Citizen Panel Rejects Raises for Sheriff Lucio, Justice of the Peace Gonzalez and Constable Gomez by 8-1 Vote

Sheriff Omar Lucio, JP Sallie Gonzalez

Certainly, Sheriff Omar Lucio has heard the trite admonition to "be careful what you wish for," yet he wished for a full citizen panel of nine in this Tuesday evening's Salary Grievance Committee Hearing on the second floor of the Dancy Court House.  Only a unanimous verdict by nine citizens would have given Lucio the $25,000 annual raise he was seeking without going before the County Commission.(A mere majority or even a unanimous vote by fewer than nine members would have resulted in a recommendation for a raise that would have then gone before the County Commissioners for approval.)  The citizen panel, selected from among those who had served on Cameron County grand juries, resoundingly rejected by an 8-1 margin, not only Sheriff Lucio's raise request, but the $9,152 raise requested by Justice of the Peace Sallie Gonzalez and the $7,314 raise wanted by Constable Abelardo Gomez.

While the candidates had prepared 30 minutes worth of raise justification, County Judge Carlos Cascos announced at the start that each petitioner would be given only 5 minutes plus time to respond to any of the panel's questions.  Sallie Gonzalez took as good omens the fact that the panel had no questions for her and seemed to be extending their deliberations.  She misread the tea leaves.  Anxious for the panel's decision, Gonzalez hummed the Carly Simon 70's hit "Anticipation" while waiting.

Before the candidates spoke, Cascos called for public comment.  Octogenarian Dagoberto Barrera belted out his typical theme that "no raises should be given in this RECESSIONAL  time."  Robert Uresti followed with "$25,000 is too much," referring to the sheriff's request and then reminded everyone of the Lucio's substantial pending retirement.  A Harlingen minister, followed by two men from the sheriff's department supported the raises.  The minister said the sheriff had a "right to put bread in his mouth."

Sheriff Lucio's presentation was difficult to hear from even 5 feet away, but the gist seems to be that, during his tenure, hundreds of thousand of dollars from drug and other seizures have been used for software, vehicles and other equipment the county would normally have to fund.  One of his aides handed me a printout that credits the sheriff's office, under Lucio's tenure, with balancing the county's budget with strategic use of these forfeitures.  Lucio was also concerned with the comparative salaries of the Hidalgo County Sheriff, McAllen Police Chief, Brownsville Police Chief, Harlingen Police Chief and Cameron County Juvenile Director which all exceed his.  He also listed the salary of Port of Brownsville Chief Carlos Garcia, who, commands a $93,000 salary with only 18 employees.

JP Sallie Gonzalez described herself as a Justice of the Peace 24/7, always by the phone.  Her duties include instructing a jury, leading kids on drugs to treatment and dealing with truancy.  Just two months ago Gonzalez was called to the scene of a three month old child who had died from sudden death syndrome.  Although her tenure permits 4 weeks of vacation, last year she took only 4 days.

Constable Abelardo Gomez

Constable Abelardo Gomez stated that he was essentially working two jobs, caring for his precinct as constable plus providing security for the county courthouse.  The four employees under him had served 665 civil process documents since he took office as well as 270 other warrants.  He stated that 95% of his time was spent protecting the court house, watching for contraband or escape from prisoners summoned to court.  Hard feelings from divorce and criminal cases could even spill out into the parking lots, necessitating patrols from his staff.

For the raise seekers, it was all for naught, with the committee rejecting all of the raises with an emphatic 8-1 vote.  The committee had the option of issuing a raise somewhat less than requested, but that option was not acted on by the committee.

Sheriff Lucio and JP Gonzalez graciously shook the hands of each committee member while Gomez filed out with his staff.  Dagoberto Barrera loudly clapped, thanking the committee for their "CONSERVATIVE" decision.