Villarreal Threatens to Block Next Year's Funding for Earth Fest

This and other blogs have detailed how Brownsville City Commissioner John Villarreal became livid when he noticed Mary Helen Flores of Citizens Against Voter Abuse or CAVA, distributing flyers at Linear Park. Witnesses observed Villarreal order Flores to close her booth which was located next to a booth monitored by the Deputy Sheriffs, who were registering people to vote. We have learned that it was the Deputy Sheriffs who suggested to Flores the idea of manning a

booth At Linear Park during Earth Fest.

We portrayed this incident in a couple of previous articles as a clear violation of the First Amendment. John Villarreal, in a statement sharing his version of the event, admits that he viewed Ms. Flores, not so much as a citizen handing out flyers about voter abuse so much as a supporter of his foe in the last election, Tony Zavaleta, who was distributing political "junk". Merely by bringing up the last election in his handling of this incident, John certifies that he clearly was the one acting in a partisan manner.

For those of us who know both John Villarreal and Mary Helen Flores, we understand that the bad blood between the two did not start in last year's commissioner's race. John has extremely close ties to Ernie and Norma Hernandez and their daughter Erin. John considers them longtime family friends.

Erin Hernandez was initially John's campaign treasurer in his commissioner's race last year.

Mary Helen Flores, on the other hand, has been a thorn in the side of the Hernandez family for several years because of their blatant use of politiqueras to win(some would say steal) elections. Ernie Hernandez himself declared that "there is nothing wrong with the use of politiqueras" in his 2003 run for mayor. Herminia Becerra, recognized as the 'queen of the politiqueras', is frequently seen seated at the Hernandez table at political events, wearing an Erin H. Garcia official badge held up by an "Elect Ernie Hernandez 2010" neckband. All of this history was in play as John used his recently acquired status as a City Commissioner to bully a citizen, a constituent and squelch, suppress and stifle her free speech. . . . . But there's more.

Mary Helen Flores initially asked Villarreal to produce something in writing, some ordinance or city regulation that she was violating, or in absence of that, City Manager Charlie Cabler to cite the ordinance she was violating. John chose a different line of attack. He approached Parks Department official Shannon Guerro asking her assistance in ejecting Flores. Interestingly, Guerro, like Villarreal, is a close friend of the Hernandez's. Guerro's method of handling the situation was to ask Rio Bravo's Joe Boswell to ask Mary Helen Flores to leave. Witnesses state that, by this time, the incident had caught the attention of Earth Fest lead official, Municipal Judge Ben Neece. It was at this point, that Commissioner Villarreal played his trump card in front of Boswell, Neece and others. Villarreal stated in front of the assembled group that because of this "incident," he would vote not to fund Earth Fest next year. What is more, John stated, he had been in contact with Mayor Martinez and fellow Commissioner Melissa Zamora and they both agreed not to fund the event next year

This last escalation of the incident by John Villarreal may have at worst been a misrepresentation or merely a bluff. Melissa Zamora made clear later on the CAVA site that she at least did not agree with Villarreal:

"Just wanted to clarify some misinformation. I fully support and will continue to support the Earthfest activities. I so much enjoyed judging the children's cooking competion on Saturday, and I again attended events on Sunday at Lincoln Park. I personally thanked all the organizers and commended them for a job well done. Not once did I mention Mary Helen or express discontent with the organizers on her passing out fliers. I've always been a strong advocate for free speech, and I also supported the airing of public comment at our meetings." Melissa Hernandez-Zamora