Tony's Control of City Commission Still Precarious Despite Victories

It was supposed to be so easy.  The photoshopped physique on the left would be made into a cardboard cutout, then placed in a city commissioner seat.  A tiny wire would run under the table to just above the mayor's chair with simple "yes" and "no" buttons.  Tony would have the final linchpin of city commission control in place to be able to fulfill the desires of his United Brownsville cronies.  After all, dependable rubber stamps Rose Gowen and John Villarreal won re-election and Estela Chavez-Vasquez would continue to play ball if she hoped for support for her run for district judge in 2015.  As much as Mayor Tony enjoys breaking ties, Portillo would give him a ready-made majority.

Tony was not even momentarily worried when Martin Sarkis, like Portillo, a candidate for District 3 City Commissioner, went to the Brownsville Police Department with alleged Election Law violations by the young Portillo.  Tony knew that newly appointed Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez would not risk getting fired by the Tony Martinez city commission over some political shenanigans, albeit third degree felonies.  No doubt Orlando had seen how the game is played by watching his predecessor, Carlos Garcia,  handing the Ernie Hernandez/Robert Cadriel hot potato back to the county commissioners after sitting on it for 30 days.

But, with a Brownsville citizen, taking the same complaints against Portillo to the TEC, things got a bit more serious.  The Texas Ethics Commission does not report to Mayor Martinez.  Perhaps, the biggest problem with Debbie's campaign finance report is the listing of corporations as contributors.  Did her Campaign Treasurer, IBC Bank Vice President, Bertha Garza, really sign off on listing the Holiday Inn Express as a contributor, along with three other corporations?(The Hampton Inn & Suites, Jewelry Corner and Gran Justo, LLC)  What about the fact that Debbie, in making a personal contribution to her own campaign, gives as her personal address a location in District 2?  Unless Debbie is lying about her address in her report, she does not qualify to run for City Commissioner, District 3.

The Election Code calls for a fine to be imposed if the allegations are proved to be correct:  Double the amount of the improper contribution is designated to be paid to opponents in the race and triple to the State. This thing could get pretty expensive, not to mention that if the TEC upholds the complaint, the candidate is disqualified.