CATY PRESAS-GARCIA, JOHN BRUCIAK, TONY MARTINEZ ALL TAKE THE FIFTH

Although "plead the fifth" or "take the fifth" are both correct usage, Caty Presas-Garcia's court statement yesterday seemed more passive than actually pleading.

"On the advice of my attorney, I take the Fifth Amendment," I think she said.  

Attorney David Willis may have been trying to protect her from fraud charges for signing petitions for which she was not the actual circulator, but would District Attorney Luis Saenz actually have pursued that?

Judge Robert Carroll Pate, who seemingly wrote his decision on the bus ride down from Corpus Christi, unhesitatingly denied the injunction on the basis of the intent of the petitioners.  They all said they intended by their signature to support Presas-Garcia, regardless of who signed what.  

"This is all so silly," Daniel Lenz told me last night.

"Each candidate should simply submit $500 or $1,000 to show they're serious about running.  That money could be used to help defer the cost of these elections, that are a considerable expense to the city."

Has Judge Pate contributed enough to Brownsville history to be considered for some sort of rock or monument in downtown's Washington Park?  

After all, he was also the judge in the Pat Ahumada trial of October 2009 involving a $26,139 check made out to Tarsia Technical Industries of Hauppauge, NY that somehow wound up in Pat's account.

On second thought, let's honor then Finance Director, now Assistant City Manager Pete Gonzalez, the guy with enough guts to call the police about the check.

Speaking of guts, intestinal fortitude or even something called honesty, why haven't either Mayor Martinez or PUB Manager Bruciak responded to our invitation to appear on the Whine and Cheez podcast to totally delineate the Tenaska Power Plant rate hike?

Both men are missing a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate something almost never seen in politics or utilities~transparency.

Actually, I approached Bruciak at the State of the Port event a few days ago, asking:  "Did you receive my email about appearing with the mayor on a podcast to discuss Tenaska?"

"I will get with the mayor and we will decide together how to proceed," responded Bruciak.

I think both men decided to "take the fifth."

From the editor:  District 2 candidates Pat Ahumada and Jessica Tetreau have committed to appearing on the "Whine & Cheez" podcast tomorrow at Angelita's Casa de Cafe at 1:30 PM.

Caty Presas-Garcia, also invited, says she will be in Mexico on business that day.

There will be no podcast 3/31 as Erasmo will be in Philidelphia, but the 4/7 show is set with JP candidates Linda Salazar and Fred Arias.  Cyndi Hinojosa will let us know on Monday if she's able to appear.