THE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING JUDGES: OF 7, BUT 2 REMAIN

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Chief Municipal Judge Bobby Lerma (center) is flanked by – at his right, Assistant Municipal Judges Rick Núñez,  Phil Belamy, Ignacio Torteya, Lerma, and to his left, Asst. Municipal Judges Jaime Diez, Rigoberto Flores and Rolando Olvera. 

At the time the photo was taken, there were seven judges sharing the municipal docket. The municipal court was a veritable judicial incubator, with Torteya and Olvera going on to the federal bench. Previously, Art McDonald had run for county-court-at-law and was elected to office, a position he still retains.

The beginning of the end came when now-departed former City Manager Noel Bernal started dismissing jurists left and right. Of the seven judges pictured above, none remain save for Diez. Not pictured in Chief Municipal Judge Rene De Coss, whom Bernal appointed before leaving for greener pastures as a county administrator in the rarefied air of Colorado.

Current City Manager Helen Ramirez is apparently continuing then "so-called "Total Alignment" model imposed on the city by her former boss Bernal. But for now, the city municipal court are operating kind of short handed. De Coss said that – if needed – the city may hire outside judges on a contract basis. Meanwhile, he said that he has worked outside the office as many city employees did during the pandemic-imposed work-at-home period when infection was rampant.

Does Ramirez have the experience to run what up-to-now had been an effective municipal court?

The last judges to be chopped out were Rick Nuñez and Rigoberto Flores, who were unceremoniously notified from one day to the next that their services were no longer required. Apparently, she is feeling her oats and counting on the political support of a majority of the Brownsville City Commission. Let's not forget that Mayor Trey Mendez and commissioner Nurith Galonsky are attorneys themselves. Are they good with this? 

Will Ramirez's decimation of the municipal judiciary result in overwhelming the city docket that will tax the remaining two judges' efforts to clear it? And will the public be appropriately served? The mules have to rest before they drop, Helen. If not, you might be beating on a dead horse that is not looking too good, Mister.