ARROGANT, ENTITLED, JONATHAN GRACIA'S CLAIM TO "PUBLIC SERVANT" FAKE; CIRCUS-SIZED SIGNS, SIGNS OF DESPERATION?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

He calls himself a "public servant," but ask law enforcement which Justice of the Peace is there to answer their calls at all hours of the night?

Is it the "public servant" at JP 2-2 Jonathan Gracia? Or one of the other two female justices of the Brownsville JPs?

Answer: Not Gracia. He usually can't be found. Ask the cops who call for one. Gracia can't be found and one of the ladies has to drop everything, and drag themselves up from their bed and families in the middle of the night to cover for him.

The use of women has long been a Gracia trademark. Even before he was elected – in 2019, while a Assistant District Attorney – there is a Brownsville Police Department report of a scared woman running barefoot down the frontage road after she fled the room where she was with Gracia because she was scared of him, but couldn't remember how she ended up in his room after a night of drinking.

"She stated that she got to the hotel and away from the hotel room and from there she left the hotel and started running around looking for help. She stated that she was trying to get away from him because she was afraid." (Click on graphic at right to enlarge.)

And when he got out into private practice, his former law partner – a female – found out that he was trying to steal her clients after she let him use of her office.

Skirting the law is another one of his trademarks. Check out the illegal signs he has placed on trailers across the city. A citation will only give him a ticket that he can defer until after the election.  

He didn't tire of telling people that he sought the JP position simply as a stepping stone to seek higher public office. And here he is. 

But before that, he wanted to cash in and compete with JP 2-1 Linda Salazar for performing weddings that range in cost from $250 to as much as $700 by building a pergola on his property to perform the ceremonies. (See graphic at left.)

"Public servant?" Hardly. Everything he does points to his use of the public trust he holds for a political purpose and  personal enrichment.

Take the address he lists as his "residence." It's not his home. It's the Gracia Law Firm at 954 E. Van Buren. He and his family don't live there, though he pretends they do. Why? That's what a politician, not a public servant would do.

And the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. His father Robert Gracia invested heavily – to the tune of more than $50,000 in reported campaign contributions and purchase of real estate facing the early voting sites in Southmost and Cameron Park – in the election of Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza . 

Once Garza was elected, he paid the quid-pro-quo by hiring the senior Gracia to a chief deputy position that pays more than $80,000. His tenure there has been marked by controversy and civil war in the sheriff's department as experienced officers recoil from his authoritarian and domineering management style which is "my way or the highway." 

Today, the senior Gracia travels the county introducing his son to potential voters wearing his official badge and hat pandering for votes. 

And speaking of his law office, why does he share an investigator with his law firm associate Noe

Gonzalez who is a registered sex offender? (See graphic at right.)

Investigator Adan Salas has a record of multiple criminal convictions including a federal conviction for smuggling marijuana. Gonzalez's law firm address is the same one as the one Gracia lists as his residence on has campaign finance report (954 E. Van Buren). 

And if his use of illegal-sized signs is any indication, he feels he is above the law as an elected politician. Has the circus come to town for Charro Days?

When he criticized his opponent attorney Erin Gamez for being a single woman, it triggered a flood of negative responses from local women and he hastily removed their comments from his post leading local FB commenters to ask whether he would do the same things if elected and he faced criticism.

"Real leaders don't run away from criticism from their constituents like Jonathan," quipped a critic. "Will he run and hide in Austin, too?"