CITY COVERS FOR CARDENAS, STILL ON THE HOOK WITH TEC: AND GOING BACK TO THE GOLF TOURNAMENT WELL FOR MORE

 Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Stop the presses!

A City of Brownsville Ethics Advisory Commission preliminary panel has (gasp!) decided that a complaint against Commissioner Pedro Cardenas for not filing the required a campaign finance report seven months after it was due January 16 was not filed under the correct city ordinance. 

So they dismissed it.

In a letter to complainant dated July 31, three members of the commission – Chair Rigoberto Flores, Vice-Chair Ismael Hinojosa, and Commissioner David Merrill – stated that "the sworn complaint submitted by Esequiel “Zeke” Silva dated July 11, 2024 and numbered EAC #2024-07-11, is hereby DISMISSED on the grounds that the complaint does not state a claim under City of Brownsville Code of Ordinances Chapter 38 and therefore does not grant the Ethics Advisory Commission jurisdiction to pursue the complaint further at a hearing to determine whether just cause exists to find a violation of the City of Brownsville Code of Ordinances Chapter 38."

Following the commission's preliminary finding, Silva has vowed that he will seek the pertinent ordinance and refile his complaint.

"No surprise it got dismissed in Brownsville," Silva said. "I have to submit a claim under the City Ordinance Chapter 38. Now I have to go back and look at what ordinance he broke. Freaking ridiculous."

Cardenas, like all other city commissioners,  is required under state law to file a campaign finance report listing all campaign contributions and expenses covering the past year by January 16 the following year. As of July 11 – almost seven months later – Cardenas had not complied with the city ordinance or with the reporting requirements of the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC).

From there on, things get curioser and curioser.

Silva filed his complaint with the city July 11 and with the TEC on July 15. Unlike the Ethics Advisory Commission, the TEC wrote him and Cardenas that they accepted jurisdiction over the complaint and started the investigative process.

Then, Cardenas had the January 16 campaign finance report hand delivered to the city secretary's office on July 12, one day after Silva filed his complaint.

And despite Cardenas's posting in his Facebook page that he had received sponsorships or contributions to his golf tournament from more than 100 contributors, his late campaign report lists only 41 contributors who the report claims contributed a total of $36,950. (See graphic at right.)

Silva's complaint lists all the contributors listed by Cardenas on his Facebook posts in his complaint to the TEC and the TEC responded in their latest letter that they would investigate and that " the sworn complaint process is an adversarial process that takes time. Respondents have the opportunity to contest the allegations, and hearings and formal discovery are sometimes necessary."

"When finding a violation for a late report and assessing a penalty, the TEC can consider the amount of political contributions and expenditures that were required to be disclosed in the report. Thus, although the TEC does not accept jurisdiction over the specific allegation for failing to disclose contributions and expenditures, the TEC can still consider these facts as part of the allegation for failing to file the January 2024 semiannual campaign finance report. 

After a campaign finance report has been filed, the TEC can consider allegations of violations of Section 254.031 of the Election Code if the report fails to properly disclose political contributions, expenditures, or other required financial activity."

  

These "difficulties" with the Cardenas campaign report and the TEC have not deterred him from continuing to milk the campaign cash cow. 

With faltering businesses, potential U.S. Dept. of Labor hour and wage violation complaints, questions hanging over whether he is complying with district residency requirements, and his announced candidacy for the At-Large B position on the city commission, he is going to the well for more water. 

But you better hurry, because if you want to "reach out, lend a hand, and (let's) work together," sign up for the second annual Cardenas Gold tournament as a player or a sponsor (at $300 per team), you gotta fork over the cash.

"ONLY 16 SPOTS LEFT sign up before it's sold out ***"