RETURN TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME: A BRIBE BY ANY OTHER NAME...

By G.F. McHale-Scully

https://themchalereport.blogspot.com/

BISD administrator and TSC Trustee J.J De Leon says that he didn't offer me a bribe. The two of us were sitting across from each other alone in a small room at the rear of the historic Palm Lounge. Ten one-hundred-dollar-bills were stacked between us on a table.

De Leon had summoned me because he wanted to pass negative information about TSC Board President Adela Garza. At any time I could have risen to my feet, pocketed the $1000 and departed. No questions asked.

I did stand and depart without so much as laying a finger on the neatly placed cash. There was no question. It would be a cold day before I struck a deal with Satan. In my opinion De Leon is the devil himself.

There are more details that further incriminate the pathetic politician, but from my perspective I had no doubts that De Leon hoped I could be bribed. I may be a scumbag in the opinion of my detractors, but this conniving asshole is nothing less than a sleazebag.

The Brownsville Observer publisher Jim Barton, who is supporting De Leon while he body shames Edward Camarillo for being too fat, published an article in which De Leon throws his good friend under the bus to save himself from being steamrolled by the truth. Writes the blogger:

(In a phone conversation minutes ago, J.J. De Leon stated that it was Edwin Hernandez, owner of the Palm Lounge, who put $1,000 on the table, not him. De Leon did say that he offered to pay McHale "for his services" but not $1,000. He says that Edwin Hernandez is a close friend, but also someone who knows McHale "very well."

This whole concept of paid-for articles to trash candidates disguised as "advertising" or even "journalism" is an ugly scourge to Brownsville and Cameron County and its purveyors are not journalists, but simply political hacks.)

Who is the culprit here, Jim? It was De Leon who thought slipping me $1,000 would entice me to drag Garza through the mud. He admits his willingness to pay for my "services."
I was offered a bribe. If De Leon, in a cowardly act, wants to blame his buddy Hernandez, he can do his best Trump imitation and portray himself as an innocent victim.

Was this payoff part of a larger conspiracy? Hilda Silva, a UTRGV professor, is running in tandem with De Leon with the backing of TSC Trustee Tony Zavaleta who allegedly wants to be part of a majority that will elect him board president. He is a megalomaniac more preoccupied with his legacy than TSC's future.

Though Garza endorsed Zavaleta in both his campaigns, the surly macho has a infamous reputation for turning on his friends. He has perfected the art of back-stabbing and nobody doubts that he is also apt at throat-cutting.

Tito Mata, a Democratic activist, says that Silva is a person of impeccable character and has no ties with former TSC president Julieta Garcia who wants Garza humiliated since the latter played a major role in exposing Garcia's endeavor to destroy TSC for the benefit of the UT System.
Mata may want to read El Rrun Rrun Publisher Juan Montoya's excellent article in which he describes in detail. https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2024/06/tsc-runoff-vote-no-on-hilda-silva-fox.html 

Silva, as well as Zavaleta, were supporting Garcia in her attempt to raze the community college.
As to De Leon's antics, in cahoots with his enablers, they are only the tip of the iceberg.
Needless to say, I was at the polls on Monday morning at eight. As an ex-BISD teacher and coach for 40 years as well as a part-time instructor at UTB's Language Institute in the early 2000s, I know something about education in Brownsville. With a clear conscience and without second thoughts, I bubbled in the ovals for Dr. Norma Lopez-Harris and Camarillo.

If the electorate is voting in the best interests of the community, which often isn't the case in the Third-World Capital of the United States, Lopez-Harris and Camarillo are hands-down the best candidates.
Reelecting De Leon would prove indubitably that no amount of education can rescue this city from its ignorance.

Today is the last day for early voting. Saturday, June 15, is election day.

CLICK ON LINK FOR EARY VOTING LOCATIONS FOR RUNOFF:

 https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/elections/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Early-Voting-Locations-for-the-June-15-2024-Runoff-Elections-IAG-5242024xlsx-1.pdf