How Cameron County Public Officials Misuse Staff to Steal from the Taxpayers

Joe Rivera

When an employee leaves the premises of a business while "on the clock" to go to the racetrack, a local bar or do anything not part of his job description, he or she is stealing time.  It is a theft because monies are being paid for no actual work.  Employees across the country are terminated daily for such a violation.

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.

Readers did weigh in on this discussion making comments to the previous MMB article on this subject:

AnonymousNovember 20, 2012 3:29 PM

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.

Jim BartonNovember 20, 2012 4:10 PM

Even if this is common practice, it is unethical. Taxpayers are not paying staff to sell tickets in the halls while on the clock. If Joe Rivera has enough staff to do this, he is overstaffed. This is not only unethical, it is illegal and disrespects those who pay for the staff, built the building, maintain it and provide climate control. It also creates an unlevel playing field in favor of the incumbent.

JimReplyDelete



/DP-MNovember 21, 2012 4:45 AM

This is absolutely illegal. I'm not one to quarrel with Hispanics honoring themselves, i.e. Rivera's portrait or the naming of buildings. Lord knows, there are few monuments to the culture's contributions, in the Valley and elsewhere. But there is the very-recent case of the aide for Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker who got six (6) months in jail for campaigning for another Republican while on the state payroll. All it takes is judges who know and want to apply the law...

/DP-M

Armando Villalobos

Indicted district attorney Armando Villalobos has reportedly been stealing from Cameron County in multiple ways during his tenure.  Simply not doing the job he is paid handsomely to do is a theft, but reports during his recent campaign for congress indicated employees in his office were being asked to work relentlessly in his campaign.  If true, that is a tremendous theft of time from Cameron County taxpayers.  

Interestingly, after Armando's indictment, my wife Nena and I observed him in the courtroom of the Ray Marchan trial, along with his former law partner Eddie Lucio, taking copious notes of the proceedings likely on the county dime.  The county has gotten almost no bang for their buck in the district attorney's office and that is a crime.  

Elia Cornejo-Lopez

We've received similar complaints with respect to Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez as reported in the MMB months ago:

"One of her staffers complained to me: "She makes us work long hours on her campaign. If anyone complains, she says "You're lucky I gave you a job!"

This attitude, pervasive in Cameron County results in unconscionable theft of tax dollars.  Make no mistake.  All of the public officials who advocate, orchestrate and promote this illegal activity are thieves, infinitely more so than the teenager who passes the Stripes' checkout counter with a 12-pack of Bud Light under his arm.

Bobby Wightman-Cervantes Proposes Clothing Optional Beach At Southern Tip of Boca Chica

Bobby Wightman-Cervantes

With the City of Brownsville and Cameron County keeping their collective fingers crossed for a slice of SpaceX pie, the intermittant blogger Bobby Wightman-Cervantes of the BROWNSVILLE VOICE, has renewed his push for a clothing optional beach just north of the small mouth of the Rio Grande River.  Bobby envisions economic impact from his proposed nude beach:

"If properly done, groups will organize regular retreats to Boca Chica which will help fill our hotels, book flights into Brownsville, and bring periodic boosts in tourism - no matter how you look at it, it is a win for Brownsville."

Were BWC's proposal implemented, citizens of our neighboring country to the south would be a mere 30 or 40 yards such a culture stretching endeavor.  Perhaps irrelevant, but nonetheless factoring in, would be the higher concentrations of E coli bacteria that occur closest to the river's mouth during such outbreaks.  

It has been reported that an unofficial nude beach exists well north of the business sector of South Padre Island.  One wonders if local businesses have experienced any recognizable economic impact from the non-designated area.  
 

Roger Ortiz Skips Town for Recount,Escobedo Inherits Headache, Chirinos Victorious

Roger Ortiz

Ortiz statement in his resignation letter that he was stepping down to "spend more time with his family" may have been a face-saving lie as reports indicated he skipped the BISD recount yesterday, allegedly to pursue a potential job interview in San Antonio.  Of course the recount was supervised by Enrique Escobedo, BISD board president with support from Norma Carrillo, Ortiz's administrative assistant.

If Escobedo was auditioning to become Ortiz' replacement, he may have changed his mind after an incredibly hectic count that went into the wee hours this morning.  With eight representatives chosen for each candidate the throng assembled at the BISD administration building on Price Road at 8:00 AM Tuesday November 20, 2012.  Rather than get together the day before, Escobedo and Carrillo chose to wait till the day of the count to provide a training session for participants.  This got things off to a very slow start with the Brownsville Herald reporting that by 4:00 PM fewer than half of the 30,000 ballots had been counted.  The additional task of separating the general election ballots from the BISD ballots was necessitated as the Election Administrator had not provided separate ballot boxes.

In spite of the difficulties, a final count was reached somewhere around 4:00 AM with Jose Chirinos achieving a ten vote victory over Linda Gill-Martinez for BISD Place 7, 14,726 to 14,716.

ADDENDUM, corrections, additions:

Norma Carrillo, the administrative assistant to Roger Ortiz was not present during the count as someone had reported to me.  The election office was represented by Fred Garza briefly, then primarily Melissa Saldana.  The orientation was very brief with actual counting starting around or before 10:00 AM.

Cameron County Democratic Chair Elect Sylvia Garza-Perez made a late appearance.  Her Republican counterpart Frank Morris did not.

One mystery remains.  The ballots, carefully separated into two boxes at the polling places, one for the general elections, the other for BISD, arrived in white boxes sealed in yellow tape with the two elections mixed.  That necessitated the ballots be sorted out.  Another matter sort of swept under the rug was the fact that the machines that count the ballots failed at a couple of the polling places.

Linda Gill-Martinez stayed for the count.  Her counterpart Jose Chirinos was represented by Cecilia Barrera.

Did Cameron County Immortalize County Clerk Joe Rivera Too Soon?

County Clerk Joe Rivera

Cameron County always seems in a total rush to immortalize, recognize and reward Joe Rivera for his long tenured, but mediocre service as County Clerk.

First, we learned of the co-naming of a satellite judicial building for Rivera and Aurora de la Garza, followed up with an extravagant $2,500 portrait of the rule-bending duo not authorized by purchase order.

As if the portrait and building identification were not enough in the way of unearned recognition and reward for Joe and Aurora, County Commissioner Dan Sanchez tried to issue the two raises through a sleight-of-hand last minute addendum to the Commissioners Court minutes authorizing raises totaling nearly $6,000 for the two.

Now, a just received report indicates that Rivera has still not developed the necessary respect for proper protocol or taxpayer dollars:

"Hi Jim.. . . . . Just keep my name confidential. At the courthouse...2 nd floor...not sure of district. But county workers are soliciting attorneys to buy raffle ticket for $25.00 each. They say its for their Xmas party BUT the ticket says "Campaign and Xmas Party". I asked a worker and he verified it was for campaign of Joe Rivera and some funds for their Xmas party. It appears.all workers are required to sell tickets."

In Cameron County, likely the most impoverished county in the United States, our public officials continue to show no respect for the way they use staff payed for by tax dollars nor the use of facilities, paid for, heated and cooled and maintained by the taxpayers.  If the above report is accurate, Rivera needs to be immortalized in a far different way than with an expensive, unauthorized portrait.

Just received a confirmation of this report by a second party:

"have you seen a copy of the raffle ticket? I have one. I noticed it said "campaign" also. Thought it was weird. Every employee got 5 tickets to sell. i bought 2 yesterday AM. Please leave my name out of this"

The type of conduct by the staff of Joe Rivera needs to be immediately investigated.  We recall County Sheriff Candidate and former bailiff Joe Cisneros being terminated for so-called campaign activities perhaps less blatant than this.

Blackstreet - "No Diggity" (Michael Castro Acoustic Cover)

Linda Gill-Martinez Demands Recount of Votes for BISD Position 7

Linda Gill-Martinez

Linda Gill-Martinez, the frequently skittish, sometimes incoherent candidate for Position 7 BISD trustee has satisfied the monetary requirements to initiate a recount of the ballots of the November 6 election.

Gill-Martinez seemingly won the election, but with Roger Ortiz as election administrator, nothing is certain.  After provisional, military and misplaced ballots were counted, Jose Chirinos was declared the winner.  The BISD board wasted no time in swearing Chirinos in.

Now, with Gill-Martinez posting a $4,500 bond, a recount has been scheduled for 8:30 AM Tuesday at the BISD administration building.

Gill-Martinez, a retired special education teacher, initially asked for an interview with MMB, then cancelled due to a flare-up of "rheumatoid arthritus" and "being off (her) meds."  Later, during a meet-and-greet of BISD candidates, Gill-Martinez bolted when she learned that candidate's speeches were being videotaped.

Ms. Gill-Martinez was one of six candidates supported by the online politiquera group Brownsville Cheezmeh.  Five of the six candidates lost their elections, with the only victor, Erin H. Garcia accused of substantial voter fraud contributing to her victory.

Four-Star General Fraternizes with Biographer

The Handshake

President Calderon Dedicates New Railway Bridge

"I have made Mexico safe and created new jobs."

Mitt Romney Blindsided by Mitt Romney's "Live Mike"

Mitt Romney

With several factors in place that typically assure victory, Mitt Romney sabotaged his own presidential campaign with remarks not always meant for a national audience that became national, revealing how he actually felt inside about the multi-ethnic, diverse electorate.

Romney's sometimes inappropriate remarks remind one of the "live mike" indiscretions a candidate mutters under his breath, referring to a reporter or opponent as a "sonofabitch," then hastily with a smiling face tries to explain away.

Before a group of supporters, Romney suggested that 47% would vote for his opponent no matter what because they viewed themselves as victims who needed the government to take care of them.  He said they felt they were entitled to housing, health care and food.  Regardless of what Romney meant, the comment reflected a certain insensitivity, smugness from a person born with money.

After Obama bailed out Chrysler and General Motors in 2008, Romney wrote a column entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt!"  That unfortunate line was not forgotten by swing state voters heavily dependent on the auto industry for jobs and local economics, even with Romney explaining what he actually proposed.

While Romney said he would like to "staple a green card to every Ph.D" in private he implied that most undocumented lacked skill and experience.  He even spoke of hypothetical "self-deportation."  Again, his comments on immigration displayed neither understanding nor sensitivity.

The unfortunate "binders of women" comment in reference to the woman available to work in his administration as governor, showed a flippant disregard for over 50% of voters.

In a long campaign, the insensitivity, the boorishness adds up.  It killed Romney, even in an economy barely  recovering in four years from historic lows.

Brownsville Welcomes New Blogger Into the Blogosphere!

Felix Barton

Roger Ortiz Saves the Worst for Last~BISD Elections A Big Mess!

Roger Ortiz

Roger Ortiz, the highly paid bungler, just can't get it right.  While other Texas counties had elections November 6, all Cameron County had was a mess.  Uncounted military ballots, uncounted provisional ballots, misplaced, uncounted regular ballots, premature announcements of election results and the introduction of the plastic bag as a replacement for the ballot box all marked Roger's last rodeo as Election Administrator.  Obviously, the suggestions sought from a state election official who monitored the July 31 runoff were of no help to Roger on November 6 and its aftermath.

Voters still may face a recount in the Position 7 BISD race between Jose Chirinos and Linda Gill-Martinez, that is if Linda and her sponsors at Brownsville Cheezmeh can come up with the necessary $4,000 to pay for it.

Chili Cook Off at Mad Boar Harley-Davidson, San Benito

RICO Felon Carlos Quintanilla Starts New Business for Roadside Assistance

Unfortunately, the photo sent me of Quintanilla's Facebook cut off part of the advertisement, but you get the gist of it:  No drivers license or social security card needed.  Only $49. . . is that annually?  Trust Carlos.  The money will stay in the community.

I don't know if he's offering notary public services too, but all we know for sure is that the money collected will stay in the community.