Special to El Rrun-Rrun
For the last 14 years, Eddie Lucio III has been the District 38 Texas State Representative, covering the southwestern portion of Cameron County in the Texas Legislature.
As the son of District 27 Texas Senator Eddie Lucio, who in turn has has held that position for the last 28year, he had been considered the position as a family heirloom and a stepping stone to his father's senate seat.
But their critics say that having the Lucios hold those positions has created a sense of entitlement in the family which has focused on their personal benefit and not in representing their constituents' interests.Even after a combined four decades in their respective House of Representatives and Texas Senate seats, the area remains mired in dismal socioeconomic levels while they continually draw the support of state and national Political Actions Committees and interests outside their jurisdictions.
Now it appears that the III has drawn at least one challenger before the filing deadline 6 p.m. Monday. Sources close to the Gamez law firm have indicated that Erin Gamez - daughter of prominent attorney Ernesto Gamez - will file against Lucio III for the District 38 Texas State Representative seat. She has represented defendants in several high-profile cases and has been prominent in representing them in the local courts.
And before the deadline window closes, others say that Brownsville Independent School Board member Erasmo Castro will also be jumping in the same race.
Why the sudden interest in the District 38 race? Lucio III's name was one of several members of the staff at Ruben Gallegos' (Sr. and Jr.) International Educational Services whose federal contract to shelter unaccompanied migrants was withdrawn amid charges of fraud and a continuing investigation into questionable use of those funds.
As far back as 2014, Lucio III told the Brownsville Herald that the since IES didn't do business with the state he was not bound by the state standard that says, “no state officer or state employee should accept other employment or compensation which could reasonably be expected to impair his independence of judgment in the performance of his official duties.”
Insofar as IES, Lucio said, “it doesn’t have any issues in front of the state. It is federally funded and regulated. They haven’t had any issues in the time I have been there.” “They really have zero issues with the state. I have never had to recuse myself.”
He said his work with IES involved typical contract law, human resource matters, leases and “meat and potato issues.” Although at the time he identified himself as vice president of external affairs of he declined to say how much IES paid him. However, the statement for IES's IRS report as a non-profit identifies him as its legal counsel at $125,000 a year.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement Administration for Children & Families notified gthe IES nonprofit that its grant funding was coming to an end listed several reasons why it was putting it out of business.
The nonprofit, which was formed in 1985, aimed to provide physical and educational care for unaccompanied migrant children entrusted to its care by immigration officials who detained the children.
IES closed on March 31 and terminated the jobs of hundreds of employees.As legal counsel for the IES, Lucio III, a lawyer, should have known that the salaries for both Gallegos were excessive and should have never been paid. If he didn't provide them with legal advice to keep them out of trouble, what exactly was Lucio III getting paid for?
Lucio III's relationship with Gallegos Jr. goes way back to 2010 when the Brownsville Herald reported that he was contracted by the Regional Mobility Authority. Ruben Gallegos is a director on the CCRMA.
It's not really the legislative acumen of either Lucio that has made them rich, is it? More and more it has become evident that it is the selling of influence from the public offices they hold that they have used to fill their pockets.
Gallegos and Gallegos Jr. (and perhaps Lucio III) are not out of the woods yet. Many more shoes have yet to fall.
1 comment:
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