BROWNSVILLE'S CURRENT AND PAST HISTORY OF CANDIDATES FAKING THEIR RESIDENCY

Setting Up A Pretend Residence

Pretending you live in a certain district, while actually living elsewhere is common practice for Cameron County candidates for public office.

Joe Citizen realizes that if he lives outside a district, he can't legally run for office in that district. Politicos see it differently as in "how can I make it seem that I live in the district so I can be elected to an office I want and need?"

Erasmo Castro, while actually living in Austin, claimed his sister Linda's notary public office at 1216 E. Madison, Suite D, as his residence.  He may have set up a cot in the back of the office to rest his bones on visits to Brownsville, but he didn't live there.

Ed Rivera of Laguna Vista chose his then girlfriend's home at 14 Ebony Drive to run for Port of Brownsville trustee, while still claiming a homestead exemption at 22 Harbor Town, Laguna Vista.

Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa claimed her parents' home on Heather Lane when she ran for City Commissioner, District 2 in 2011.(As a side note, a camera was found across the street from her actual residence on San Marco Blvd., belonging to Jaime Escobedo's American Surveillance, allegedly hired pro bono by her city commission opponent, Charlie Atkinson.)

"Ben Neece" by Diego Lee Rot

City Commissioner Ben Neece has actually lived outside the Brownsville city limits on Sally Lane for many years, but claimed, in his campaign filings, to have a residence at 1203 E. Washington Street in District 2, that he'd occupied for at least six months and, that he'd resided somewhere in the city, there or elsewhere, for at least a year, before filing.(According to Bobby Wightman-Cervantes, those claims contradict his filings for a homestead exemption on Sally Lane.)

For those of us who frequented Ben's cantina, "The Crescent Moon," a few years back, it was well known that Ben maintained an apartment at that location on E. Washington Street.

That upstairs apartment, now, at least partially converted into a nightclub, the Spanish Moon, may indeed be rented from Abraham Galonsky, who owns several buildings in that block.

OK.  Campaign rules are being flouted by candidates and those winning office.  Do we care about this?  Should someone from soulless McAllen be allowed to run for city commissioner in Brownsville?  What can be done to actually verify residence beyond simply taking the word of the candidate?

If a candidate claims a homestead exemption on other property, while claiming residence elsewhere, should he pay taxes on that $15,000 exemption to Cameron County and be denied that exemption going forward?

These are not trivial, but serious questions for citizens actually interested in fighting corruption?