As the countdown to the 2020 elections for the Justice of the Peace 2-1 seat held by Linda Salazar for the last 16 years approaches, at least two challengers have publicly announced they will run against her.
So far, one is Fred Arias, a retired federal lawman, and the other is Cynthia Mendiola- Hinojosa, a Democratic Party women activist and currently the office manager for the Gilberto Hinojosa Law Firm, her husband and also Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.Mendiola- Hinojosa, originally from La Joya, has a Criminal Science graduate, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, and has a Master's Degree in Education, Guidance and Counseling.
She is currently the office manager for the Gilberto Hinojosa Law Firm, her husband and also Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. Hinojosa has over the years worked as Assistant Program Director at the La Esperanza Home for Boys, as a clinician there, and as a Parole Officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Parole Division.
And as what is forecast to be a no-holds barred race for the nomination of the Democratic Party in the 2020 primary, it is becoming increasingly clear to local political watchers that Salazar has switched to an election mode and placed her docket on the back burner.
Records obtained from the county indicates that most of the cases filed in JP offices in Brownsville end up away from Salazar's office, and some process servers are saying that her office has been turning away filings.
For example, in January, only 92 civil cases were accepted at her office compared to 203 in JP 2-2 Jonathan Gracia's and 140 in JP 2-3 Mary Esther Sorola's.
The number of criminal cases among all three totaled 537 in Salazar's court, 628 in Gracia's and 1,456 in Sorola's.
The record indicates that number of criminal and civil cases combined in her court numbered 640, compared with 832 in Gracia's court and 1,456 in Sorola's.
"It is apparent that Linda may be refusing to accept civil cases so she can spend her time in the upcoming election," said a county staffer. "As a result, the other courts are getting swamped with civil cases that she doesn't want."
This viewpoint is supported by the year-to-date numbers. Since October, her court has totaled 3,038 cases filed with another 3,082 in Gracia's and 4,567 in Sorola's court.
Yet, despite the smaller number of cases handled in her court, Salazar went before the commissioners January 22 seeking a temporary full-time position. Although the commissioners approved the position "subject to funding" although Pct. 4 commissioner Gus Ruiz and Pct. 3 commissioner David Garza agreed that the positions should be funded for the judges based on "productivity" of the office.
Her office, however, has shown no slack in the number of marriages Salazar performs, far outstripping the other Brownsville JPs. Under Texas law, JPs are allowed to pocket all the money thy charge for weddings.
8 comments:
Linda has her back covered, she knows where the skeletons are buried and she has no problem of digging them up. Linda bye a landslide.
Paquita la del Barrio at it again... Todo Paya y Nada Paca!!!
SHE MAY KNOW WHERE THOSE SKELETONS ARE ON OTHER POLITICIANS...I AM SURE SHE HAS HER OWN SKELETONS TOOOOOO. I'M SURE THOSE WILL COME SOON TO...ALLOT!!!
HINOJOSA WILL KICK HER ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS AT THE POLES. SHE (JUDGE) AN ARROGANT FAT JUDGE THAT DOES NOT GIVE A SHIT FOR THE PEOPLE OTHER THAN FOR HER OWN SELF GAIN!!! MARRIAGES???? ITS TIME TO GET RID OF HER...PEOPLE GET OUT AND VOTE FOR THE RIGHT CHOICE....HINOJOSA. WE NEED A PEOPLE'S JUDGE!!!
At the North Pole or the South Pole?
Juanito, investigate what JP's give their civil process citations to private servers instead of sending them to the Constable's office. Keep the money in the county!!! You would blow up this county with that info.
Wondering why no bio info on Fred Arias and only on Ms.
Hinoja?
EDA QUE SI?! EDA QUE SOY UNA JUEZA BUENA? EDA!?
She should be doing job the minority elected her to do. Turning cases away places an undue burden on our other judges which is unfair to them and their ability to conduct business correctly. This is negligent on Linda Salazar’s part and would be considered a job performance degradation in any real world job such as the private industry where she would be put on notice prior to termination. Do your job Salazar.
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