CC PCT. 2 FOREMAN SANTANA VALLEJO'S CHARMED EXISTENCE

 By Juan Montoya

If anyone has shown themselves to be a survivor in the Cameron County's Consolidated Road and Bridge system, that would be  construction foreman Santana Vallejo over at Precinct 2. 

Following the outcry when commissioners court were considering giving themselves a $30,000 raise for FY 2020, the chastised officials quietly tabled the proposal and settled for the same salaries listed on the 2019 FY.

For the workers in Public Works and Road and Bridge budgets – the lowest end of the pay scale and who perform the hardest work – wages have remained static for the last five or six years. The 2 to 3 percent pay raises they were promised then never materialized. Mechanics and equipment operators, and laborers for the most part remain at the same salary levels they were at for the last four to five years.

That changed slightly this fiscal year, but workers in these departments say that the increased health costs have eaten away at the meager raises.

But there were some notable exceptions.
For example, the salary schedules approved by the court show Precinct 2 foreman Santana Vallejo getting a $1,000 raise from 2017 to 2020. He has got additional raises since.

For the most part, the vast majority of Public Works and Road and Bridge Maintenance have lingered at the same wages all that time. (That's the fun-loving Vallejo in one of his Facebook posts)

City of Brownsville Pubic Works crews remember Vallejo.

He left the city after a near scrape when city workers were discovered using materials from the sidewalk building project to do jobs on the side building driveways on private property and pocketing the cash.

He also got into a scrape when he came to the county where he somehow managed to dodge several Cameron County Sheriff's Department investigations of theft involving the sale of concrete driveway pipes to rural residents. His attorneys scared those who were sold the pipes by saying they were just as guilty as Vallejo and his accomplices and they refused to testify.

Vallejo's ability to ensnare elected officials like the county commissioners to do things his way has resulted in a state of discontent among other county workers. And his imperious - and petty nature - has resulted in working conditions that have many workers unhappy.

Take, for example, his latest antics. Last May 24 the Pct.1 and Pct. 2 Road and Bridge crews lent the Cameron County Parks and recreation crews a hand to pave their complex and the Rec administrators – to show their gratitude – prepared them a luncheon. To everyone's surprise, the Pct. 1 supervisors allowed their workers the time to enjoy the meal, but Vallejo refused to allow Pct. 2 workers to eat with the rest and instead kept them working.

When the other workers and the Parks and Rec staff asked the Pct. 2 workers why they weren't eating with the rest of the workers, they were told that no one tells Vallejo what to do.

"No one will say anything about Vallejo because they all fear for their jobs," a Parks and Rec crew member said. "He abuses his position and his workers."

(Next: Vallejo costing county money on some street drainage problem.)