How Cameron County Public Officials Misuse Staff to Steal from the Taxpayers

Joe Rivera

When an employee leaves the premises of a business while "on the clock" to go to the racetrack, a local bar or do anything not part of his job description, he or she is stealing time.  It is a theft because monies are being paid for no actual work.  Employees across the country are terminated daily for such a violation.

Cameron County employees sometimes find themselves in the quandary of being asked to do something by their public official/boss that is not work for the county, but instead is political activity for the public official.  Certainly, to refuse to fulfill the assignment might result in termination, but it is a collaborative theft nonetheless.  The employee is being paid by the taxpayer, not the politician.  Of course, the public official making such demands on his employees bears the heavier responsibility, orchestrating the theft from the taxpayers.

This blog recently detailed an incident involving employees working under County Clerk Joe Rivera selling raffle tickets/donations to his campaign in the halls of the county courthouse.  If these sales were being made on the clock, it is a theft.  If Joe Rivera required his taxpayer paid employees to make these sales on county time, he is a thief and should be terminated.  He should face prosecution and reimbursement to the county for the stolen work hours.

Readers did weigh in on this discussion making comments to the previous MMB article on this subject:

AnonymousNovember 20, 2012 3:29 PM

Jim, this is not news. All staff members of the County clerks office are REQUIRED to either sell or purchase these tickets themselves. They are clearly told not to return unsold tickets. This action has been going on for at least the last ten years, possibly longer. Under threat of joining the unemployment line. Ask any of his staff. They hate it cause they usually get stuck with the tickets.

Jim BartonNovember 20, 2012 4:10 PM

Even if this is common practice, it is unethical. Taxpayers are not paying staff to sell tickets in the halls while on the clock. If Joe Rivera has enough staff to do this, he is overstaffed. This is not only unethical, it is illegal and disrespects those who pay for the staff, built the building, maintain it and provide climate control. It also creates an unlevel playing field in favor of the incumbent.

JimReplyDelete



/DP-MNovember 21, 2012 4:45 AM

This is absolutely illegal. I'm not one to quarrel with Hispanics honoring themselves, i.e. Rivera's portrait or the naming of buildings. Lord knows, there are few monuments to the culture's contributions, in the Valley and elsewhere. But there is the very-recent case of the aide for Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker who got six (6) months in jail for campaigning for another Republican while on the state payroll. All it takes is judges who know and want to apply the law...

/DP-M

Armando Villalobos

Indicted district attorney Armando Villalobos has reportedly been stealing from Cameron County in multiple ways during his tenure.  Simply not doing the job he is paid handsomely to do is a theft, but reports during his recent campaign for congress indicated employees in his office were being asked to work relentlessly in his campaign.  If true, that is a tremendous theft of time from Cameron County taxpayers.  

Interestingly, after Armando's indictment, my wife Nena and I observed him in the courtroom of the Ray Marchan trial, along with his former law partner Eddie Lucio, taking copious notes of the proceedings likely on the county dime.  The county has gotten almost no bang for their buck in the district attorney's office and that is a crime.  

Elia Cornejo-Lopez

We've received similar complaints with respect to Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez as reported in the MMB months ago:

"One of her staffers complained to me: "She makes us work long hours on her campaign. If anyone complains, she says "You're lucky I gave you a job!"

This attitude, pervasive in Cameron County results in unconscionable theft of tax dollars.  Make no mistake.  All of the public officials who advocate, orchestrate and promote this illegal activity are thieves, infinitely more so than the teenager who passes the Stripes' checkout counter with a 12-pack of Bud Light under his arm.