SHERIFF TAKES A PAGE FROM GOP PLAYBOOK: "COUNTY JUDGE AND COMMISSIONERS WANT TO DEFUND LAW ENFORCEMENT."

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Does Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza realize he is a Democrat?

In a stunning display of chutzpah, Garza called a press conference to issue a prepared statement blaming County Judge Eddie Treviño and the county commissioners for the situation of the jails under his care, courthouse security, and the federal government's decision to pull out its prisoners and losing $3 million in funding.

"Defunding law enforcement is not the answer to a budget deficit. (Treviño) and the Commissioners Court deliberately reduced our staff without concern for the welfare of the community or the safety and security of our officers," Garza wrote. "Crime does not take a vacation and does not take into consideration any budget shortfall to stop or slow down their illicit behavior."

Garza gratuitously states that the commissioners filed suit against him regarding courthouse security and that the courts ruled in his favor. 

"It was a victory for the Sheriff's Office and the citizens of of Cameron County, but it came with political consequences," he added.

Well, no, not really.

The fact of the matter is that when Garza took over the sheriff's office, the county was operating on an agreement with the former sheriff that they would use their own court security budget to provide the courts with bailiffs and security and the sheriff would not have to tie up his budget with that cost. They placed the security of the courts under Pct. 2 Constable Abel Gomez and used that budget to provide 15 positions for that purpose.

That budget was based on the agreement between the sheriff and the commissioners and was reflected in the budget which covers the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 starting in October and ending the following September 30. Garza could have simply allowed the budget year to run out and told the commissioners that the sheriff's office would not sign on to another year of agreement and the budget would reflect that fact. 

It's ludicrous for Garza to charge the court is bent on "defunding law enforcement" because they had budgeted funds to relieve the sheriff's department of the cost of that security so he could devote his manpower and resources to cover the rest of the county. Instead of having 15 deputies paid by the commissioners' budget, Garza's budget cold only fund seven. It appears like a self-inflicted wound instead. One might ask, who's defunding who?

But macho Garza saw it as an infringement of his turf and unilaterally ordered the bailiffs and courthouse security personnel to report to the sheriff's department to be placed under his command upon pain of termination. And the fact that the Texas Commission on Jail Standards determined that the county's jails had numerous violations, that the federal government was not satisfied with the sheriff's office complying with their contract, and that they withdrew their prisoners and transferred them elsewhere because of those concerns is glossed over and he declared that he had decided to eliminate the housing of federal inmates.

"Due to the lack of detention officers, I had no choice but to eliminate the housing of federal inmate to remain in compliance and to keep the jail in operation," he wrote. "Commissioners' Court rook this as a personal attack on them and decided to freeze our hiring process and hijack our ability to move forward. The Cameron County Sheriff's Office and County Jail are here to serve and protect the community not to be a revenue stream to supplement and balance the county budget."

Garza goes on to demonize the commissioners and says "we asked (them) to unfreeze our positions but were repeatedly denied only to recently find out that these positions were eliminated entirely."

Funny. When Garza had requested items on the agenda, he never showed up himself to address the court, but rather sent underlings to answer their questions, which often they could not. Treviño and the commissioners repeatedly asked them where the sheriff was and why he could not show up at their meetings, but Garza never deigned to appear to make his case.

That's why it seems self-serving when he states that "We will continue to fight to enforce the letter of the law and to push back on any attempt to disregard the will of the Cameron County voters. We will be looking at taking legal action against the county once again..." 

A commenter of his FB post puts it in starker terms.

"What you are doing Eric is bringing down a once credible and outstanding department. You brought in your cronies at a higher paying salary of any clerk at the office that have been there for over 20 years! And just like that your cheerleader crew came in earning almost $50,000 per year.

"You eliminated five jailer positions to bring in your cronies and made the jail even less safe by taking away these jailers positions. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should have the cojones to appear in commissioners court to address the concerns. To late for that now."

There's a saying that you "Don't Piss In Your Own Face, If You Run Out Of Cologne" and for all practical purposes, Garza's threats to sue the commissioners blaming them for his own shortcomings amount to just that.