COMPLAINT FILED WITH D.A. OVER CARDENAS RESIDENCY

 Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The Cameron County District Attorney's Office has confirmed that it has received a complaint and will be  "looking into" allegations that City of Brownsville District 4 commissioner Pedro Cardenas no longer has residency inside his district.

Simultaneously, an item in today's city commission agenda calls for possible action to pass an ordinance that could result in the removal of city officials who have not filed the required financial disclosure form with the city secretary's office. And a search of the city's web page indicates that only Cardenas has not complied with the financial disclosure requirement and has no report on file.

Records from the Cameron County Appraisal District indicate that Cardenas – listing his wife Lourdes Bolano as the owner – sold their home at 4068 Lake View Drive last March 15. The complaint filed with the D.A.'s office alleges that Cardenas and his family now live at 23 E. Maple Circle in the Palo Verde Subdivision, and address outside of District 4. 

To ad to the confusion, Cardenas has declared himself a candidate for the At-Large-B seat on the city commission now occupied by commissioner Rose Gowen whose term ends in May 2025 and is prevented from running for re-election as commissioner by the term limits election passed by the city's voters.

He joins sitting commissioner District 3 commissioner Roy De los Santos in declaring for the At-Large-B position in 2025. 

Cardenas, in his social media page, claims he is now living at his in-laws' address at the Valley International Country Club and might remain there while he is building a home in the Madeira subdivision which he said will be completed in 2025 or 2026.

A request for clarification on Cardenas residency to the  Texas Attorney General drew a response that stated that: "removing the commissioner would require a judicial proceeding. This kind of proceeding is called a quo warranto hearing. It is described in Chapter 66 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code and can only be brought by the county or district attorney. See Whitmarsh v. Buckley, 324 S.W.2d 298 (Tex. Civ. App., Houston, 1959, no writ hist.). Therefore, if you wish to pursue this issue we suggest that you speak to your county or district attorney."

For his part, Cardenas has stated that living at VICC is only a temporary measure:

"If there had been a different route for me, I would have considered it 100 percent," he wrote. "However, my future living situation may change (I need to move out of VICC), and my new home in Madeira is at least 12-16 months away. 

"I have enjoyed my on the commission and would have preferred to avoid this situation. But I love what I do and cannot let the opportunity pass by..."

That has led to public information requests to the city secretary's office to determine what address he has listed on his financial disclosure form, only to learn that Cardenas has been the only commission who is not even listed as having filed the required financial disclosure form. 

The Texas Election Code Title 15 applies to all elections held in the state for nominating or electing candidates to public elective offices created by or under authority of the laws of the state of for voting on measures submitted to the voters.

The principal objective of the law is to obtain a full public disclosure with regard to the financing of political campaigns and officeholder activities that are supported by contributions instead of public money.

There are no limits on the amount that a candidate, officeholder, or political committee may receive in contributions or incur in expenditures.

There are both civil and criminal penalties for violation of the provisions of Title 15.

In fact, queries to that office indicates that Mayor John Cowen and all the city commissioners have requested that their personal information – including their addresses – be withheld from the public.

"We have no records responsive to your request. We do not have a current light bill or TX DL or Election Voting Registered Card on file. The information you are requesting (address) is exempt from disclosure as allowed by Section 552.024 of the Texas Government Code. The commissioners have chosen to make this information confidential," the city responded to several requests to determine whether Cardenas had reported a change in address with the city.

A lingering question about Cardenas' residency was raised on a social media page after they checked
voting records that showed Cardenas had voted in the primary runoff elections on March 20 (corrected to May 20) using his Lake View address which had been sold two months before (March 15) to a Jason Starkey.

Did Cardenas declare to the voting judge that he no longer claimed his residence there when records show he voted?