Cascos Distances Himself from Proposed Raises for County Officials

Carlos Cascos

The same group of county commissioners that just last year used up their allotted annual travel expense money in just four months, is now rapidly backpedaling from a proposed raise in annual salary, citing the economy, tight budget and the overriding need to compensate hourly employees first.

The headline writer for the Emma Perez-Trevino story in yesterday's Brownsville Herald used the word "ruckus" to describe the furor the proposed salary increases seems to have created.

In comments to the online version of the article, County Judge Carlos Cascos made it clear that the raises were not his idea: 

"Since I have been County Judge, I have never supported nor received a salary increase, nor has any member of the Commissioner's Court. I believe when one runs for public office, they are or should be aware of the responsibilities & the salary of the position they are seeking. Although a vast majority of County employees have not received raises in 4 years, I am cognizant of the unemployment rate & the economic conditions. I have not, nor will I support raises for elected officials higher than those given the employees & I will not support raising taxes to provide raises to anyone.
I frequently hear about the lack of raises for county employees, the reality is that these employees have gainful employment & have not seen any reduction in benefits. I will continue to be fiscally responsible & base my decisions on what I believe is to the benefit of all taxpayers."

Dan Sanchez

The only commissioner publicly admitting to supporting the raises is Dan Sanchez, who finds that clerks Aurora De la Garza and Joe Rivera are in dire straights because their salaries lag behind the salary of tax assessor Tony Yzaguirre:     

“It’s a matter of equalizing, of being fair with the others,” Sanchez said. Sanchez said he proposed to reduce his salary by the nearly $6,000 increase to De la Garza and Rivera, but that the majority of com-missioners had not agreed to do this. “I have to be willing to put my money where my mouth is,” Sanchez said.

Before we nominate Sanchez for sainthood, understand that his offer to sacrifice salary for the two mediocre, but long tenured clerks is simply grandstanding.  He knows his buddy commissioners would not honor that request.  Anyway, he has his sights on the county judge position.  

What Sanchez isn't telling us is that Yzaguirre used a bit of sleight of hand trickery to inflate his salary.  It is alleged that he feigned retirement, asking the commissioners to add his car allowance to his actual salary so he could go off into the retirement sunset with a higher salary base.  Then he flip-flopped on retirement, retaining the artificially higher salary.  Pretty smooth!  Sanchez also isn't ready to announce his reported interest in being a candidate for county judge in the next election, thus necessitating getting on the good side of politicos De la Garza and Rivera.  

Immortalized De la Garza and Rivera

(Mean Mister Brownsville's comments a few days ago:  "First it was an exorbitant portrait of the pair that slipped passed the County Commission without a proper purchase order or competitive bidding. Of course, the portrait was to hang in a building named for two Cameron County officials are so anxious to prematurely immortalize.")

Ernie Hernandez, Jr., who always seems shocked by unpopular developments in the county(usually initiated by his personal lack of ethics), stated that he voted for the salary increase for himself and other officials "reluctantly".  Did someone kidnap Ernie in a mini-van, shove a sample ballot in his face and force him to darken a bubble without his consent or awareness?  

In further online comments to The Herald, Teresa Saldivar questioned how a Public Notice of the raises could be posted without the consent of the county judge and full understanding of the commissioners:  "With all due respect Judge Cascos, shouldn't you investigate and reprimand the employee who initiated a Public Notice without your authority? Why would a discussion continue on an unoffical public notice in detail and in the public arena?"

Here is Cascos' reply:  "The public notice was authorized by the Commission. The individual responsible for the posting must have not heard me say, all elected officials with the exception of the Commissioner's Court. The notice simply alerts the public that the increase published would be the maximum paid to the elected officials. We don't have to give the raise, it was a public notice that that would be the most we would give. But if we can't provide all employees a raise, then I will not support any increase to any elected official.


The District Clerk & the County Clerk are the elected officials that a majority of the Court voted to give raises to. I don't support % increases, but rather $ amounts when & if we can. The justification was to match them with the Tax Assessor Collector..that was it. What was not talked about was the TAC has 9 offices throughout the County & these 2 clerks have 6 or 7 offices, combined."