By Juan Montoya
On October 17, Brownsville Fire Chief Jarrett V. Sheldon issued a letter notifying suspended Lt. Carlos Elizondo that he has been suspended indefinitely from the department.
In that letter, Sheldon states that the decision on Elizondo's employment by the Civil Service Division had been "abated" pending he outcome of the first batch of criminal cases against the former chief in district court, then launched into another 21 pages of allegations upon which he based his eventual decision to suspend him indefinitely, in other words, terminated.
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On Sept. 20, a jury of eight women and four men – after deliberating for about 4 hours – declared former City of Brownsville Fire Department Chief Carlos Elizondo not guilty on six counts of computer security breach and that he accessed the Brownsville Fire Department Emergency Reporting System while suspended by the city and without its consent to access the reporting system.
He still faces a separate indictment accusing him of theft and misapplication of fiduciary duty over allegations he stole from the firefighters association.
On Thursday, Elizondo and his legal representatives will appeal Sheldon's decision to suspend him and to ask for his reinstatement with back pay during a hearing before the Civil Service.
But unlike other hearings that are held for city employees, this one will be markedly different. Instead of being held in a hearing room adjacent to Human Resources at the old federal courthouse, it will be in the B-Metro Community Room on the second floor of the Multimedia Terminal at 755 International Blvd.
Not only will the hearing room be larger, but we also learned that there will be additional security provided by the city to insure the security of the hearing participants.
And instead of the two or three hours or even half a day that most hearing last, the public notice posted at city hall is scheduled for two days - Thursday and Friday - starting at 8:30 a.m. both days.
Does this indicate that the entire 21 other pages of dirty laundry between the department and the former fire chief - including mass and social media - will finally be aired?
On October 17, Brownsville Fire Chief Jarrett V. Sheldon issued a letter notifying suspended Lt. Carlos Elizondo that he has been suspended indefinitely from the department.
In that letter, Sheldon states that the decision on Elizondo's employment by the Civil Service Division had been "abated" pending he outcome of the first batch of criminal cases against the former chief in district court, then launched into another 21 pages of allegations upon which he based his eventual decision to suspend him indefinitely, in other words, terminated.
On Sept. 20, a jury of eight women and four men – after deliberating for about 4 hours – declared former City of Brownsville Fire Department Chief Carlos Elizondo not guilty on six counts of computer security breach and that he accessed the Brownsville Fire Department Emergency Reporting System while suspended by the city and without its consent to access the reporting system.He still faces a separate indictment accusing him of theft and misapplication of fiduciary duty over allegations he stole from the firefighters association.
On Thursday, Elizondo and his legal representatives will appeal Sheldon's decision to suspend him and to ask for his reinstatement with back pay during a hearing before the Civil Service.
But unlike other hearings that are held for city employees, this one will be markedly different. Instead of being held in a hearing room adjacent to Human Resources at the old federal courthouse, it will be in the B-Metro Community Room on the second floor of the Multimedia Terminal at 755 International Blvd.
Not only will the hearing room be larger, but we also learned that there will be additional security provided by the city to insure the security of the hearing participants.
And instead of the two or three hours or even half a day that most hearing last, the public notice posted at city hall is scheduled for two days - Thursday and Friday - starting at 8:30 a.m. both days.
Does this indicate that the entire 21 other pages of dirty laundry between the department and the former fire chief - including mass and social media - will finally be aired?