Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Leo Lopez, Bringing a Unique Skill Set to the Precinct 2 County Commissioner Race

Leonel "Leo" Lopez
For many in this corruption-plagued town, the biggest news in Precinct 2 was finally seeing the indicted Ernie Hernandez, Jr. voted out of office.  The top vote-getter in the primary, young lawyer Alex Dominguez, likely is the favorite to succeed Hernandez, but there may be a much better option.  

Leonel "Leo" Lopez, not the typical young lawyer type that frequently enters politics, but a mature man with a unique skill set to run for this office, gives voters an interesting option.

Lopez doesn't just know the boundaries of Precinct 2, but where the "basins" are that cause flooding, the colonias, understands the relationship of road construction and flood control, sees the future of light rail, but on existing track, not the raised track of 2014 that can act like a dam.
Operation Lone Star

His background is in epidemiology, that is public health & safety, with stints in "Operation Lone Star" as an ICS Manager and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.  A 1st responder during Hurricane Dolly, Lopez thinks in terms of evacuation routes.

"I believe in Civic Advisory Committees," states Lopez.  "I don't know everything."  Lopez is a good listener, picking up on body language, paying attention, not just to what you say, but how you say it.  Upset citizens or even disagreements can stimulate looking at things differently, which Lopez finds constructive.

"My approach for Precinct 2 would start with land surveys to determine the infrastructure needs of the various communities."

Lopez sees value in offering incentives for wind generated power, but says solar energy is not as effective in Brownsville as other areas.  "We have a sufficient number of sunny days, but the angle of solar rays, their diffused nature here, is not the same as farther north."  He says it's important for Cameron County to be an "energy hub."


Lopez faces Alex Dominguez in a runoff for County Commissioner, Precinct 2, on May 27.




39 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Wince,
      I doubt Dominguez shares your financial difficulties, but I don't write stories for money. Dominguez is a nice kid and he's not Ernie, but Leo seems to bring a bit more experience to the table.

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    2. Thank you for this article on Leo Lopez. He is so much more qualified than Alex Dominguez. It's very nice to have a good choice in a county commission race.

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  2. The wheel is in motion and the taxpayers are not going to take it anymore. slowly the citizens are getting rid of all the corrupt officials. The Hernandezes are gone forever, they will not get up from this final blow. The people need to make sure that Sylvia Garza Perez is not elected and even if she loses her bed Sylvia might still get away scot free if Joe Rivera wins. Heaven forbid Joe Rivera is elected county judge, Sylvia Garza Perez will automatically become the county's Human Resource Director. lets eradicate corruption from the root and make sure that team dynamic duo of evil, Joe Rivera and Sylvia Garza Perez do not get elected to power. Just remember these two are the Hernandezes puppets and slowly the Hernandezes will end up back in the county payroll one way or another.

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    1. Joe and Sylvia are not Hernandez puppets . Their opponents are desperately trying to feed people lies . Why would people want to vote for candidates that spread rumors and lie to people ? I hope that the people of Cameron County will not let these lies and rumors influence their vote . My advice is to go out and meet all the candidates and you be the judge .

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    2. Joe Rivera is Gilberto Hinojosa's proxy for county judge. He doesn't have a thought of his own in that grease mottled brain of his. Sylvia Garza Perez is an old Hernandez politiquera whore. She has helped to steal votes since she was old enough to follow her Tia Herminia around the barrios. Joe and Sylvia, two rotten peas in a pod.

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  3. Lopez is not an independent leader. His wife will not only be a district judge but also commissioner precinct 2. Vote for Alex Dominguez.

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  4. Sounds like Elia, Leo's wife has gotten to you; or maybe wrote this item. Leo doesn't know PCT 2. If so he would have to have other officials helping him walk the streets. He might have experience in bugs and dead people, but the citizens of PCT 2 are neither. Elia has convinced the defense attorneys who go before her court that they should help out her husband, Leo, or else........... Sounds like something out of Able Limas' playbook, or that of Aurora de la Garza. Leo has no policy making experience and wouldn't have a job if not for his wife.

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  5. You hav eto dig deeper with Mexican candidates, Jim. This guy seems just all the others.

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  6. A Rio Grande City man has been jailed because his girlfriend made too much noise during sex.
    A dozen angry neighbors filed a civil lawsuit after getting fed up with his lover's passionate screams.
    They claimed "the moans disturbed the peace in the condominium and the building's decorum," reports the Guardian. The 42-year-old was, somewhat bizarrely, tried for stalking. During the hearing he claimed he was being punished for "being too good at sex". He also argued that there was a difference between "stalking" and "noises," reported the new site. But he was found guilty and a judge jailed him for six months, a sentence which he now intends to appeal.

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  7. Tamaulipas on fire. You won't get this news locally. He Herald might as well be covering Amarillo.

    http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=369250

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  8. We don't need a listener.....we need a doer in Cameron County. We had/have Ernie Hernandez whose personal corruption tore him down. So, Leo is merely doing what his wife tells him, and he will probably take his cues from her as a commissioner. Can we afford to have Elia Cornejo Lopez in two positions????
    She is a faithful Demokrat, but more faithful to her power.

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  9. Joe G . Rivera a Hernandez puppet ? Are you serious Joe taking orders from Ernie ? Wow people will say anything . Go Joe !

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    1. Everyone knows Joe Rivera is of the Gilberto Hinojosa 'school of corruption'. No one with any sense would vote for this fat old crook.

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  10. Joe is 74 years old. He should be in a retirement community, not trying to lead a County out of poverty. He had his chance to be County Judge, but was too busy sucking Gilbert Hinojosa's ass. Do not say no to Joe, say Hell NO TO JOE!

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  11. The palanca pulling Democratas are all going to jail...haha

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  12. I personally say Leo Lopez has my vote why have another damn attorney running the show I think his man enough to make his own decisions. And I'm pretty sure he will be a good candidate. So people say whatever you say that's the way it is in politics like they don't have nothing negative to say about Lopez your coming at him with his wife come on people...

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  13. Leo has never been sucessful in anything he has tried. He is not a competent person. He is a puppet for Elia. He isn't even very good at pretending he knows what he is doing talk to any of his former employers. Start with someone who was at BISD.

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  14. Leo has ZERO experience and unqualified for this job. Just look at his mailer piece where he itemized his qualifications. He has never had a real job and is currently studying to be an embalmer at a funeral home. I hope you publish this Jim so people can make up their own minds. If this is what you want in office then vote for him, just don't complain later. This man is nothing but a prop for his judge wife.

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  15. An embalmer? Perfect for a dying town!!!!

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  16. Leo would be worst than Ernie and Erin Hernandez. Elia Lopez the district judge has ordered her husband to get a job so she figured by getting him elected he could a job that as an elected official he can't get fired for bad performance since he was elected and get all the benefits for 4 years as well as hers. Then she will use her influence to get re-elected as a district judge and little by little start putting people in different positions through out Cameron County that she could control thru fear or being fired if they don't do what she says. Everybody knows it is Leo Lopez wife that is demanding Leo to get a job where he could still be a stay home mom and get paid.

    People need to realize that Leo Lopez is a puppet for his Wife the Judge Elia Lopez Cornejo. If you all thought the Hernandez,Villlobos,Limas, Solis and Rosenthal were corrupt you haven't seen Elia in action. She will ruin our County using her Husband Leo. A vote for Leo is a vote for future corruption.

    Leo can't hold a real job, has no self initiative, is not a grown man that is a self thinker. He listened to you Jim to see what you had to say and agree with you so that you could write good things about him. He was probably day dreaming of lala land and you thougt he was actually paying attention. Or he was thinking I have to hurry and get home because I forgot to dry Elia's underwear and iron them because she likes them crisp.

    I thought you were more of a reporter Jim and not a sucker.

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  17. Do you live in a different County Jim?????? Leo will be the worst thing for Cameron County. How much did they pay you for this?

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  18. Jim for several years I have agreed wiith you on just about all the issues and valued your opinion and respect you as the fine person and great reporter that you are, but please forgive me for not agreeing with you on this one. Your are dead wrong on your choice of Leo for this office and are doing a disservice to your readers and the community by elevating this man. Seriously Jim, please do your homework, rethink this and don't drink the Kool Aid. Don't turn into a Montoya or Bobby on us when they show you the money. Tell us this is not so, for your reputation is at stake here Jim.

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    Replies
    1. You must not "know" me at all if you think I get paid for articles and I hate the taste of Kool-Aid.

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  19. Good lord, that's alot of reactionary hate being directed at Leo Lopez. Funny bit is, the worst anyone seems to be able to say about the man is that he's married to Elia Cornejo Lopez. Given the kind of commentary I'm seeing here, she appears to have some kind of mystical superpower by which she can control the county commission if her husband is elected. Did I miss the press release detailing her skill at sorcery? Being able to control the votes of the entirety of the county commission by a single proxy requires some kind of dark art, the kind you get in a Harry Potter story. What's with all this unbelievable paranoia?

    All of this hot anger directed at EC Lopez and then her husband Leo Lopez and even you, Jim, seems far too extreme and ridiculous to be anything but the opposition's would-be 'friends' suffering to stifle a dissenting opinion on the precinct 2 race. I think Alex Dominguez is a pretty personable fellow with alot of ambition and drive to sit on the county commission. I also think that being an attorney with ambition and a nice pool of finance to saturate / bombard the city with campaign paraphernalia doesn't necessarily mean you're qualified to represent a community. I've met both guys and I felt the same way you did - Lopez listens to you, has great ideas, the guy dotes on both his family and the community at large and he is completely unlike any would-be politician I've ever met. Dominguez is a handsome, personable guy but he seemed like a cardboard cutout to me - a nice kid with not enough life substance yet to understand that professional and social acuity are two different things entirely. Lopez earned my support and my vote.

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    1. That was a very nice summary of what you want to put out Judge EC Lopez, thank you for letting us know what you think of your husband and Alex, but above all thanks for letting us know the obvious, you will be voting for your husband. You also cleared up for me what I suspected all along, you are a witch with black magic powers.

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  20. I agree my vote is for Leo Lopez I'll this negative comments make me sick and me as a parent will want the best for my children's future and really what does attorney Dominguez know about children if his not a father him self.. His just a young kid talkin who will be worst then Ernie Hernandez the kid that doesn't have nothing to loose.

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  21. Leo is being led into this campaign by Judge Lopez who wants to expand her sphere of influence....so she uses her husband and calls out all the defense attorneys who might go before her, to "rise up and support" here and her Leo. It is obvious that Leo has not held one job long enough to be experienced in anything. The fact that he is being led around by his wife seems to indicate that she also carries his balls in her purse. He is meek and a follower, not a leader. His wife will decide his agenda and manage it. She will have the vote....not him. For these reasons, we don't want Leo on the Commission. The conflict of interest would be invoked for all votes on pay for judges, judicial organization and even elections.....because his vote would possibly (surely) favor whatever his wife wanted. Elia has all the balls in that family and that is bad for the county.

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  22. Sorry Jim, but we really don't want another Hernandez clan in Cameron County which is what would happen if Leo should win this election. It would be simply EC Lopez doing what Ernie did all over again! I don't quite understand why you can't see this and everyone else does. Maybe that is why people are thinking you are being paid to announce your endorsement of Leo, the EC Lopez puppet.

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  23. Jim the fact that you are calling a man of 43 years a kid is not professional on either yours, Leo's and Elias part. Alex Dominguez is a 43 year old man that is a Lawyer. He was a teacher and now an attorney. What is Leo's profession? He claims to be a doctor (wink wink) just like the late Dr. Enrique Escobedo where neither one of them were. Leo has no job and pretty much has gotten a job where ever his wife has been at. She was on the BISD School Board and that is how he got the job as Insurance Benefit administrator and what happened then? He had to resign because of his lack of knowledge of what he was hired for.

    Alex Dominguez has a job and hires people what does Leo do....he fixes Dead People... He has no people skills unless you consider listening to dead people as a skill. We want a person to last on the job and not some old man that has done nothing his entire life but cave to his wives demands and needs. I much rather have a Middle Aged Man of 43 years as is Alex Dominguez than some jobless person who fixes dead people.

    Did he offer you and your wife a good deal on the insurance after God picks you two up? Or did he say he could knock 10 years after you die so that when people come to your funeral they could see how great life was to you?

    Jim you are losing it with endorsing Leo and calling Alex Dominguez a kid was low even for you. A middle aged man is not a kid. How old was JFK when he was elected to be president of United States of America? Answer: 43 years old. By you calling Alex Dominguez a Kid you are calling the whole United States stupid (including yourself Jim) for electing JFK as our President to lead the Free World. I'm sure you were a young man when the election of JFK was going on. I don't think you were A KID but maybe a young man.

    Just because you are OLDER doesn't make you WISER it makes you closer to RETIREMENT...

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    1. Dominguez I can clearly see it's you or one of your supporters. But why are you so offended cause they called you a kid? Well let me tell you young man/kid/old man.. I don't know how you want us to call you but me as a elderly individual to me you look like a kid. you're a Attorney what time are you gone have for are community. As a county commissioner none. And to me you look like a kid that wants to get something out of it I can tell by seeing who you're supporters are Alex Begum hmm!! So I don't care about all of this hateful comments for Lopez my vote and my family's are for him.. he came and meet us in are residents and to me he looks like a honest man I really do hope he helps are community bottom line..

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  24. Dominguez supporters are like vicious, angry dogs. Wow.

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    Replies
    1. Your right cause all of his supporters want a piece of that pie.. for some reason other But I hope not Attention people I challenge you to vote against Alex Dominguez look I have a bad experience with this Attorney's they'll tell you that there gone be your defender's they just pocket your money. What do we expect!! Yes Dominguez go back to your files and count how many cases you just charge money and didn't settle that case and you will see I'm not laying

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  25. Jim for real Leo lopez plays Mr. MOM
    WHILE HIS WIFE PLAYS JUDGE. we all know that she wants him to get a job. Remember she can't be paying all the bills. That man has no social skills and can't even answer a direct question. The isn't the brightest star in sky. He can not finish anything he starts. La judge needs him as county commissioner be cause she will be up for re election soon. We all know the only reason she won was because after all the shit Limas was doing. She needs to present her self mush better. She looks as if she is always having a shifty day. Maybe because her husband Leo has alot of time in his free hand. He really needs a job

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    1. 7:14 PM Anonymous,
      No social skills? The man sat with Nena and I for 3 hours, was most gracious. We peppered him with questions, all of which he answered with specificity and ease. What his wife's aspirations are is irrelevant. Our interview with Lopez simply stood out as more substantive than almost any we've had.

      Perhaps, your support of Alex would be more productive if you could articulate how he plans to serve Precinct 2.

      Jim

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    2. Well I have met Mr
      Dominguez and he is a very well speaker and I have read his information. I am very impressed with him. At first I was supporting Mr. Lopez but when I came across his wife tell people they better vote for him. That surprised me very much. She should not demand a vote for her husband to her staff or employee of the court house. I am a witness to that as an employee. And Mr. Dominguez is the best qualified candidate there is for that position. I am in tiled to my opinion as you are jim.

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  26. How many beers did he buy you or promise to buy you? I ask only because I know deep down in my heart you, Juan and Jerry are the $20.00 full service prostitutes of Brownsville journalism.

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