EL RRUN RRUN

"A cord of three strands is not quickly broken..." Bible verse attached to memos issued by former Asst. Chief Ernie Estrada, now back to being a basic firefighter

By Juan Montoya

The demotion of former Brownsville Fire Dept. Chief Carlos Elizondo has left the department in disarray and some of the pieces will take a long time to be picked up. In some cases, it will be through mediation between the city and Brownsville Firefighters Local #970, through the courts, or through the intervention of the Cameron County District Attorney's Office.

Elizondo was demoted Thursday by City Manager Charlie Cabler, but not personally. Cabler instead had Asst. City Manager Robert Lopez and Asst. City Manager Pete Gonzalez hand Elizondo his demotion, which automatically included the demotion of Asst. Fire Chief Ernie Estrada. A labor agreement with the firefighters association allowed Elizondo to select one of this two assistant fire chiefs without him (or her) having to meet the civil service requirements of having held an officer status or experience.

As people used to tell former Cameron County Clerk Joe Rivera when he told the story of having huevos rancheros and hand-made flour tortillas with his mother in Robstown when he was contemplating running against Gilberto Hinojosa for county judge and after eating his breakfast decided against it: "A Charlie le faltaron huevos" to demote Elizondo personally.

Estrada, a close associate of Cabler's, was picked to fill that slot despite his obvious lack of experience as a firefighter and was given authority over firefighters and officers in the department with decades of experience over him.

Estrada's quoting of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4, verse 12, alluded to the fire department triumvirate formed by himself, Elizondo and Jarred Sheldon, the other assistant fire chief. Sheldon was appointed interim fire department chief by Cabler when he demoted Elizondo and Estrada.

"There are two strands down, and one to go," said a firefighter, referring to Sheldon who they see as mere window dressing for Cabler's inability to clean house.

"They just moved the pawns on the table, but the game remains the same," he said. "Cabler could have gone for a checkmate and moved the king or queen, but he elected to move around the pawns."

Instead, some observers say, the city needs to hire a chief without any political ties to local factions who can come in and set the department straight. However, it remains to be seen whether the city administration is up to the task or whether the city commission needs to get new leadership there to implement the necessary reforms.

Still to be decided in the following days are personnel decisions made by Elizondo and Estrada affecting the livelihoods of several firefighters they terminated or wrote up during their tenure which lasted a little over a year. Some of these include:

Capt. Margarito Gracia, who was called to Elizondo's office after he and Association president Jorge Lerma filed a complaint alleging Theft by a Public Official against Elizondo charging that he made unauthorized withdrawals from the Association's Political Action Committee account to the tune of more than $8,000. Following their filing of the complaint, Elizondo terminated Gracia in apparent retaliation after Lerma hung up on him because he was shouting into the telephone during his call.

Firefighter Ernesto Montalvo was fired after he refused to shake hands with Elizondo, who then told Estrada and Sheldon that they were witnesses to him giving Montalvo an order and the firefighter had not obeyed. Estrada and Sheldon testified during a mediation hearing on his dismissal that they been present and had witnessed the alleged insubordination.

Now Montalvo's supporters say that Montalvo had taped the conversation which showed the three men had colluded and perjured themselves during the hearing. Will this end up in court?

Some fire department sources are already reporting that Estrada has admitted as much and said Sheldon was not present during the incident. So much for the cord.

Also on the horizon is the continuing investigation into the theft charge against Elizondo by the Association. If the DA presents evidence to a grand jury that results in an indictment, the former fire chief is on his own without the city providing a defense.

By Jerry McHale

From http://themchalereport.blogspot.com/

Mexico claims to have a more liberal constitution than the United States, but what good is a piece of paper if you can't wipe your ass with it?

Two thugs walk into a Matamoros business and demand the owner pay them a certain amount of money before a certain date or they will burn his store, rape his wife and kidnap his children. In Mexico the victim can't even turn to the authorities because the two thugs might be off-duty policemen. So much for a worthless piece of paper.

There has been much talk during Mayor Tony Martinez's six-year reign about establishing a code of ethics, but there has been no action because it might prevent the City from doing business as usual. Even printed, it might prove as meaningless at the City's personnel policy manual, which apparently writes rules only for appearances' sake

The policy manual clearly states in Section 702 regarding political activities that:

"B. Specifically, City Employees may not engage in the following activities: 4. Hold an elective City office or hold an elective or appointive office in any other jurisdiction where service would constitute a direct conflict of interest with City employment, with or without remuneration. Upon assuming such office, an Employee shall resign or shall be dismissed for cause upon failure to do so."

Former Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo, recently demoted by City Manager Charlie Cabler, has thumbed his nose at this regulation for months. His critics, led by political activist and muckraking journalist Juan Montoya, have asserted categorically and relentlessly that Elizondo is in clear violation of this regulation with his position as a BISD trustee, yet the municipality is failing to enforce its own regulations.

"The City is imitating Donald Trump," states Justo Leyes, The McHale Report's legal expert. "He lies, so his subordinates lies. The City refuses to enforce its own rules, so the employees fail to follow the rules. This perhaps accounts for the chaos at City Hall where very few municipal workers seem interested in doing their jobs."

Everyone knows that Elizondo is in flagrant violation of this regulation. In the latest example of his compromised position, where will he stand when the BISD sues the City over the exorbitant rates that PUB has been charging the school district?

Does the City have a responsibility to save the BISD by forcing Elizondo to choose which of two masters is he going to serve? His former underlings accuse him of being a crook for allegedly pocketing more than $8,000 from their political action group for his own use. At the BISD he recently voted for a $3.7 million project without the school district seeking bids.

"The BISD has lost the confidence of the community because hanky-panky is the most accurate description of its modus operandi," said a watchdog. "The board of trustees recently voted a huge tax increase without asking for the public's approval. Now they are sitting on $100 million that they plan to invest in infrastructure. Can you imagine the orgy of contracts that is going to result from this money and the possibilities for kickbacks? Can we trust Elizondo to do the right thing? Can we trust the City to enforce its own rules?

Or is trust, like the ocelot and the University of Texas/Brownsville, extinct in the Third World Capital of the United States?

(Ed.'s Note: We often get persistent comments decrying the fact that we present an alternative view to the history books, mass media, and our society's entire cultural upbringing that say very little about our Hispanic heritage and glorify the dominant white race. The fact is there were good and bad people in every race, but if you read the school books and literature, there is very little said about good Hispanics. You would think we didn't exist. Well, here we are. In the poem below, every other line is in Spanish, or conversely, in English.)

ESTIMADO MISTER

By Juan Montoya

The school is yours

La lengua nuestra

And still you insist on English

Para niños y maestra

Speaking in Spanish, you say

Nos volvera analfabetos

But even Oxford's won't show you

Como se gana el respeto

Mexican, Cuban, Hispanic

No ve valor en ninguna

But we can function in both

Y Ud. solamente en una

You've never witnessed a child

Comprendiendo una lección

When you use his mother tongue

En vez de la del sajón

Your paperwork and degrees

Dis'que es persona educada

Maybe that's why you come up

Con tan chulas pendejadas

c/s

(The Harlingen Professional Firefighters Association Local 3404 recently conducted a survey of its members. Out of 96 union members, 68 participated in this survey. Three members refused to take the survey for fear of reprisal. Twenty one declined to participate. Four junior personnel where not included in this survey. Non union member where also not included in this survey. Non union member where also not included in the survey. Julio Zetina, the president of the local association, presented a copy of this survey to the Harlingen City Manager and the City commissioners. Previously we posted results and comments for the first seven questions. Excerpts of the eight questions remaining of this survey results are posted below.)

8.) Do you feel that you're encouraged by your supervisors to reach your personal career goals?

Total 68: Yes: 29 No: 15 Somewhat: 22 Don’t know: 2

*My immediate crew, drivers and lieutenants, are great at training and training for the next level

*No Way: anything offered is got a catch to it

*I have not yet met an officer who isn’t willing to help me learn and move forward in my career

*From some captains and lieutenants…yes. Other captains and lieutenants want to complain about city admin and department admin.

9.) How would you rate the current working relationship between the fire administration and the general populace of the fire department?

Total 68: Excellent:1 Good: 6 Fair: 18 Poor: 43

*I feel if we are not fire administrations main concern. Administration has been more concerned about getting recognition from other departments for being the first to start certain schools. Example: our department hosted an academy for Matamoros

*The problem seems to be Chief XXXX

*There is a rift that is only getting worse.

*Even though several people may be included in discussions, our input is hardly ever taking into consideration.

*Communication seems to be lacking coming from the top

10: How would you rate the training that you receive so that you may perform your job safely and effectively?

Total 68: Excellent:2 Good: 25 Fair: 23 Poor: 18

*There is no transparency and no honesty with the current head of the Harlingen Fire Department.

*Chief-poor; Assistant Chief-excellent; Deputy Chief-excellent

*No one that I know likes our administration

*There is no relationship between the fire chief and personnel

*Our chief does not want us to put his name on any policy, but will take credit if something is successful

*Communication could be better, both ways. Too many rumors.

*We are promised things then nothing most of the time.

11. How would you rate our living conditions?

Total 68: Excellent:4 Good: 22 Fair: 31 Poor: 11

*My station has a long history of mold that when asked to come remove, it is only painted over. There is an ant and roach problem that never gets addressed. We are also no able to adjust heating and cooling in our station. Most stations are in decent shape, but a lot have mold in the ceilings along with rats.

*Mold, no bells, lack of dishes, old beds, rats/mice

*Newer stations are excellent. Older stations are good to fair. If all firefighters did they daily assigned duties it would be better for all.

*Got a roof over our head, running water, beds, cooking appliances, workout areas

*Personnel have to suffer to long for changes in maintenance to occur

*I have to learn to live with in my means

*Several stations need work: clogged drains, air conditioning problems, several stations

have rats running around.

12.) How would you rate the Fire Administration in regards to listening to your overall needs?

Total 68: Excellent:3 Good: 5 Fair: 19 Poor: 39 (No answer: 2)

*In one ear out the other

*I understand you cant pleas every one.

*I have made several recommendations on potential improvements to the department; none received any attention

*They listen to our needs then flush them down the toilet. We have ????? for more safety devices (lights, sirens) on apparatus to help our safety and be noticed, those ideas are immediately shut down.
*They bought 2 trucks we didn’t want and have a ton of problems, a new station without the personnel we said we needed.

13.) Do you feel that communication from the Fire administration down to the front-line personnel is efficient and effective?

Total 68: Yes: 7 No: 40 Somewhat: 20 Don’t know: 1

*To many leaders, not enough boots
*No Clear direction
*A lot of ideas but no clear direction
*Yes I do but some Capts refuse to work with Admin and would rather complain
about everything.
*Every body that needs to know what they need to know knows it.
*Chief jumps the chain of command a lot.

14.) If you were facing disciplinary action, how confident would you feel that our Fire Administration would treat you fairly and justly?

Total 68: Very Confident: 8 Somewhat Confident: 23 Not Confident at All: 36 (No Answer: 1)

*Inconsistency with punishment
*We have to ??? when we done wrong and ???? punishment.
*I have seen where persons have been given options to take, I think if you ask those who have been disciplined if they are happy with their outcome and not speculate on what will happen you will get a better answer.
*I’m not in the favorites list.
*No way in Hell for me
*Judging on the past history its not a good track record.
*I Try to avoid trouble…….Try
*I personally have a target on my back and am constantly being asked about, because I call out the fire chief on his lies and lack of knowledge.

15.) How well would you rate our Fire Administration in managing our fire department?

Total 68: Excellent:2 Good: 7 Fair: 19 Poor: 40

*Our department is divided—some due to favoritism, the three divisions have been torn apart and with loose ends. Nobody knows who does what anymore. Department seems to run on emails now

*Not all, part of admin is not doing well; our manager of the department is very shady to me, and is running the department into the ground.

*The very top of our administration shows a complete lack of understanding about how the department even works.

*There seems to always be a shortage of funds now. Supplies are needed. Important supplies like Class A Foam for fires, Chemtex for fuel spills, etc. Never had this shortage in years past that I remember
*I feel that our fire admin has kept the Fire Chief employed by constantly having to fix things that he has messed up. He seems incompetent. Don’t know how he can be a chief.

*Childish, impetuous. They get an idea that at face value sounds good, put it on someone to carry it through and wipe their hands of it once it fails.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun
All of us have some index event that is etched in our memory.

For some it is 9-11, an anniversary that is memorialized each September 11.

We all remember where we were when we heard bout the planes crashing into the Twin Towers.

Just as the previous generation remember the moon landing in July 20, 1969, and before that the assassination of John Kennedy, that of his brother Robert, and later, the Rev. Martin Luther King.

Before that, another generation remembered Pear Harbor and the day that would live in infamy.

After all these events, it seemed that the nation went into a kind of collective shock, digests the meaning of the vent, and then marches forward again.

9-11 has been a little different. Politicians used it as a pretext to to launch an invasion of a country (Iraq) that had nothing to do with the attack. In fact, there were no weapons of mass destruction to be found after we invaded their country, hunted down Saddam Hussein and witnessed his execution.

Osama bin Laden was hunted down, found, and executed 10 years after the attacks on the Twin Towers.

Afghanistan was next, then ISIS. And the eternal war that started in New York never seem to end. It's been 16 years since the U.S. military entered that endless fray and there seems to be no end.

As David Max Korzen in th Op-Ed page of the Los Angeles Times wrote:

"Bin Laden’s objective on 9/11 was not simply to destroy the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Rather, these were the means to an end. Terrorists kill to induce people to alter their behavior, to force them into bad decisions or tempt a government to crack down on their populations.

In our case, we’ve bled ourselves dry on military adventures around the world.

Afghanistan is now the longest war in the history of the United States. A few countries over, U.S. forces are once more on the ground in Iraq. Our troops are deployed on every corner of the globe while their combat readiness declines. Aircraft crashes are up. We’ve seen unprecedented ship collisions and a significant rise in suicides among members of the military. Our veteran care system is ungainly and dysfunctional. Our international influence is waning."

Our new administration is now obsessed with North Korea, Iran and Syria and no one wants to look down that troubled path. At this juncture, if we certain of one thing it is that we can look forward to a future of war and human slaughter. Bin laden didn't do that. We have taken care of that ourselves,

thank you.

In Memoriam

Aamoth Jr., Gordon McCannel - 32 - Manhattan, NY - Dec WTC

Abad, Edelmiro - 54 - Brooklyn, NY - Dec WTC

Abad, Maria Rose - 49 - Syosset, NY - Dec WTC

Abate, Andrew Anthony - 37 - Melville, NY - Dec WTC

Abate, Vincent - 40 - Brooklyn, NY - Dec WTC

Abel, Laurence - - New York, NY - Msg WTC

Abraham, Alona - 30 - Ashdod, Israel - Un 175

Abrahamson, William F. - 58 - Cortland Manor, NY - Dec WTC

Aceto, Richard Anthony - 42 - Wantagh , NY - Dec WTC

Ackermann, Heinrich Bernhard - 38 - Manhattan, NY - Dec WTC

Acquaviva, Paul Andrew - 29 - Glen Rock, NJ - Dec WTC

Adams, Christian - 37 - Biebelsheim, Germany - Un 93

Adams, Donald Leroy - 28 - Chatham, NJ - Dec WTC

Adams, Patrick - 61 - Brooklyn, NY - Dec WTC

Adams, Shannon Lewis - 25 - Long Island City, NY - Dec WTC...

http://tcotrel.tripod.com/911deadlistalpha.html

The only thing I will ask you though is on the wall, you and I both have a political problem. My people stand up and say, “Mexico will pay for the wall” and your people probably say something in a similar but slightly different language.

But the fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall – I have to. I have been talking about it for a two year period, and the reason I say they are going to pay for the wall is because Mexico has made a fortune out of the stupidity of U.S. trade representatives.

They are beating us at trade and they are beating us at the border, and they are killing us with drugs. Now I know you are not involved with that, but regardless of who is making all the money, billions and billions and billions – some people say more – is being made on drug trafficking that is coming through Mexico. Some people say that the business of drug trafficking is bigger than the business of taking our factory jobs.

So what I would like to recommend is – if we are going to have continued dialogue – we will work out the wall. They are going to say, “who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?” to both of us, and we should both say, “we will work it out.” It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, “we will not pay” and me saying, “we will not pay.”

Because you and I are both at a point now where we are both saying we are not to pay for the wall. From a political standpoint, that is what we will say. We cannot say that anymore because if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that. I am willing to say that we will work it out, but that means it will come out in the wash and that is okay.

But you cannot say anymore that the United States is going to pay for the wall. I am just going to say that we are working it out. Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about.

By Juan Montoya
Capt. Margarito Gracia, the man terminated on the spot by former Brownsville Fire Department Chief Carlos Elizondo, has been reinstated to his position, a rank higher than the one currently held by Elizondo following his demotion.

After his demotion, Elizondo returned to being a F.D. lieutenant.

Department sources say that Capt. Gracia was back at his position this morning. He was called by Elizondo when the former chief found out that he and Brownsville Firefighters Association Local #970 President Jorge Lerma had filed a criminal complaint with the Brownsville Police Department charging Elizondo with withdrawing more than $8,000 from the union's Political Action Committee bank account from ATM machines without PAC authorization.

Gracia is the vice president of the association.

Meanwhile, Elizondo's tenure is being scrutinized by Cameron County District Attorney's investigators who have been making queries about the former chief's actions vis-a-vis an ambulance company. Several witnesses have been interviewed who have said that at Elizondo's instigation, some patients on other private ambulance companies were transferred to InterCity Ambulance when they were coming into the city.

We have heard that DA investigators know of at least three such transfers, one of them involving a veteran who did not have Medicaid coverage and is now having to pay from his own pocket, a quadriplegic boy and others. One reportedly involved a patient who died after the transfer.

What's more, it is suspected that not only did the chief play a role in some of these transfers, but that City Manager Charlie Cabler had been made aware of them when DA investigators interviewed him. City sources say that Cabler did not tell the city commissioners about the reports for two weeks until he was confronted – in front of Mayor Tony Martinez – by other city commissioners.

Sources also say that despite the recommendation from city legal counsel that Elizondo be suspended without pay pending investigation of the theft charge and other findings in the department audit, Cabler refused to do it, choosing instead to demote him and send him back on the force.

There are even reports circulating that someone made a city radio available to the operators of InterCity so that they could monitor the calls for service. The full details have not been made public, either by the city or the DA's Office, but some are saying that Jarred Sheldon, who Cabler named interim fire chief, might have also been involved. Sheldon was one of two assistant chiefs under Elizondo. The other, Ernie Estrada, has also returned to his previous position as basic firefighter.

The new commissioners got commission approval to form audit, budget and agenda committees. The first audit made by the committee was made on the Fire Department operations.

"All the findings were made available to the DA," said a city source. "Commissioners were angry that Cabler had known all about the findings and the transfer reports but allowed the operations of the department to continue."

"This is far from over," said the source. "The DA's got everything."

4. Recommend approval of the BISD Self-funded Healthcare Plan effective October 1, 2017.

By Juan Montoya

One day before the Brownsville Independent School District board of trustees is set to vote to approve a new employee health plan calling for steep increases over the next three year to offset a $13 million deficit, teacher and employees protested across the street from the main offices to show their displeasure with the plan.

The trustees in the insurance committee have called a special meeting to discuss the cash flow on the plan before the are set to meet for a special meeting called for 12:00 noon at the main office. They will take public comment and vote whether to recommend the plan's approval to the full board following their special meeting at 5:30 p.m. later that evening.

The trustees on the insurance committee are Carlos A. Elizondo, Chair, Cesar Lopez, and Laura Perez-Reyes.

Teacher association representatives say they will have a hard time getting anyone to attend the public comment section of the insurance committee because they will be working.

"They called the insurance meeting for 12 noon when everyone is working," said Alberto Alegria, president of the Texas Valley Educators' Association TVEA). "It's doubtful that I will be able to make it."

In previous meetings, Alegria and Patrick Hammes, Association of Brownsville Educators (AOBE) have voiced their opposition to the plan saying that it will make health insurance unaffordable for most BISD classified employees making less than $47,000.

Alegria said that as a teacher – a certified employee – he is in the $47,000 to $93,000 salary range and will have to pay $100. Classified employees making less will be required to pay $50 a month.

The district estimates that those BISD employees making less that $47,000 yearly constitute 58 percent of BISD employees. Those above that figure covered by the plan make up 42 percent of BISD employees.

Up until this year, the BISD had paid the full cost of health insurance to its employees and did not require the $50 or $100 payments. Employees paid a deductible for emergency room visits and co-payments for prescription drugs.

The district has two pay grades for its employees, certified such as teachers and administrators, and classified, teacher's aides, maintenance, etc.

"Imagine that over a year," he said. "That means they will have to pay $600 a year out of their pay."

Under the plan, in order to make up the BISD's self-funded plan deficit through higher premium charges, Alegria that the administration's proposal calls for a $88.92 increase for an employee who sadds his spouse to the coverage. For example, the current monthly premium paid by a BISD teacher to cover his/her spouse is $276.82 a month. Under the proposed plan, that will increase by the $88.92 for the 2017-2018 school year to $365.74.

The following two years will see an additional $88.92 per month to increase it to $454.66 a month for the 2018-2019 school year, and $543.58 per month for the 2019-2020 school year. In a fact sheet circulated to BISD employees, the district says that only 218 BISD certified employees (3 percent) have elected to cover their spouses. Annual costs are:

ANNUAL INSURANCE PAYMENT FOR BISD EMPLOYEE AND SPOUSE

2016-2017: $3,321.84 (currently)

2017-2018: $4,388.88

2018-2019: $5,455.92

2019-2020: $6,522.96

BISD administrators say that while teachers with spouses covered under the plan pay the $276.82 per month currently, the district is running a $266.75 deficit per employee and wants to make up the deficit over the next three years.

The same goes for employees who have their family covered by the district's plan. Only 6 percent of employees chose this plan (372 employees) because of its cost. They pay $462.96 a month for the coverage, which will increase by $74.37 a month to $537.33 per month this year, to $611 per month for the 2018-2019 school year, and to $686.07 by the 2019-2020 school year.

The BISD claims it is running a monthly deficit of $223.11 on the 372 employees under this plan.

ANNUAL INSURANCE PAYMENT FOR BISD EMPLOYEE AND FAMILY

2016-2017: $5,555.52 (currently)

2017-2018: $6,647.96

2018-2019: $7,340.70

2019-2020: $8,232.84

The district also proposes to increase the emergency-room room deductible from $150 co-pay to a $500 co-pay claiming that the higher co-pay will deter non-emergency usage by BISD employees.

At the demonstration across the street from the main office, some protesters waved signs with slogans against Salazar Insurance and United Health Insurance.

By Juan Montoya
The last time the issue of the contract for Paragon Sports Constructors came around for the installation of artificial turf on four high school fields, the measure failed 3-3 with one abstention.

Tonight, the administration pushed hard by trustee Joe Rodriguez, will try to ram the ball over the bottom line. Rodriguez,also a vendor of sports equipment on file with the district, told his fellow board members at their last meeting that Paragon Sports was "the best in the world."

At the time of the original vote, trustees Dr. Sylvia Atkinson, Minerva Peña, and Phil Cowen voted "nay."
Rodriguez was joined by Laura Perez-Reyes and Carlos Elizondo to approve the measure.
Abstaining because of his employment with the Buy Board – of which Paragon Sports is a fee-paying member – was Cesar Lopez, the board chair.

For months now, many residents and district administrators have questioned Elizondo's continuing presence on the BISD board given the City of Brownsville's personnel policy manual prohibition against a city employee holding an elective office in the same jurisdiction.

The city's personnel policy manual's Section 702: Political Activity states that:
"B. Specifically, City Employees may not engage in the following activities:

4. Hold an elective City office or hold an elective or appointive office in any other jurisdiction where service would constitute a direct conflict of interest with City employment, with or without remuneration. Upon assuming such office, an Employee shall resign or shall be dismissed for cause upon failure to do so."

The former city attorney Mark Sossi ignored letters from residents questioning why no one called the city on the issue. And city commissioners seem to be content to allow the question to fester.

City Manager Charlie Cabler has ignored advice from his legal department calling on him to suspend the former chief pending resolution of a complaint against him for taking more than $8,000 from the firefighters' PAC account through numerous ATM withdrawals while he was union president.

The Cameron County District Attorney is currently investigating the case as well as Elizondo's role in a local ambulance service as well as other irregularities in the fire department operations while he was chief.

Tonight, Elizondo's questionable vote will probably decide the issue if Cowen does a turn around and joins his pal Rodriguez and gives the $3.7 million contract to Paragon, Super Esperanza Zendejas' favorite company. She has said she discovered Paragon "over coffee" with her fellow superintendents and then and there made up her mind she would spend the millions (if the $3.7 million is approved, Paragon's take will be close to $7 million by now) on them based on her coffee klatch's recommendations.

If the city and the school district had insisted on following the law, Rodriguez and Zendejas would be a vote short even with Cowen providing his support.

By Juan Montoya
On June 9, 2008, the Brownsville Firefighters for responsible Government, a general purpose political action committee (GPAC) of the Brownsville Firefighters Association Local #970, filed its campaign treasurer appointment with the Texas ethics Commission naming Carlos Elizondo as the committee's campaign treasurer.

As its treasurer, Elizondo was the contact person between the TEC and the association, responsible for filing contribution and expense reports periodically. He did so for the the the period covering June 9 to June 30, 2008, and for the period covering July 2008 to December 31, 2008, two reports in toto.
(Click on graphic to enlarge.)

From there on, until he became chief in 2016, he did not file any of the required reports with the TEC. In fact, the TEC terminated his treasurer appointment on May 21, 2010. But since he was the contact person for the PAC, he kept the notice of termination and sanctions to himself and remained as the PAC's treasurer with access to the PAC's bank account.

The TEC – based on Sec. 252.0131 of the Texas Election Code – "may terminate the campaign treasurer appointment of an inactive candidate or political committee that is required to file a campaign treasurer appointment with the commission...(It can do so) "if the political committee files a campaign treasurer appointment with the commission and more than one year has lapsed since the campaign treasurer of the political committee has filed any required campaign finance reports with the commission."

Through May 21, 2010 through February 28, 2017, no committee campaign treasurer appointment had been filed by the PAC and no campaign finance reports had been filed with the TEC.

On May 16, 2016, City Manager Charlie Cabler named Elizondo as the city's new fire chief.

Cabler selected him and made the announcement. Thirty nine other candidates with vastly greater amounts of experience apparently didn't have the "right stuff" that Cabler saw in Elizondo. According to the job description, the new fire chief would be earning $100,000 a year.

“The burden falls on me to make the ultimate call, and I felt that I have selected the best possible candidate at this time,” Cabler said then.

The announcement was made at news conference at the historic Young House on St. Charles Street. Firefighters, elected officials, Elizondo’s family and others were in attendance. Elizondo’s wife, along with his daughters, pinned the fire chief badge on his suit, making it all official.

However, Elizondo's performance has not impressed the city commission as much as it did Cabler. An audit of the fire department discovered some 74 violations of city policy, some linked directly to the former chief, leading a majority of the city commission to pressure Cabler to demote Elizondo or remove him as chief.

One of the factors mentioned for Elizondo's demotion was the police complaint filed against him by the Firefighters Association charging that between 2014 and when he left in May 2016, there was more than $8,000 in PAC money unaccounted for. Their bank statement indicates that most of the withdrawals during this time were made by Elizondo at local ATM machines.

However, this may only be the tip of the iceberg because this does not include the period between 2010 and 2014. How much more may be missing is anyone's guess. If one extrapolates the $8,000 missing in two years by the four years, that's another $16,000 bringing the total to close to $25,000.

And – this is making some people nervous – if the Firefighters' PAC contributed to local political campaigns, were those campaign contributions illegal?

The Cameron County District Attorney is now investigating the Association's criminal complaint.

Washington (CNN)Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters Tuesday it was a "staffing issue" that led to a pornographic video being "liked" by his Twitter account – which has since been removed.

"It was a staffing issue and it was inadvertent, it was a mistake, it was not a deliberate action," Cruz said, according to the Washington Post.

He added: "We're dealing with it internally but it was a mistake, it was not malicious conduct."

An aide to Cruz confirmed the comments to CNN, adding that there would be an internal effort to figure out who was responsible.

Cruz declined to comment when asked by CNN about the incident.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

As the morning sun glows through the thick fog announcing its presence with a skyline of white and gray – with that also appears, the most unique highway in America, the Military Highway.

Born in days of Zachary Taylor and sidelined by the brush country of then – it meandered along the north bank of the Rio Grande from Brownsville to Laredo.

In 1961, Henry N. Ferguson wrote, “A stranger might travel its two-hundred-mile length without once suspecting he was in the United States.”

Its uniqueness centers around the brilliant flowers and exotic fruits that engulfed the fronts yards. There were picturesque haciendas that formed the perfect setting for the romantic vowels of Spanish music. And along the way, stood the farm houses resembling old cathedrals. Displaying its rustic art– the tools of toil from past generations.

Ferguson declared, the dusty road, once traveled by scores soldiers, was representative of this border’s golden past. Interwoven with the beauty, excitement and progress of the twenty-century.

Twenty years later…

A young Irish Californian, who attracted your attention with his west coast sunshine looks, was also intrigued by this mystical road. He came to Brownsville just like many did before him, and was consumed with the smell of fertile soil that was once described as the “Garden of Eden.”

G.F. McHale-Scully, grew up in San Luis Obispo and had fond memories of his Sunday rides with the family along the Pacific Coast. The sights and sounds were immeasurable, “never short of spectacular,” it was more than just a ride, he expressed.

Scully commented, “We were a good catholic family, constantly harangued by the old Irish priest that the family that prays together, stays together. It seems to me that the family that drives together, strives together.”

While in Brownsville, apparently those deep-seated rides from his past, continued in his new mother land.

Time Warp in the Valley Past…. In this piece, written in 1982, Scully expresses his sensitivity toward nature and the landscape that adorns it… He eloquently wrote about the splendor he experienced in his voyages of discovery – traveling the highways of Rio Grande Valley.

For me… “Highway 281, exiting Brownsville, destination Hidalgo, an hour’s respite. There is history, a virginity, the sweet smell of manure mixing with fresh redolence’s of country air. Horses, cows and goats graze together by the side of the road munching on tall grass, turkeys and chickens darting past, their wings flapping in constant fright. Cats and dogs will never know a better life.”

The ancient highway has been a fascinating mixture of legend, fact and history. It has the flavor of past with today, a tint of the future.

“I return from these excursions bittersweet. I see 281’s fate the same as Hidalgo, mass development the culprit. When I hear politicians proudly proclaim that we will have suburbia from Brownsville to McAllen by the year 2000. I cringe inside.

"I’m a melancholy, nostalgic fool, but I want to remember the simple beauty of 281 to tell my children what they missed.”

Buried treasure is not necessarily underground – the resurfaced road of today, stands on sacred ground. “A dignified sentinel, keeping watch over its land and people. While still revealing its charm of days-gone- by.

(Note: Excerpts from this story were taken from “Military Highway is Unique,” by Henry W. Ferguson and “Time Warp in the Valley ‘s Past,” by G.F. McHale-Scully. Photos by Joe Hermosa.)

By Juan Montoya
Each year, the city of Brownsville pays $85,525 in car allowances to 20 city officials and staff members despite the fact that except for seven of them, all work in departments or hold offices that also have city vehicles at their disposal.

In fact, of the 20 city officials and employees receiving car allowances, only seven work in departments where cars have not been provided. The city has 636 vehicles in its rolling stock inventory, but most of these are with the police, fire department, and street and Public Works.

Four city commissioners each receive $332.08 a month, or $3,876.96 annually in car allowance for a yearly total (times 4) of $15,507.84. City commissioners, or those other city staff who receive the allowance, are not required to keep logs of their mileage or destinations.

The four city commissioners receiving car allowances are Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa, Ricardo Longoria Jr., Joel Munguia and Ben Neece. The commissioners are not provided with city vehicles.

And while some use the allowance for their travel, Neece said he has used his to benefit three social service organizations in equal parts. They are the Ozanam Homeless Center, Friendship of Women, and Casa Carlotta Petrina.

The other three who receive a car allowance but whose departments are not provided with a city vehicle are:

1. Asst. City Attorney Allison Bastian, $323.08 a month, $3,876 annually. Her salary is listed at 72,275.84.

2. Grant Writer Marina Zolezzi, $72,099.87 salary, $276.92 a month, $3,323.04 annually.

3. Public Health Administrator Arturo Rodriguez, $89,562.72 salary, $323.08 monthly, $3,876.32 annually

(It is difficult to figure just how much these individuals travel daily in the course of performing their city duties, but anecdotal evidence indicates that many rarely leave their offices during the day.)

With the availability of city vehicles to do the municipal duties, the car allowance for the majority of those receiving in effect is money from local taxpayers to drive their cars to and from work. For most of the time, cars allotted to their departments remain parked in the city's parking structure at City Plaza. (See graphic at right.)

Below are the city staff receiving car allowances, the number of vehicles available to their department, and the car allowance totals for the month and the year.

These are:
City Manager's Office (3) : A 2013 Ford Fusion is assigned to the department. City staff indicate that neither Gonzalez nor Lopez travel outside the office very much. Cabler uses his private vehicle.

Charlie Cabler, $220,000 salary, $553.84 monthly car allowance, $6,646 annually.
Pete Gonzalez, $143,221.31 salary, $461.54 monthly, $5,538 annually, .
Michael Lopez, $128,400.06 salary, $461.54 monthly, $5,538 annually.
Total Car Allowance for City Manager's Office: $17,723.04

Municipal Court (1): Four 2008 Crown Victorias and a 2001 Ford Prisoner van
Judge Robert Lerma, 109,634.93 annual salary $184.62 monthly, $2,215.44 annually

Finance (1): One 2004 Ford Explorer
Lupe Granado, $86,141.33 annual salary$276.92 monthly, $3,323.04 annually

Purchasing(1): One 2017 Dodge Ram 1500
Roberto Luna, $70,868.72 annual salary, $323.08 monthly, $3,323.04 annually,

Human Resources(1): One 2005 Ford Taurus
Oscar Salinas, $86,141.33 annual salary $276.92 monthly, $3,323.04 annually

Public Works Adm.(1): Five; a 2015 Chevy PU, a 2013 Ford Fusion, a 2004 Ford F150, a 2000 Ford F150, and a 1999 Chevy PU
Santana Torres, $78,785.41 annual salary, $461,54 monthly, $5,538.48 annually

Parks Administration(1): One 2008 Chevy Trailblazer
Nicole Damaris McGlone, $74,412.21 annual salary, $369.24 monthly, $4,430.88 annually

Parking Operations(1): Three; a 2009 Ford Escape, a 2001 Ford cargo van, and a 2001 F150 PU
Robert Esparza, $72,627.36 salary, $369.24 monthly, $4,430.88 annually

General Planning(1): One 2015 Chevy Silverado
Constanza Miner, $89,999.94 annual salary, $461.54 monthly, $5,538.48 annually

Building Inspection(1): 11 Fords or Chevy vehicles ranging from a 2004 F150 to a 2016 Chevy Silverado
Evaristo Gamez, $70,868.72, annual salary, $230.76 monthly, $2,769 annually

Total: 34 city vehicles available in the departments where the 12 city staff receive car allowances.

Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation: (Why the city pays car allowance to a separate corporation funded by a percentage of the sales taxes is not explained.)
Rebecca Castillo, $84,999.82 salary, $230.78 monthly, $2,769.36 annually.

Some city commissioners say that the 2017-2018 budget process is too far along to address the car allowance issue. However, the newly-established commissioners' audit and budget committees have items on the budget like the car allowances in their sights and will surely revisit them in upcoming budget years.)

By Juan Montoya
It was April 1, 2013 – appropriately April Fools' Day – when current Brownsville Independent School District legal counsel was making his pitch to be hired by the district from among six firms that had made the cut.

When Baltazar Salazar came to the podium to make his presentation, he stressed the fact that he was a straight shooter who would "stab you in the front" in contrast to others who would stab you in the back.
He looked at trustee Minerva Peña and said pointedly: "I've known some of you since I was a kid," and said his goal was "not to make money."

He promised he would "tone down your legal expenses" and bring "stability, because you have chaos, and when there's chaos, lawyers make money."

The school district, he told them, had "become a cash cow" because the district did not follow procedure and said he was there "to serve the board as a whole."
In answer to a query by trustee Lucy Longoria, Salazar said that all board members had the right to speak out and that he believed in open arguments.
"You do have the right to speak out," he replied to her question. "I believe you have to have high moral values and high moral standards."

He also reminded them that he had represented the BISD in the past and that he was a product of Brownsville schools.

The next day, April 2, 2013, a majority of the board – Enrique Escobedo, Otis Powers, Minerva Peña, Jose and Chirinos – voted to hire Salazar over the other firms. Only trustees Longoria and Presas-Garcia objected to the speed with which the selection was made and to the fact that Salazar's firm had less experience in defending school district than at least five others. Apparently, Presas-Garcia said at the time, a majority of the board had already made a decision before the matter came to the full board.

And despite his stated openness before the board members, Salazar neglected to tell the board members that at the same time that he was speaking to them, the Texas Department of Public Safety was contesting the expungement of his criminal record that showed that he had been arrested on three felony charges, the last time one involving theft by check for $5,700.

Under the Texas Penal Code, Title 7: Offenses Against Property, Chapter 31: Theft, Section 31.03 and 31.06, they are considered state jail felonies if the value of the property stolen is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000 or the value of the property stolen is less than $1,500.

According to the record, Salazar issued a check without funds to Coburn Optical, an out-of-state firm, for payment of lenses for his Salazar Optical and Medical Company in Brownsville knowing that there were insufficient funds in his company's account.
Interestingly, judges sitting on the three felony charges in Cameron County granted Salazar probation on all three and he continued on his merry way doing business as usual.

Less than four months after his presentation where he said he had the highest of moral values, on August 15, the 13th Court of Appeals issued a memorandum opinion (13-12-00771-CV) reversing the expungement order signed in the 107th District Court. Salazar's three felony arrests remained on his record and the DPS's objection to them was upheld.

DPS had argued that Salazar had been given county jail time and probation and therefore did not qualify for expungement.
"We reverse the trial court's order and render judgement denying the petition for expunction as to all three offenses," said the appellate court's opinion and memorandum written by Justice Doris Contreras Garza.

It is interesting to note that former BISD Superintendent Carl Montoya was a licensed law enforcement officer and that trustee Peña doesn't fail to remind anyone within earshot that she is a former DPS officer. How then, did Salazar's checkered past get through these law enforcement hotshots and why did they bend over backwards to hire a firm that was obviously lacking in educational legal experience in comparison with the others?

They then voted to pay him $20,000 a month – limited their meetings to once a month – and then, on December 10, 2013, the same board majority voted to extend Salazar’s contract for another three years. Just recently he had to settle for 288,000 salary when the trustees were reluctant to hike him tom the $300,000 he had requested originally.

When one applies to the BISD for any employment there is an item on the application that asks if you have ever been convicted of a felony or for a crime involving moral turpitude. Was Salazar truthful in the presentation of his bona fides with the board? And if a felony conviction keeps out a janitor from gaining employment withe the district, shouldn't three felony arrests on his record?

Represented by his attorney Noe Garza, Salazar swore and signed under oath that he had never been convicted because the statute of limitations had expired and that he had been "released," that the charge had not resulted in a final conviction, and that there was no court-ordered community supervision (probation).
Based on that presentation, 107th District Judge Ben Euresti signed the Order of Expunction June 26, 2012.

"The court finds that the petitioner has been released, that the charge (s) have not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer pending, and that there was no court-ordered community supervision...The court further finds that the prosecution for the offense for which the defendant was arrested is no longer possible because the limitations period has expired."

The appeals court begged to differ and ruled that the expungement could not stand and that the documents placed away from public scrutiny be returned to the district clerk's files.

We are still looking for the civil case file where he filed for expunction (2012-DCL-3092A) because apparently it is lost somewhere and no one can seem to find it. Are the missing records yet another wrinkle in this man's bag of tricks?

By Dr. G.F. McHale-Scully

Historically, Brownsville takes pride in the distinction that the battles beginning the Mexican-American War and the battle ending the Civil War were fought in the city's vicinity. Is it possible that the first recorded conflict on United States soil between Europeans and Indians took place in the Brownsville area?

In 1519 Spanish Captain Alonso Alvares de Pineda dropped anchor at the mouth of the Rio de las Palmas, now known as the Rio Grande by most experts. Pineda commanded 270 men in four ships. He spent more than a month exploring inland and reported that 40 rancherias occupied both sides of the riverbanks.

These natives were the Coahuiltecans, primitive hunters and gatherers. Martin Salinas, in his book Indians of the Rio Grande Delta, estimated the population between 10,000 and 15,000.

Pineda reported that the inhabitants were hospitable. He likewise whetted his countrymen's greed for riches with descriptions of gold ornaments adorning these people. Pineda departed south and lost his life in the Panuco area, but his surviving crew members returned to Jamaica and delivered this information to Francisco de Garay, the island's governor and underwriter of the undertaking.

The stories of gold proved irresistible and the following year Garay outfitted another expedition under the command of Diego de Camargo.

"Camargo took 150 men, seven horsemen, and, in the likely event the Indians resisted giving up their gold necklaces, he brought an ample supply of artillery," pens Brian Robertson in Wild Horse Desert, a historical account of the Rio Grande Valley. "Camargo's group also included brick masons who carried materials to build a fort to protect the new colony."

Camargo and his conquistadores advanced approximately 30 miles up the river when the goodwill between the Spaniards and Indians came to an abrupt end.

Salinas relates the following showdown: "A large number of Indians joined together and threatened Camargo, who decided to attack. While on the way to burn one of the Indian camps, Camargo's little army was broken up by the Indians. The soldiers tried to escape, some by land, others by water. The Spanish boats were driven from the river by a large number of Indian canoes. The Indians killed at least 18 Spaniards and all seven of their horses. The Spanish sailed southward toward Veracruz."

Though Camargo reached his destination, many of his men died of starvation during the arduous sojourn and Camargo himself perished shortly after his arrival. This confrontation and the resulting Spanish losses may not rival the Little Big Horn in romantic lore, but the Indians inflicted such a disastrous defeat upon the Spanish that the setback would retard Europeans' progress into this region until Jose de Escandon established Reynosa, Camargo, Mier, Revilla (Guerrero) and Laredo in the late 1740s and early 1750s.

The Coahuiltecans of the Rio Grande Valley had challenged the best soldiers in the world and had crushed them. It would be more than 220 years before the Spanish would finally conquer the area. The time has come for the Valley's native peoples to receive credit for their remarkable achievement and commemorate this battle as the first of its kind between Europeans and Indians on U.S. land.

By Juan Montoya

In 2014, Brownsville Independent School District board member Minerva Peña – a former Texas Department of Texas trooper – decided she was going to run for the newly-created Cameron County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, Place 3 position.

There were two other candidates running, former Pct. 2 Constable Pete Avila and the eventual winner Mary Esther Sorola (formerly Garcia.)

The results for the March 4, 2014 primary showed Garcia had 2,628 votes compared to 2,489 for Avila. Peña was not far behind with 2,381 votes, 108 votes behind runner-up Avila.

Avila and Peña had tied in the early vote with 1,423 apiece. Avila's election day total of 1,045 carried him over Peña's 951.

According to Election Department rules, each candidate requesting a recount was to be charged $100 per precinct and the early vote. In Peña's case, it was total 45 precincts for a total cost of $4,500. Adjustments could be made if the recount was a hand recount or a machine recount. Nonetheless, it would cost at least $2,000 for Peña to get her recount.

Now, everyone knows that an 108-vote difference is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome in a recount. Yet, Peña said she owed it to her supporters to make the effort.

But first she had to come up with the cash, and she turned to her colleagues on the BISD board to see whether – as the candidates they had been before – they would help out a friend in need.

At the time, the BISD was trying to establish a Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training program and trustee Carlos Elizondo was in the forefront of trying to get it set up. Elizondo is a certified nurse and a firefighter who was recently demoted as fire chief. But at the time it seemed to be a good idea to enlist his services to set up the program for BISD students.

So on the day of the recount, he and a fellow firefighter drove over to the to the Elections Office to ask about the cost. They found out that the cost would be $2,000. Little did the other firefighter know that Elizondo had already written out the check and simply signed it and delivered it to help out his fellow board member.

The check had been drawn from the Brownsville Firefighters for Responsible Government account, a general purpose political action committee (GPAC) of the Brownsville Firefighters Association Local #970. Up until that time – March 2014 – everyone thought that Elizondo, who had been appointed treasurer of the PAC in 2008, was still registered as the treasurer.

But no one knew that the Texas Ethics Commission – citing the PAC treasurer's failure to submit reports on its contributions and expenditures – had removed him as treasurer. In fact, the TEC terminated his treasurer appointment on May 21, 2010. But since he was the contact person for the PAC, he kept the notice of termination and sanctions to himself and remained as the PAC's treasurer with access to the PAC's bank account.

Through May 21, 2010 through February 28, 2017, no committee campaign treasurer appointment had been filed by the PAC and no campaign finance reports had been filed with the TEC.

On May 16, 2016, City Manager Charlie Cabler named Elizondo as the city's new fire chief and he had to give up the labor association position. When the firefighters checked the PAC account, they found that more than $8,000 in ATM withdrawals had been made by Elizondo. And bank records only covered two years, with the period from 2010 to 20140 still missing.

Yet, when Elizondo was pushing for the establishing of the EMT program run by his close associates, he expected that Peña would be one of the supporters of the program given the fact that the firefighters had help to pay for the recount.

"Carlos was pissed when Peña started asking a lot of questions about the program that he was supporting," said a former colleague. "I gave that p---che vieja $2,000 for her recount and look how she pays me back," he was said to have fumed.

El Rrrun-Rrun has learned that Cameron County District Office investigators have already questioned some of the principals about the $2,000 PAC check. Each year, the firefighter donate an average of $8,000 to the PAC through paycheck donations. How much is missing counting all the years under the control of Elizondo will take some time to discover.

Meanwhile, and inquiry to the Cameron County Elections Office has revealed that Peña did not file a finance contribution report due July 15, 2014 that covered the period when she received the $2,000 for the recount from the PAC.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

To a space alien coming in from the outer reaches, it might seem as if the San Benito City Manager Manuel de la Rosa is acting as judge and jury that administrates so-called justice to the wrong individuals.

De la Rosa has proven his acumen for doing exactly the opposite things. For example, he fired the EDC Director and turned case over to the PD to investigate criminal activities.
* Results: That case is still there and nothing has resulted, according to the Police Chief Michael Galvan.

Galvan, in turn, was accused by the San Benito Police Officers Association for a dozen or so violations of police policy and conduct unbecoming. evidence indicates he may have lied under oath in a mediation hearing, and some fellow officers have said that he sexually harassed a female officer and was laughing when he was touching her inappropriately.
* Results?: Nothing done by City Manager.

A police office arrested for DUI and other charges.
* Results: No Action taken by City Manager.

And San Benito's Fire Chief Raul Zuniga, with 30 plus years of dedicated service, is under a cloud accused of some violation that has not been made public. The Police Chief’s private recordings verify that De la Rosa and Galvan had discussions about him and about his salary and other topics long before this incident.
* Results pending: Reports have surfaced that De la Rosa wants Zuniga to have a demotion and reduction in pay.

Meanwhile the “Three Blind Mice” (Mayor Benjamin Gomez, commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez, and Rene Villafranco) fully support the De la Rosa. A new kind of justice is evolving in San Benito.

By Juan Montoya

On January 15, 1983, Baltazar Salazar, then starting an optometry business in Brownsville, was arrested for issuing a check without funds. That case number was 83-CR-416-A.

Then, just a little after a year later, on April 26, 1984 he was again arrested for two counts of the same offense of theft by check. Those case numbers were 85-CR-450-A and 85-CR-23-A.

Evidence presented in a court hearing in the 107th District Court indicated he was given county jail and probation on two cases (83-CR-416-A and 85-CR-450-A).

On February 26, 1985, Salazar was found guilty of 85-CR-23-A, one of the April 26, 1984 cases. A trial court (107th District Court) found him guilty and he received a three year prison sentence probated to seven years. He appealed the judgment to the 13th Court of Appeals and the court affirmed the trial court's conviction on May 1986.

A Cameron County Asst. District Attorney said Salazar was given "county jail and probation" during a 2012 hearing on two of the cases (83-CR-416-A and 85-CR-450-A), but referred to certain "certified copies" of documents issued by the Cameron County District Clerk (Aurora de la Garza) purporting to show that the cases had been "set aside," but neither she nor Salazar presented such evidence to the court.

How these district clerk office "documents" came to be or how one could "set aside" convictions that had resulted in probation was not explained. Aside from the oral testimony in a Cameron County courtroom, they can't be found on the record.

Salazar left the optometrist trade a few years later and – despite the three felony convictions – was allowed to enter law school. On May 1994, he graduated from law school at Texas Southern University. He then plied his trade in Houston, occasionally taking cases in Cameron County and South Texas.

Fast forward to April 24, 2012.
On that day, Salazar filed a petition for expunction of the criminal cases in the 107th District Court where he had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to probated sentences. (See graphic at right. Click to enlarge.)

Despite the fact that once a defendant serves community probation expunction is not statutorily permitted, the court bought his attorney's argument and granted the motion and on June 26, 2012 and ordered that all law enforcement agencies including the Brownsville Police Department, the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, the Cameron County District Clerk, and the Texas Dept. of Public Safety, among others, to seal all documents related to the arrests and convictions.

Less than six months later, on Dec. 20, 2012, attorneys for the DPS appealed Euresti's order granting the order of expunction to the 13th Court of Appeals and said Salazar had not presented evidence to satisfy the requirement that he did not receive community supervision and therefore could not have his record expunged. (See graphic at left. Click to enlarge.) They did not make a decision on the DPS' appeal until August 15, 2013.

But while awaiting the decision by the appeals court, Salazar heard from his friends in Brownsville that the Brownsville Independent School District might be looking for a school board attorney, and he applied and made his presentation April 1, 2013. Now, he knew he had three felony convictions, but claimed he had been "released from the charges" on his BISD application as he did to the 13th Court of Appeals. The pliant board of the BISD bought it. The Court of Appeals justices did not.

The next day, April 2, 2013, a majority of the BISD voted for Salazar's firm to be the BISD's board attorney at $20,000 a month ($240,000 a year). Later, after a three-year extension, that increased and today it stands at $288,000 a year.

But on August 15, 2013 the court of appeals reversed Euresti's order and denied Salazar's petition for expunction as to all three offenses. (See graphic at right. Click to enlarge.)

"We order all any documents surrendered to the trial court or to Salazar returned to the submitting agencies."

Even though the appeals court order was issued in August 2013, and dated Nov. 7, 2013 when it reached the trial court, it wasn't until November 25, 2014 – more than one year later – that Euresti dismissed Salazar's petition for expunction of his criminal records and sent his order to open the documents to De la Garza's office down the hallway. Why did it take Euresti more than a year to sign and expedite the order and implement the court of appeal's order to return the documents to public scrutiny?

It gets curiouser and curiouser.

If Euresti signed the dismissal order in 2014, why haven't the documents proving Salazar has three felony convictions been placed back on the public record? Did De la Garza sit on Euresti's dismissal order until she left at the end of 2014 and the new district clerk Eric Garza took office in January 2015?

When Garza was shown the Court of Appeals order reversing Euresti's granting Salazar's petition for expungment of his criminal record just yesterday, he immediately sought the documents and released them. The truth is now available for the public – and to the BISD board and Cameron County District Attorney – for them to accordingly follow their own laws and policies.

In the BISD's "Employment Requirements and Restrictions: Criminal History and Credit Reports," it states that "No one convicted of a felony or and misdemeanor involving moral turpitude may be considered for employment in the district. Moral turpitude is an act of baseness, or depravity in the private or social duties outside the accepted standards of decency and that shocks the conscience of an ordinary person."

Among some of those crimes are included, of course, public lewdness, prostitution, theft or theft of service (in excess of $500 in value) and fraud.

A conviction is defined as "a finding of guilt or acceptance by the courts of a plea of guilty or nolo contendre."

The boards' personnel policy states that :At the Superintendent's discretion, the district shall not employ an applicant who:

1. Is a convicted felon...

But BISD Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas did not hire Salazar and the hiring of a board attorney is not left up to her discretion, and neither is it up to her to fire him or even to set his salary. That is the board's sole prerogative. Will it follow its own policy, or continue to implement that double standard in Baltazar's case?

"Desperate times call for desperate measures..."

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

By now the Internet is filled with highly selective (and heavily-edited) snippets of conversations between City of Brownsville commissioner Cesar de Leon and unnamed parties where the first-time commissioner is quoted – sometimes unintelligibly – using the "n" word and has a few choice opinions on some his city colleagues and Brownsville Independent School District trustees.

In one, De Leon speaks negatively of some black attorneys hired by Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz where he rails against them for their reluctance to work out pleas with local attorneys.

"They're coming down to my fucking city and they are now trying to fucking put everybody in jail because they think we're a bunch of Mexicans...and that is the furthest thing from the truth...and I would dare use that word, but you know what, yes, there's a couple on "Ns" who think that all of us are a bunch of taco eaters...

(We will not post the recording since the use of the word is gratuitous and the selective editing may have destroyed the context of De Leon's statements.)

He then takes his fellow commissioners to task differentiating himself from former mayor Pat Ahumada and current commissioner Ricardo Longoria saying "yo no soy rata"...calling former commissioner Deborah Portillo "una muerta de hambre," saying Rose Gowen turns a blind eye so you can go broke, and Mayor Tony Martinez for dispensing city jobs to friends.

The reference to Portillo, who left office last May, indicates that some of the recordings released anonymously date back to the former city commission and before.

In another De Leon refers to $1,500 he said is owed to him by BISD board president Cesar Lopez for some campaign signs made for him by the Graphic Spot, the company that later tried to collect on the cost of the signs from the commissioner.

"Somebody has to pay me $1,500 and until somebody pay me BISD is dead...and if you're tied in with him you owe me $1,500...la verdad es que it's a slap in the face que me cobre $1,500. and I want an apology from that bitch que es la esposa del pendejo ese..and as long as Cesar is tied in with Graphic Spot, you're tied in with him..."

In another he is recorded saying that trustee Minerva Peña "esta pendeja y loca. I never liked her."
In another snippet, he calls

Graphic Spot has been linked to a scheme to curry business with the BISD through its association with Lopez and other trustees and its name surfaced in the investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture of Valco, the company that sold bad barbacoa meat to the BISD. The BISD stopped buying from Valco after it was learned that the company had been processing meat in Mexico to sell to Region One school districts. At that time, Valco was a vendor to the Buy Board, a national purchasing cooperative

Lopez, the BISD president, is a regional representative of the Texas Association of School Boards Buy Board.

It is this last comment about the listener being "tied in with him" that has led many local political observers to conclude that the person recording the commissioner (there are no others identifiable in the recordings) is none other than BISD trustee and recently-demoted Brownsville Fire Dept. Chief Carlos Elizondo.

Elizondo is currently being investigated for Theft by a Public Official after the Brownsville Firefighters Association filed a complaint with the Brownsville Police Dept. that he had spent more than $8,000 over a two-year period by unauthorized ATM withdrawals from the union Political Action Committee account.

He is also said to be trying to prevent the City of Brownsville administration from releasing an audit of the department that reportedly uncovered massive wrongdoing and policy violations, some of them directly tied to Elizondo. City Manager Charlie Cabler is said to have resisted advice from his legal department that he suspend Elizondo until the Cameron County District Attorney gets through with its investigation.

The recording are said to have been made by Elizondo on his cell phone and released after the firefighters association complaint and his demotion – and possible termination from the city and a potential indictment by a grand jury – in an effort to discredit De Leon, one of the commissioners pushing Cabler to take action on Sossi, the fire department, and its chief.

"These recordings are only snippets of longer conversations that took place in a ranch where De Leon and Elizondo were present and have been edited to put De Leon in a bad light," said a source close to the city administration. "They were conversations held in private between the participants and have been heavily edited to discredit the commissioner and derail the administration's actions against Elizondo. He figures that if he is going to go down, he will take everyone down with him."

The city source said that as time goes on, the full details of the alleged wrongdoings by Elizondo will be made public by the city and that when they are, it will show a massive pattern of misbehavior by the former chief.

Previously, Elizondo held the position of president of the firefighters association and left the group to become chief. Many firefighters accused him of being the force behind the scenes to cut a deal with the city and giving up long-standing benefits of his fellow firefighters for the position.

Before that, he was accused by some of his fellow BISD trustee colleagues of joining the majority on the board in exchange for their votes on his pet projects.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Heretofore reliable sources in the City of Brownsville say that City Manager Charlie Cabler will submit his letter of resignation at tonight's commissioner meeting, ending more than 35 years of working in the city.

His resignation comes at a time of controversy when the city is still reeling from the sudden firing of former city attorney Mark Sossi, the demotion of former Brownsville Fire Dept. Chief Carlos Elizondo amid calls for him to step down from the board of the Brownsville Independent School District, a continuous dissatisfaction over the delayed $500 million Tansaka power plant project that has raised utility bills by 35 percent over the past four years, the $2.3 million Casa del Nylon purchase for a friend of the mayor, and a commission that has felt it has to step in and do his job through the creation of budget, audit and agenda committees.

Today's surreptitious (and anonymous) release of electronic heavily-edited recordings targeting remarks by commissioner Cesar de Leon citing displeasure with his colleagues on the city commission could overshadow his reported resignation.

Cabler first worked in the Brownsville Police Department before becoming assistant city canager in 2002, and then served as Acting City Manager before being hired as City Manager on September 1, 2004.

His salary now stands at $220,000 with a $600 monthly car allowance.
The source did not say what reasons Cabler will cite for his reported departure.

FALLOUT FROM FIRE DEPT.: SHAKEUP STILL NOT OVER

MCHALE LIKENS CITY INACTION TO CORRUPTION IN MATA

LITERATURE, HISTORY BOOKS, MASS MEDIA GLORIFY THE ANGLO RACE; WHY WORRY ABOUT THIS LITTLE BLOG?

LAST 8 QUESTIONS OF HARLINGEN FIREFIGHTER SURVEY

AFTER 9-11 ATTACKS, U.S. IS ENGAGED IN CONSTANT WARFARE

COME AGAIN? WHO DID YOU SAY WOULD PAY FOR THE WALL?

AFTER F.D. SHAKEUP, CITY BRACES FOR D.A. PROBE FINDINGS

TEACHERS, BISD EMPLOYEES AGAINST HEALTH INSURANCE HIKE

ELIZONDO: JOE & SUPER'S $3.7 MILLION VOTE ON BISD BOARD

DID ELIZONDO EVEN HAVE A RIGHT TO SPEND P.A.C. MONIES?

CRUZ(?) WAS TWITTING ABOUT "LIKING" PORNOGRAPHIC VIDEO

ALONG THE ROAD THAT NATIVES AND OBLATES TROD...

COB LAVISHES CAR ALLOWANCES, CARS TO 12 CITY STAFF

BISD GENERAL COUNSEL SALAZAR FAILED TO EXPUNGE RECORD

A HISTORIC PEEK AT RIO GRANDE EUROPEAN-NATIVE CONFLICT

D.A. ON TRAIL OF $2,000 PAID BY ELIZONDO FOR RECOUNT

BLIND MICE ON SAN BENE CITY COMMISSION SEE NOTHING

WHO "SET ASIDE" SALAZAR'S FELONY THEFT CONVICTIONS? ANATOMY OF A CAMERON COUNTY LEGAL SLIGHT-OF-HAND

ANONYMOUS EDITED RECORDINGS TRACED TO ELIZONDO

SOURCE: C.M. CABLER TO RESIGN AT TONIGHT'S CITY MEETING