By Juan Montoya
By all appearances, it seemed like former embattled City of Brownsville commissioner Cesar de Leon had weathered the storm of disapproval by protesters calling for his resignation.
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He attended Tuesday's city commission meeting and apparently was on his way to resuming his duties as commissioner.
But there was another obstacle lying in wait for the young attorney. On Thursday, he was set to represent one of his clients in municipal court and Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz showed up with a motion for Municipal Court Judge Rene De Coss to have De Elon disqualified from representing Erika Natalia Garza Rodriguez in a case before the court.
In fact, Saenz argued that just as county judges and commissioners who are attorneys are prevented from representing clients in justice of the peace, statutory, or district courts, De Leon was like wise prevented from representing any clients in the municipal court.
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Saenz personally filed and argued the motion before De Coss at 3:30 p.m. Thursday saying his position as a city commissioner and as an attorney representing a client in a municipal court "creates an appearance of impropriety and calls into question the fair and impartial administration of justice in the City of Brownsville Municipal Court."
Apparently, De Coss agreed with Saenz and ordered (See graphic above at right, click to enlarge) De Leon's disqualifications on those grounds. Today, De Leon decided that having the ability to exercise his profession and earn a living outweighed his position as city commissioner.
This issue has come up before in regards to county judges and county commissioners representing their clients in the courts. The answer to that issue was that if the opposing attorneys accepted a waiver (the defense for an opposing party or the city attorney) and De Leon asked for a waiver, he could legally continue representing clients.
However, apparently the former commissioner saw that the city attorney would be under pressure from the DA not to issue the waiver and he decided to resign and practice his profession instead.
Meanwhile, we have learned that after demoted Brownsville Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo was sent back into the ranks of the firehouse, no one wanted to work with him or his former assistant fire chief Ernie Estrada. Both were demoted at the same time and went back to their previous ranks, Elizondo as a lieutenant and Estrada as a firefighter.
![Image result for elizondo, estrada and cabler]()
They asked interim fire chief Jarred Sheldon to be placed n administrative leave and Sheldon went to City Manager Charlie Cabler to ask if he could grant them administrative leave with pay. Cabler is said to have told Sheldon he could not go along with that and that he would leave it up to him to decide.
Sheldon then granted Elizondo administrative leave with pay but not Estrada.
The talk around the firehouses has been that Elizondo and Estrada did just about anything they pleased, with Elizondo reportedly taking off from his post without permission and shutting himself off in an office.
So now we have the guy who started the whole racial controversy and got rid of a city commissioner getting paid by the city taxpayers for not working.
Does this seem right to anyone?
By all appearances, it seemed like former embattled City of Brownsville commissioner Cesar de Leon had weathered the storm of disapproval by protesters calling for his resignation.
But there was another obstacle lying in wait for the young attorney. On Thursday, he was set to represent one of his clients in municipal court and Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz showed up with a motion for Municipal Court Judge Rene De Coss to have De Elon disqualified from representing Erika Natalia Garza Rodriguez in a case before the court.
In fact, Saenz argued that just as county judges and commissioners who are attorneys are prevented from representing clients in justice of the peace, statutory, or district courts, De Leon was like wise prevented from representing any clients in the municipal court.
Saenz personally filed and argued the motion before De Coss at 3:30 p.m. Thursday saying his position as a city commissioner and as an attorney representing a client in a municipal court "creates an appearance of impropriety and calls into question the fair and impartial administration of justice in the City of Brownsville Municipal Court."
Apparently, De Coss agreed with Saenz and ordered (See graphic above at right, click to enlarge) De Leon's disqualifications on those grounds. Today, De Leon decided that having the ability to exercise his profession and earn a living outweighed his position as city commissioner.
This issue has come up before in regards to county judges and county commissioners representing their clients in the courts. The answer to that issue was that if the opposing attorneys accepted a waiver (the defense for an opposing party or the city attorney) and De Leon asked for a waiver, he could legally continue representing clients.
However, apparently the former commissioner saw that the city attorney would be under pressure from the DA not to issue the waiver and he decided to resign and practice his profession instead.
Meanwhile, we have learned that after demoted Brownsville Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo was sent back into the ranks of the firehouse, no one wanted to work with him or his former assistant fire chief Ernie Estrada. Both were demoted at the same time and went back to their previous ranks, Elizondo as a lieutenant and Estrada as a firefighter.
They asked interim fire chief Jarred Sheldon to be placed n administrative leave and Sheldon went to City Manager Charlie Cabler to ask if he could grant them administrative leave with pay. Cabler is said to have told Sheldon he could not go along with that and that he would leave it up to him to decide.Sheldon then granted Elizondo administrative leave with pay but not Estrada.
The talk around the firehouses has been that Elizondo and Estrada did just about anything they pleased, with Elizondo reportedly taking off from his post without permission and shutting himself off in an office.
So now we have the guy who started the whole racial controversy and got rid of a city commissioner getting paid by the city taxpayers for not working.
Does this seem right to anyone?