Lightning Strikes the Vatican~Pope Quits!

Lightning Strikes the Vatican

The possibility of lightning striking didn't occur to me on that warm day in 1967 when, on a dare, I chose to enter the opened gate of the perfectly manicured Catholic diocese residence on Palm Blvd. , just a few doors down from my friend Tom Robinson's house.  Having heard and read about the newly appointed Bishop Humberto Medeiros, I was curious.  As a young man of perhaps twenty, I was eager to meet someone who seemed to control so many lives.

A lady wearing what may have been maid's clothing answered the door and waived me in when I asked to speak to the bishop.  She came with tea and some sweet bread that I remember not eating.  The tea I balanced in my hand as the glass-topped coffee table was too far away. The bishop came out with a very genteel manner, greeting me graciously.(I was fortunate to have worked under Gustavo Hernandez-Beltran, a saleman from Mexico City who exhibited this same grace, sort of preparing me to deal in mannerly way with those who had manners.)

When we got down to the purpose of my visit, the only question I could come up with was something I had read about the Catholic Church being in crisis.  Everything was in crisis in 1967.  The question was enough for the bishop to run with as he acknowledged some of the problems of the Church, most of which had not occurred to me, then quoted something from the 3rd Epistle of St. John about a mother in travail during birth going through great pain, only to be joyful at the final result.  That was smooth.   Medeiros later moved to Boston, where he replaced the frequently quoted Cardinal Cushing.  Medeiros himself gained some notoriety for opposing the bombing of Hanoi in 1972.

Lightning did hit when Pope Benedict XVI quit, coincidentally of course.  I assumed the man quit because of all the sex scandals involving priests and young boys.  If that is the case, I have more respect for him than I do Joe Paterno.  But then Pope Benedict seems to be an anachronism, against abortion, priests marrying, gay marriage, women priests. . . . .fighting windmills all the way.

Barton, why are you writing about religious matters?  Aren't you an atheist?  Are you responding to the chastisement from Duardo Paz-Martinez for no local bloggers covering the story?  Well, Paz was actually incorrect.  Juan Montoya of the El Rrun Rrun blog released a story on the Pope's resignation 7 hours before Paz released his account according to the google timeline.  I haven't gotten around to reading either one.

Mchale has described me as an atheist, probably because I'm somewhat irreverant on religious matters.  I prefer the designation backsliding agnostic since I know nothing for certain.

Design elements are apparent to me in my surroundings:  Earth's atmosphere composed of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, .04% carbon dioxide and a trace of argon doesn't seem accidental to me.  Water expanding when it freezes allowing lakes to freeze on the top, not from the bottom, thus preserving the underwater life, seems to be by design.  The many things that must happen simultaneously for a baby to be born, the slight tilt of the earth on an axis allowing for seasons, the design of the eye, the production of oxygen by plants all seem too organized to be accidental.  Too many things seemed designed for there not to have been a designer.

I see no evidence that whoever designed our universe cares much for his creation now.  No heavenly father could watch 100's of thousand die excruciating deaths from starvation daily.  No responsible parent could watch a tsunami wave kill thousands exactly as it had done hundreds of times before without at least shouting "watch out!"  No almighty god would stand by with his hands on his hips while his children played with hydrogen, nuclear or chemical bombs.  Reckless endangerment of a child is the crime that comes to mind.

I was told years ago that I had been fooled by the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent definition of god.  What if he is not what you think?  What if he isn't that powerful, doesn't know everything and isn't behind every tree?  I could almost accept that except that He has never made any attempt to correct things on the planet.  If he once existed, he is long gone either physically or mentally.  Nothing I've seen makes me think he gives a shit.

Of course, the world's religions and religious books have their explanations, platitudes, prophecies and hopes.  The Bible is classic bullshit.  Written by Jewish men, it finds the Jews to be god's chosen people!  Duh!  The Amalekites, Hittites, Amorites and people of other countries the Jews came into contact with were worthless heathens worthy of destruction, men, women and children!

The story of Caan and Abel is bullshit.  No fair god decides between two brothers who both give him their best just because he is carnivorous, likes his steak.  By the way, the Bible claims men were not allowed to eat meat until after the flood, 2000 years later.  What the hell was Able doing raising cattle?  Was he racing them or selling the hides?  Bullshit.

The law of Moses is bullshit.  It calls for stoning a juvenile delinquent but a king like David who takes someone's wife and then has the man killed, goes unpunished.  Oh, god chose to kill the baby produced by the adultery, the only innocent person in the whole scenario.. . Bullshit!

Abraham's good cousin Lot has sex with his two daughters because heathen men are banging on the door.  Better the kids be true worshippers!  Bullshit!  I could go on and on.

The Book of Mormon is bullshit with much of it plagiarized from the King James Version Bible.  While many Mormons are intelligent people, do they ever even wonder how the angel Moroni could deliver golden tablets translated into the Shakespearean English of the 1600's in 1850?  It's bullshit as are the Koran, the Thipitaka, the Sutra Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka. . . all bullshit!

I see some dark clouds.  What if they are positively charged and the ground below me is negative?  Should I stay away from the computer or at least use a surge protector?  Lightning could be on its way!

Con Artist Quintanilla Visits Lehmann, Then Dines with Gal Pals Cata, Lucy, Christina

When Carlos Quintanilla steps inside Patrick Lehmann's Chinese Motorscooter/Scientific Trash Analysis showroom on Central Blvd., it is never good for Brownsville.  It's a wonder all of the bells and whistles of Lehmann's trash analysis business don't go off with both sleazebags in the building at once.  Brownsville may never see the likes again of these two "businessmen" who play BISD's $500,000,000 budget like their own personal fiddle.

Cata Presas-Garcia

Quintanilla has likely taken a leave from his race-baiting activities with Accion America in North Texas to slime his way south to prop up the perennially interim, yet inept Thompson Horton lawfirm, certainly a personal cash cow as well as income provider for the lunatic Cata Presas-Garcia.  At the last school board meeting where it initially appeared Thompson Horton had been ousted, Presas-Garcia squirted artificial tears in her eyes and made an emotional plea for the firm worthy of a Bollywood B movie.  The other loyal Q-ites, Saavedra and Longoria along with Cata formed the minority voting for the retention of Thompson Horton, fake doctor Escobedo having switched sides.  Eventually, the matter was tabled giving Q at least a temporary victory.

Later, at a restaurant near you, Q and his gal pals were seen yukking it up about their good fortune with Thompson Horton.  "The boys have done all right," the con man was overheard to say.  While Cata knows that employing the right law firm, can be profitable, Lucy Longoria may have a more personal reason for supporting his Q-ness.  "She's gone from calling him her brother to something more endearing," offered an observer.  "Let's just say she's divorced her hubby and has a new main squeeze, a sleazy one."

Cameron County Development Flips Texas General Land Office The Finger~Surfrider Foundation

Cameron County Development Flips Texas General Land Office The Finger

The wall that is the Middle Finger to the State of Texas' Beach and Dune Rules.

For three years the Sea Breeze Estates development on the Cameron County Beaches of South Padre Island have had a contentious relationship with the Texas General Land Office (GLO) over the office's enforcement of state and local beach development laws and their desire to be one of the first developments to kick off construction on the northern beaches of South Padre Island.

It's simple.  A Developer or Property Owner is not allowed to construct a retaining wall within 200' landward of the established line of vegetation.  As of today it is very apparent that the Sea Breeze Estates and the Cameron County Dune Protection Committee are determined to defy Texas State and Texas General Land Office rules and allow the construction of such a retaining wall.  Below are the actual comments from the Texas GLO to Sea Breeze Estates.

As you can see from the pictures below, the wall is already well under way in its construction with the footing being poured and completed and the rebar extensions sticking up ready for the upper portion of the wall.  The seaward facing part of the retaining wall is located at or just behind the apparent line of vegetation in that area and is definitely not within the GLO guidelines.

In meetings of the Cameron County Dune Protection Committee, of whom one of the Realtors and Developers of the Sea Breeze Estates is a member, that I have personally attended it had been discussed that in order to deal with the GLO's denial of the retaining walls, they should be disguised as a foundation for the perimeter fence of the project.  There may very well be a fence going up on top of this but this is definitely a retaining wall going up that has not been permitted by the agency that is responsible for coastal development on the Texas Coast.

"Why is a retaining wall bad?" you may ask.  It has more to do with its proximity to the waterline and the potential it will have to negatively accelerate erosion both to the public beach seaward of it but also to the properties on either side of it.  It also flies in the face of Texas' desire to push back building lines in order to reduce the public tax payer's exposure to bailing out irresponsible developers like this when they build too close to the water line and find themselves in danger of losing their investment.  Of course, Cameron County's Dune Protection Committee has already been moving in the opposite direction on this as well.

Yes, the Cameron County Dune Protection Committee is trying to actually relax their building setback line on a beach that is eroding at about 10' per year according to the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi's New GeoHazard Map. (Pic Below)

If the Texas General Land Office does not take the reigns now on these infractions and get this development and the Cameron County Dune Protection Committee back in line then they risk losing control of the largest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the United States.

Below the response from the GLO to the Cameron County Attorney at the time of inquiry as to what repercussions Cameron County could face if ever found in violation of the Cameron County Beach And Dune Plan, the State's Beach & Dune Rules, the Dune Protection Act or the Open Beaches Act.  It states that Cameron County could lose its certification of its Beach and Dune Plan, lose the ability to collect Beach User Fees ant its Beach Parks and lose eligibility of funding from Texas' Coastal Erosion Protection and Response Act.  These should all be on the table as it is the only thing that will sway the Cameron County Commissioners Court in seeing the ill-advised recommendations it has received from its Dune Protection Committee.

The Texas General Land Office has actually sent out a cease work order on unpermitted construction to the Developers with this wall being the response.  The Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter has made the GLO aware of this and they are investigating.

Pseudonyms, Stage Names, Catfish, Google Blogger, Duardo Paz-Martinez

Duardo Paz-Martinez

19th century female authors frequently used a masculine nom de plum or pen name to be more marketable to those who purchased books back then.  Balladeer Robert Zimmerman identified more readily with poet Dylan Thomas than he did with his Jewish shopkeeper father, thus changed his name to Bob Dylan.  Who knows why Reginald Kenneth Dwight changed his name to Elton John in 1972?  Authors and songwriters, among others, change their names or operate under pseudonyms for a variety of reasons.  Even local blogging/musical legend Jerry Mchale uses a stage name; Doc Scully.   The closest thing to an explanation might be the dramatic words of the TV show Dragnet:  "The names have been changed to protect the innocent."

If authorship allowed for fake names, the internet almost encouraged it.  News groups, chat rooms, social networking groups like MySpace and Facebook asked simply for a moniker, a handle, a screen name.  Who do you want to be?  You were welcome to add a picture, but that picture could be from your personal albums or from millions of pics out there in cyberspace.   With the right picture and soothing words, an internet catfish could even win the heart of a football star like Manti Te'o. . . . and did.  A tidbit on the internet use of the word catfish claims that cod being shipped from Alaska to the orient were found to be lethargic and atrophied until a few catfish were added to keep the cod agile.  "And then, there are people, catfish, who keep you on your toes."

Which brings us to Brownsville's latest blogging sensation;  Dos Frias.  No less than local blogger/legal expert Bobby Wightman-Cervantes has endorsed the "new" blog:

"If you have not checked out this blog - it is worth your time.

http://www.dosfrias.blogspot.com/

I have said many times, the more blogs the better - critical thinking requires many perspectives. Unlike so much of the trash we have in Brownsville written by misogynistic eunuchs, this one has perspective and flavor.

Critical thinkers do not read in search of ideas which verify their own, but for perspective so as to expand their own mind.

I love that some of his pieces are in English and some in Spanish."

Dos Frias Blog

But, is this really a new blog or just an old blogger trying out a new format, a fresh approach, another stab at the blog game?  Perhaps a clue can be found by following the suggestion at the bottom of the Dos Frias blog to "view my complete profile."  A click on that link gives little information except that the blogger has been blogging since September, 2007, a literal eternity in the blogosphere.  So, perhaps we're not dealing with a "new" blog at all, but an old blog reinvented, reformatted, resuscitated, resurrected or even regurgitated.  

I still have a bookmark to the old Paz Files, a very creative, tri-columned blog, that touched on national news, intriguing episodes about characters like Junior Bonner and featured advertisements for books penned by Patrick Alcatraz.  One of the more unpleasant themes of the Paz Files was his incessant denigration of Tony "The Turd" Chapa whom he referred to as the "worst blogger in Harlingen."  Interestingly, a short-lived blog penned by engineering student Sam Losoya, also took relentless jabs at Chapa, then faded into pornography.  

The Pretty Girl Who
Was Actually a Guy

Coincidentally, legendary blogger Jerry Mchale gave props at the time to Sam Losoya, much as he has to Gil Gamboa, the "new" kid on the blogging block.   This may very well be an inside joke among old Brownsville Herald reporters.  Or, it may be a feeble attempt to fool Brownsville's nerd extraordinaire, Tad Hasse.  In this era of the catfish, the fake Facebook account, the pretend girl or boy friend, who can be 100% sure?

Martin Sarkis Meet & Greet

Good Neighbor Settlement House Starts Fingerprinting Due to Oregon Murderer Jeffrey Cutlip

From the editor:  MMB has run several stories on Jeffrey Cutlip, the Oregon murderer who settled in Brownsville, seemingly having his way downtown.  When I first learned that he was a former sex offender, not registered, I made three attempts to alert the Brownsville Police Department, attempts that were not well received.  On my third attempt the dispatcher told me she had just talked to a detective and "Cutlip was alright."

Now, we've learned that the Good Neighbor Settlement House, 1254 E. Tyler St., in Brownsville has started fingerprinting all homeless before providing services.  This is in direct response to Cutlip, who frequented the shelter.  Below is the story we ran in September:

Jeffrey Cutlip in Latin Jazz Festival

Charismatic sex offender Jeffrey Cutlip, once released from prison in Multnomah County, Oregon(Portland), hightailed it for the obscurity of extreme south Texas, that is, Brownsville, Cameron County. Cutlip introduced himself to patrons at the Crescent Moon and other downtown establishments as "Jessie", skillfully spinning stories that elicited sympathy and material help.

With a guitar on his back, dressed in a hobo Aerosmithian style, he liked to pass himself off as a musician who could namedrop a number of rock legends as his collaborators, although he literally couldn't play a lick. Perhaps it was that fairy story that garnered him a feature photo in last year's Latin Jazz Festival, no shame intended for George Ramirez because we were all fooled at some point.

Cutlip loved the collective gullibility of Brownsville and its non-invasive police department. Many times BPD would just ask him to move on after a night of sleeping on some business or residential door step or patio. He liked to hit an adult day care around lunch time, complaining about the menu as if he were a paying customer. He wore a plastic hospital bracelet on his wrist to fend off the hospital security guard who might question his presence in the Baptist lobby.

Cutlip At Brownsville Cheezmeh Valentine Event

His luck changed when he gave an off-duty BPD detective a bit of attitude resulting in his first local background check. Clearly, he had not registered as a sex offender, violated many of his parole stipulations, including geographical limitations, being where young people congregate and/or alcohol served. Incredibly though, BPD put him quickly back on the street despite the obvious. Two weeks after his real background surfaced, I observed Cutlip at a bus stop on Central Blvd. and called 911. I was told a police unit would be dispatched shortly. Fifteen minutes later I called again receiving the same promise. On the third call a dispatcher said she had checked with a detective who advised her that Cutlip was "alright."

Several days later Cutlip ventured of his own accord into BPD and confessed to three 70's murders he said he had committed in Oregon. Once extradited back to Portland, newspaper reports indicated Cutlip had provided detectives with details of at least two murder scenes never before revealed. Cutlip, through his lawyer, entered a plea of innocent with respect to at least one of the murder charges..

Ciroc Coconut Vodka, Marc Rosenthal's Liqueur of Choice

Funny how a few strategically placed bribes here and there, a bought and paid for fabricated story and other assorted sleaziness can actually make one appear an effective lawyer.   Oh, Marc Rosenthal got results, but it was not based on any great legal skill, just manipulating a corrupt system.  In real life, the heavily muscled sleazebag is just a dufus without enough sense to come in out of the rain.

Even when Rosenthal tries to clean up his image for public consumption, he falls flat.  Last year he briefly linked himself up with Brownsville Cheezmeh, evidently springing for some chicken plates to give away.  Not a bright move.

Then, there was the hullaballoo about Rosenthal gifting Teleton, USA in the amount of $1,000,000, a thinly disguised attempt to clean his image that failed again when the actual check he signed turned out to be for $10,000, not $1,000,000.

Now, Emma Perez-Trevino, reporter for the Valley Morning Star reports the incident leading to Judge Hanen revoking Rosenthal's bond:

Marc Rosenthal

“He stayed after 2 a.m.,” Ponce said, adding that the waitress provided the bottles and that one, a Ciroc Coconut Vodka, was for Rosenthal at his request.The waitress served him a drink, and someone named “Fito” relayed a message from Rosenthal to the waitress that she pour more liquor into his drink. Three or four ounces were poured, Ponce said.

By the end of the night, Ponce recounted, Rosenthal had consumed most of the bottle, with only about a fourth left in it. He then drove away in his Maserati, Ponce said.

The waitress felt he was intoxicated, Ponce said, and said Rosenthal seemed to be sleeping as he leaned over a seat."

This was not the first violation of the bond agreement coming before Judge Hanen, but was enough for the no-nonsense judge to revoke Rosenthal's bond.  His lawyers can now visit him in jail as they work on his defense.

Has Tony Martinez Found A New Plant to Run Against Martin Sarkis for City Commissioner Position 3?

Sandra Langley

From the editor:  Back on January 24th, the day that Debbie Portillo dropped out of the District 3 commissioner race, we raised the rhetorical question "Who Will Tony Buy Now?"  The information below may be the beginning of an answer to that question:

 Mayor Tony Martinez is accustomed to manipulating with money.  Monetarily support a candidate for City Commissioner now to count on their vote later.  He achieved two virtual locks on the current commission with that approach; Rose Gowen and Estela Chavez-Vasquez.

This past winter Tony pursued young Debbie Portillo as a possible plant for District 3, but once her name surfaced she withered under the heat of publicity and soon dropped out.

Now, we're hearing that Tony may have a replacement plant in the works; Sandra Langley.  We understand she was Tony's appointment to the GBIC, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and she accompanied his group in the "Senior Trip" to Colombia at taxpayer's expense.  More information should be forthcoming in the next few days about Langley.  We do hear, though, that the mayor is not at all pleased with the prospect of having to deal with an independent voice like Brownsville businessman Martin Sarkis on the commission.

Martin Sarkis, Candidate for City Commissioner, Position 3

Martin Sarkis

49 year old Brownsville businessman Martin Sarkis has declared for the office of City Commissioner, Place 3, which is currently filled by Melissa Zamora, who is not running again for the position.

Sarkis studied architecture at the Tecnologico de Matamoros and is responsible for over 150 buildings, commercial and residential in Brownsville and a number in Matamoros.  He also owns Saga State Inspection at 1934 E. 13th St. in Brownsville.

Sarquis states that while a commissioner has only one vote, he can question any proposal to see if it is viable.  He expects citizen involvement as well:  "We need groups who believe strongly in an issue to come the the City Commission and push for it.  A commissioner can't do it by himself."  He also supports a lifting of the broadcast ban on public comments "as long as the comments are respectful of the mayor and city commission."

As an architect, Sarkis has a particular fondness for Brownsville's downtown which he believes should be a strong magnet for tourism.  He wants to look into the use of areas under freeway overpasses to park as many as 150 cars, then using a trolley shuttle to tour historic and architecturally significant areas of downtown.  A knowledgeable tour guide or historian could give locals and tourists alike some perspective of the history of the city, he feels.  Sarkis states that owners of downtown buildings that have fallen into disrepair need to be served warning that unless they repair their buildings the city will do it at their expense.

Sarkis also wants the city to actually develop a new ethics code without delay and make necessary changes to the city charter to bring it current with twenty-first century reality.

McAllen Authorizes Food Trucks While Tony Martinez Sticks His Head in the Sand

Tony Martinez

Do you remember last summer when Walter Underwood, then owner of Philly's Americana, asked the City of Brownsville for a food truck permit?  He was stonewalled by city bureaucrats and when it came to the attention of Mayor Martinez, he was not interested.  Here is the MMB report from August 10, 2012 including Martinez response:
“We have so many different issues at the city that probably need addressing, such as public works and city maintenance and things of that nature,” said Martinez, who owns Lola’s restaurant on Palm Boulevard. “I would not put food trucks at the top of my list right now.”

Evidently, Walter Underwood, the former owner of Philly's Americana in Brownsville, stopped trying to fight bureaucracy and regulation in our city and took his food truck to Austin, a city that has dozens of such trucks offering all kinds of unique and sometimes gourmet items.

Now, we have learned that the City of McAllen has created a new ordinance allowing up to twelve new food truck permits to be issued in the city.  McAllen Health Director Josh Ramirez is finalizing the rules food truck operators will need to follow according to a report by KRGV.com.  "Something you ingeniously build at home is not going to be allowed," Ramirez said.

According to the report, while the permits issued will initially be limited to 12, officials will review the program in a few months amn may consider expanding the number of trucks allowed in the city.

The City of Austin, of course, has an entire city block near 6th Street dedicated to food trucks.  This format allows purveyors of all kinds of cuisines to produce them without the overwhelming overhead of a brick-and-mortar building.  

So, while cities like Austin and McAllen recognize and respond to trends and current technology, Tony Martinez and Brownsville officials continue to stifle growth with their lack of imagination and lethargy.

Tony Wants to Give Away 77 Acres of Brownsville Land to the University of Texas

Tony Martinez

The University of Texas is an extremely wealthy university by any measure despite what their fundraising appeal literature implies.  The Permanent University Fund or P.U.F., which includes the oil and mineral rights generated on over 2,000,000 acres of Texas land came in at 8.8 billion in 2008 and is now certainly higher, yet that is only 8% of UT's total funding.

During the entire UTB/TSC relationship, UT acted as if their hands were tied with respect to financial support for that combined institution, citing a rule that P.U.F. funds were only available for pure UT branches, not those affiliated with another entity, like TSC.(No mention was ever made that UT easily had enough funds to alleviate some of the burden of one of the poorest cities in the United States.)  So Brownsville, as always, was allowed to suck it up and assume the tremendous financial burden of perhaps as much as 1 billion dollars by 2034 to pay for the infamous Juliet Garcia's extravagant ways.  Please don't forget that when Garcia's request for a 105 million dollar bond issue was rejected by the taxpayers in favor of a more modest 65 million, she went ahead and spent 105 million anyway.   Yes, arrogance beyond belief!

Juliet Garcia

Tony Martinez left us no clue as to why he ran for mayor until recently.  He seemed totally disinterested in the city and city business.  He took obvious pride in short, no-participation commission meetings.  All of that changed when Juliet Garcia called.  Could Tony help with the transition into a new campus?

One prompting by Juliet Garcia and Tony was like a bat out of hell;  purchasing a lackluster assortment of downtown properties for possible transitional use by UTB or whatever university it becomes.  Tony used taxpayer dollars to purchase an armory, a warehouse, two restaurant or club-sized buildings and an old retail store still selling, as new, goods from the 80's, that had been for sale for forever.  It is doubtful if any of these hastily purchased properties would be of interest to the University of Texas for even interim accommodations given the pristine standards already set by UTB and UT.

So desperate is Tony to placate Juliet Garcia and impress the University of Texas system, that now he is offering 77 acres of taxpayer owned land to the rich school absolutely free.(Yes, this is on the agenda for the 2/5/2012 City Commission meeting; a donation of two tracts of land totaling 77 acres to UT.)  Surely, UT officials laugh privately at the sheer desperation,  the clumsy negotiation by Martinez.(Horacio Barrera must have handled all the negotiations for Tony's law firm.  Do you remember when Tony and the City Commission showed up at a public hearing about SpaceX ALREADY wearing SpaceX insignias BEFORE any contract was signed or even dollars talked?) Very amateurish.

So far the City Commission has been unable or unwilling to stifle Mayor Martinez spendthrift ways.  It will not be easy at the 2/5/12 meeting with two commissioners an absolute lock to vote Tony's way.  It's time the City Commission stood up for the Brownsville taxpayer.

Addendum:  Do we see a pattern with Tony?  He contributes mightily to the 2008 Obama campaign, hoping for at least an ambassadorship.  He initially offers Filemon Vela free office space in City Plaza, possibly hoping to curry favor with Vela.  Now, he goes totally berserk, trying to prove his devotion to Juliet Garcia and UT.  Tony is all about Tony.  He does not care one wit about Brownsville.  He is using his unfortunate election as mayor to try to further himself.

How the Inbred, Self-sustaining Politics of Cameron County Hurts Our Community

Mary Esther Garcia
Candidate for Justice of the Peace,
Daughter of Sofia Benavides

The attractive young woman pictured at left, by all accounts personable, friendly and gracious, violates a very basic standard of ethics by seeking political office in Cameron County.  You see her mother Sofia Benavides is already a county official,  Precinct 1 County Commissioner.

"What's wrong with that?" you ask.  Well, it gives Mary Esther an unfair advantage over every candidate for Justice of the Peace 2-3 who does not have a relative in a county position.  Her mother can, and don't think she won't, use the power of her office to see to it her daughter gets elected.  In previous stories, Mean Mister Brownsville has shared reports of candidates forcing their staff to work long hours in their campaign in a clear violation of political ethics and their job description.







On June 20, 2012, we reported Armando Villalobos misuse of his staff for political purposes:

Armando Villalobos, Indighted Former
District Attorney

"Early into Villalobos' campaign for Congress, I was told by a spouse of a staff member that a portion of the DA staff were working up to 32 hours of their 40 hour work week on the congressional campaign.  If that is true, that is a theft of services paid for by Cameron County taxpayers.  Again, that includes the air-conditioned offices we pay for, the transportation we provide, the internet service, etc.  

Ironically, on the day of Villalobos indictment, as Armando left the Cameron County Courthouse, he was greeted by a "spontaneous" cluster of staff, wearing "Villalobos for Congress" orange t-shirts.  This was still during the workday so it can be assumed many of these staffers were on the clock.  The support for their boss on one of his worst days was touching on some levels, but not what we pay these county employees for.  If it was done on the clock, it was a theft of wage dollars from us."

Judge Elia Cornejo Lopez

Speaking of staffs, Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez seems to have lost hers during the last campaign.  One alleged staffers offered this complaint: "She makes us work long hours on her campaign.  If anyone complains, she says "You're lucky I gave you a job!"  

Our November 21, 2012 story detailed how unethical County Clerk Joe Rivera had his staff selling fundraiser tickets in the halls of the courthouse, a clear violation of several standards of ethics:  

County Clerk Joe Rivera

"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." 

A commenter to the blog elaborated on the point:  "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."

Cameron County has a culture of corruption where officeholders illegally use their staff in their re-election campaigns.  Do you really think they would not do the same to get a son, daughter or other relative elected?  That's why ethical standards exist; to create a somewhat level playing field.

Mary Esther Garcia should do the right thing, the ethical thing and withdraw from the JP race.  Her life has not been harmed or lessened in anyway because she is the daughter of a county official.  In fact, the taxpayer paid income afforded first her father and then her mother is well above the county average, giving her a superior lifestyle.  Mary Esther will have no trouble finding a job, just let it not be in county government.

  

State Bar of Texas Holds Ethics Seminar for Local Lawyers

Perhaps, as a result of the obvious widespread corruption among local lawyers and judges revealed during the Abel Limas, Ray Marchan and Mark Rosenthall trials, the State Bar of Texas is conducting a 3 hour seminar for local lawyers on ethics at the courthouse.

The President of the State Bar is here in Brownsville, along with representatives from the Disciplinary Board.

Participation seems to be voluntary, but many local lawyers are eager to demonstrate their interest in the pursuit of ethics.