JOSE LUIS "SKIPPY" DAVILA ENDORSES YZAGUIRRE FOR TAX OFFICE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun 

After coming in third in the March 5 Democratic primary with 3,454 votes, or 19 percent of the total votes cast in the race for Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector, Jose Luis "Skippy" Davila, said he was courted by second-place candidate Eddie Garcia asking for his endorsement in the upcoming runoff between him and incumbent Tony Yzaguirre.

He was reluctant to speak with Garcia because he knew that the second-place candidate would be seeking his endorsement to overcome the 1,780 votes separating him from Yzaguirre and overtaking him in the runoff race. If just a small percentage of the 3,454 voters who darkened Davila's oval on the ballot switched to Yzaguirre, that might be enough to overcome his deficit and propel him to be the Democratic Party nominee to face the Republican Party nominee in Jesus "Rami" Martinez the November general election.

Finally, after numerous entreaties from the Garcia camp, Davila said he met with Garcia and a group of his supporters which included a member of the board of the Brownsville Independent School District and some politiqueras. What he heard during that meeting, Davila said – some of it independently corroborated by audio and some video sources – left him disappointed.

"Everything was negative," he recalled. "They were talking about using social media to personally discredit Mr. Yzaguirre and his staff, about firing all the administrators, and even to do away with some of the staff manning the teller windows. There was nothing positive in their approach, and I didn't hear any of their plans to improve the office or the service to the public."

There was even a plan mentioned during the meeting to use a team to spread malicious rumors in social media against Yzaguirre in the days preceding early voting which starts May 20 and ends May 24 before the in-person precinct voting on runoff election day May 28. He left the meeting shaken and told the group he wasn't supporting either candidate.

Davila found out during the days preceding the March 5 primary that someone had noticed that he had been erroneously receiving a homestead and over-65 tax exemption on the home he bought in 2014 from a trustee of an elderly owner. After checking with the Cameron County Appraisal District, he discovered that the exemptions that he  had received were in error. He then received a letter from the CCAD informing him of the error, exonerating him, and admitting the CCAD staff then had erred in carrying over the exemptions without doing their due diligence.

Following the March 5 primary, he went to the tax office in downtown Brownsville and paid the taxes due without the exemptions and sought Yzaguirre, who gave him a tour of the office and introduced his staff who assisted him to straighten out his tax account. He then paid the difference on the spot and filed the appropriate homestead exemption application on his home.

"I found out, to my great surprise, that Mr. Yzaguirre runs a tight ship and makes every effort to assist taxpayers," he said. "The office handles everything from vehicle registrations, property taxes, and even liquor licenses, and various payment plans to assist taxpayers. If you throw in the operation of the other 11 satellite offices around the county making the services available to all county taxpayers, which now includes an office in the Southmost area, that is a huge responsibility," he said. 

"Given his staff and resources, I think he is the right man, with the right experience to do the job compared to his opponent. That's why I am proud to endorse him and  encourage my supporters to give him their vote in the runoff election and later in the general election in November."