of the sign in front of the second-floor elevator by Salazar irked the other two JPs to no end because she was competing for the ceremonies which pay anywhere between $200 to $350, money that the state allows JPs to keep for themselves. Salazar averages some 600 wedding ceremonies a year, hundreds more than the other two JPs combined.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The women flipped the sign after 5 p.m. when the offices had closed and they were on their way out of the second floor of the county Levee Building where the JPs' offices are now located.                                                                                                                                                              When Salazar emerged from her office and saw the sign flipped upside down, she also flipped out and called her court administrator, Ana M. Sanchez, to ask the IT people on the third floor for the surveillance video to determine who was responsible.

"She was very concerned, she was hurt because she didn't know if it was a defendant who was upset with a judgment..." Sanchez said. After viewing the tape, Sanchez said Salazar "was hurt because it was one of her clerks that had done it."

After Gonzalez had questioned the witnesses at the hearing (and Castillo declined to question them), the civil commission upheld her dismissal. The flipping of the sign was a Level 3 disciplinary action that – coupled with two past warnings for absences and tardiness – counted toward termination, according to administrator Sanchez.

However, during the last part of the hearing, after Gonzalez had urged the commissioners to uphold the termination to allow Salazar to carry out the "statutory and constitutional" duties of her office, Castillo said the flipping of the sign did not compare to some of the things that Salazar had her staff do "stuff for her"  on county time that was of a personal nature or benefit to Salazar.

Some of that "stuff" included:

1. Having them sell fundraiser candies for her grandkids during county time, including instructing them to sell them to attorneys coming to the court to represent their clients                                                                                                                             2. Making Castillo personally tutor her granddaughter during county time                                                                                                             3. Having staff members look out for weddings for her and bring them to her so she could perform the ceremonies for the $200-$350 fee                                                                                                               4. Closed the JP 2-1 office and had the entire staff attend her ex-husband's funeral and burial and then had them serve the meal to her guests at the VFW off Price Road, all on county time.

(To listen to Castillo testify before the commission on these abuses, click on audio.)

At least one instance of Salazar soliciting weddings has been caught on the county's surveillance videos. She, of course, denied she was soliciting wedding ceremony business, but it is obvious that she was.
Click on link to view tape: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2018/01/linda-salazar-in-action-soliciting.html

County Clerk Sylvia Garza-Perez denied that she allowed any JPS to solicit wedding ceremony business in her office and said that she had spoken to her clerks against recommending what JP to go to when they acquired their wedding licenses in her office.

Even County Administrator David Garcia had her remove the offensing sign from the lobby and instructed the other two JPs not to place any other signs or posters in the lobby. He did so after JP Mary Esther Sorola – tired of the quibbling over wedding ceremonies at the building – placed signs advertising performing the ceremonies free of charge. Her signs were removed.

But rumors persist that – perhaps unbeknownst to Garza-Perez – either her clerks or those employed by Salazar have reached an understanding to steer couples her way.

That Castillo lost her job and her unemployment because Salazar "was hurt" over the flipped over sign despite her apologies and their long relationship as county co-workers indicates that Salzar is more concerned with the wedding ceremony business than with the livelihood of a mere civil clerk like Castillo.