"CELL PHONE ERIC" CONTINUES SHERIFF DEPT. DEBACLE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Less than a year into his four-year term, Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza has shown that he doesn't have a clue of how a real sheriff should act. 

Now, eight months into the job, he continues to perform acts in defiance of common sense and public-service propriety. In his latest self-promoting stunt, he has now had his name and image plastered onto political-neutral materials generated by the Cameron County Emergency Communications District (CCECD) to further his political interests. 

The board of the CCECD will be surprised to learn that the materials they distribute to teach children and other county residents how to use the 911 emergency phone system are now being used to promote Garza and his administration.

The community-education literature generated and distributed by the CCECD uses a cartoon personage called Cell Phone Sally that may as well now read "Cell Phone Eric."

In June 1986, county voters overwhelmingly approved (by  86.5 percent of the vote) a referendum creating a communications district and giving authorization to collect a service fee (26 cents per residential phone line, 62 cents per business phone line and 98 cents per business trunk line. 

The CCECD receives requests from schools, day cares, civic clubs and community organizations to attend events throughout the county such as safety expos, fairs, neighborhood watch meetings and National Night Out.

Garza hit upon a way to tap into the CCED  this community-education function to continue campaigning and further his political aspirations by plastering the political-neutral literature with his image. 

Despite the fact that he was short of corrections officers – as per the Texas Commission on Jail Standards – he gave up a few jailer slots to acquire three secretary positions for his front office. In many cases when he approved new hires, these positions went to campaign supporters and financial contributors, paying lip service to established Cameron County Human Resources policies.

Why the three secretaries?

He uses them while on county time to paste his name and photo on the materials, in effect, using the CCECD's literature as political advertising and county taxpayers to fund the salaries of the secretaries to promote himself. 

This is about par for the course. 

When he advertised for more jailers to make up for the 70 or so that left after January 1, he sent a mass mailer with his name prominently on the card and the photo he used in his campaign literature. The commissioner court then found out that he had dipped into some $4,000 in funds from a budget line item designated for the Cameron County District Clerk's Office for jury summons. 

The mass mailer looked more like a campaign mailer depicting his campaign photo and his name prominently on the sheriff's department logo. A similar pitch by Hidalgo County for corrections officer positions does not name the sheriff or bears his picture or uses jury summons mail permits to promote himself. 

Commissioners learned that Garza had asked the jury summons supervisor for the mail permit used for jury summons but that the clerk had refused to give it to him. A county auditor staff member received one in his mail, recognized the mail permit, and reported it to County Auditor Martha Galarza and the gig was up.

County residents have now experienced eight months of numerous Garza faux-pas.

Even before he took over on January 1, he had already handed over power to his chief deputy-designee Robert Gracia, despite the fact that he was neither a certified peace officer in the State of Texas, or even a Cameron County employee.

Then – despite the fact that he was short of corrections officers as per the Texas Commission on Jail Standards – he gave up a few jailer slots to acquire three secretary positions for his front office. In many cases when he approved new hires, these positions went to campaign supporters and financial contributors, paying lip service to established Cameron County Human Resources policies.

In fact, when Gracia was "appointed" chief deputy, he was not one of the eight applicants for the position but nonetheless Gracia was installed as head dog without a badge, and without applying. If he had, he would have learned that he did not qualify without a certification from the Texas Commission Of Law enforcement (TCOLE) required for the position in the job description.

Commissioners learned that Garza had personally asked the jury summons supervisor for the mail permit used for jury summons but that the official had refused to give it to him. A county auditor staff member received one in his mail, recognized the mail permit, and reported it to County Auditor Martha Galarza and the gig was up.

Despite the fact that in any other counties many of these acts that would trigger charges of abuse of official capacity that result when a public servant intentionally "misuses government property, services, personnel, or nay other thing of value belonging to the government that has come into the public servant's custody or possession by virtue of (his) office or employment, Cell Phone Eric continues to push the envelope.

 

In these eight months of his tenure, he (and Cameron County) has been embroiled in two federal lawsuits charging him and chief deputy Gracia with political retaliation, Gracia getting a free pass for impersonating a police officer, and has been sued by the commissioners court itself for inappropriately seeking to take over its courthouse security budget, and is witnessing the continuing exodus of jailers from the jails, etc...

County commissioners, the District Attorney's Office, and the voters of the county themselves might want to reconsider whether this is "the protection we deserve," and "the change we need."