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GARZA-PEREZ: IS FAVORING ONE CANDIDATE UNITING THE PARTY?
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<br /><i>"I ask that we all come together and bring unity to the party not division. Lets remember that unity brings people together..division benefits no one..."</i> Sylvia Garza-Perez, chmn.-elect, Cameron County Democratic Party<br /><br />By <b>Juan Montoya</b><br /><br />If one is to believe Sylvia Perez-Garza, the Democratic party chair(person)-elect, she is going to be a different chairman than Gilberto Hinojosa and be inclusive, uniting, etc.,<br />So how does she explain that she is brazenly taking sides in some campaign races on behalf of her favorites, namely Erin Hernandez Garcia, in the runoff race for Justice of the Peace 2-2?<br />She is the same Sylvia who told a blogger recently that we would have to live with the politiquera system as a necessary evil until we find a better way to do it, distancing herself carefully from her relative (distant she says), politiquera extraordinaire Herminia Becerra?<br />At a recent function for a Democratic Party candidate, Garza-Perez twice came up to Erin's opponent Yolanda Begum and accused her of "trying to buy the election." and left before the startled candidate had a chance to ask what prompted her allegations.<br />Then, later in the same function, she accused Begum of being in contact with Republican candidate Raul Lopez, who will face the winner of the Democratic Party runoff in November.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hX9CD8JbX1j2JqLDMFuH3XdtXcc3nPDZWKiHrOabGHPRuCfOAdaFAJymCUwwkS7EJzD75u1YVlcp8tQyzzgKB1Xa_FYE2sduRSgdtH_b1GmtrUZoELkZpfnRNbxL_rzqoqQ1KKjZ0bg/s1600/SYLVIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hX9CD8JbX1j2JqLDMFuH3XdtXcc3nPDZWKiHrOabGHPRuCfOAdaFAJymCUwwkS7EJzD75u1YVlcp8tQyzzgKB1Xa_FYE2sduRSgdtH_b1GmtrUZoELkZpfnRNbxL_rzqoqQ1KKjZ0bg/s320/SYLVIA.jpg" width="320" /></a>"Raul is my cousin and he tells me everything," she said accusingly.<br />Perez-Garza is feeling her oats and feels that she has a mandate in the county after she garnered an incredible 11,126 votes for chairman, far outstripping her closes opponent Jared Hockema who got 6,373. John Shergold languished a far third.<br />In her victory statements, she waxed about seeking the position "she wanted to unite and re-energize the party, which she sees as somewhat disorganized.<span style="background-color: white;">"</span><br />She told reporters that she wanted to remake the Democratic party and remove the party offices from the law offices of the chairman and set up satellite offices in Harlingen as well.<br />"I'd like to reorganize every group of precinct chairs and make them a little bit more responsible and more accountable," she said. "We have some precinct positions that people have been in there for 10 or 15 years and they don't come to any of the meetings."<br />Another goal is to get more young people involved and engaged with the party, Garza-Perez said, noting that civic responsibility isn't emphasized in schools as much as it should be.<br />It might help if the party would vet candidates and decide which ones best represent the party's interest, Garza-Perez told reporters.<br />So is this what she is doing now, before she even takes office? If it is, then she has apparently decided that she would rather have Erin Hernandez Garcia, the daughter of Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez as justice of the peace than she would Begum.<br />"Sylvia actively lobbied for the Latter Carrier's Union to endorse Erin instead of Begum when they were trying to come to a decision," said a party activist. "She is making no bones about who she is supporting in that race."<br />If so, Garza-Perez would be wise to note that at the recent Loteria hosted by Tony "La Peca" Rocha at his salon off the frontage road in Brownsville, more than 300 Begum supporters crowded the site in support of the candidate.<br />Also, the core of Begum's support are middle- and upper-middle class business-oriented people who have traditionally not gotten involved in local politics, content to remain commercially active with their concerns in northern Mexico even though they live in Brownsville and their families and children live here and attend local schools.<br />Should this group feel that Garza-Perez is campaigning against their candidate â€" Begum â€" that will not sit well with them and they might look for a more welcoming party such as the Republicans, who would welcome them with open arms. And all this before she even takes over the helm of the Democratic Party.<br />She, echoing another Brownsville female elected official, said her election appears to be historic: Garza-Perez believes she's the first woman and the first non-attorney to be elected to the position.<br />If she starts off on the wrong foot as she apparently is doing now, she might just be the last.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4567778734526473816?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/06/garza-perez-is-favoring-one-candidate.html
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SPARKS FLY IN CONSTABLE RUNOFF: PETE SUED FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT; GOMEZ PART OF LIMAS PROBE?
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By <b>Juan Montoya</b><br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">With less than a month before early voting begins in the runoff elections â€" and more than a year since she resigned her position â€" a former secretary of Pct. 2 Constable Pete Avila has filed a sexual harassment suit against him in Hidalgo County alleging that he sexually harassed her and then forced her to resign.</div>Melinda Henderson, whose resignation was accepted on April 14, 2011, alleges that the Texas Worforce Commission and the U.S, Equal Employment Opportuity Commission rules allow her to file a lawsuit after her complaints alleging unlawful termination from Cameron County were turned down.<br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In her lawsuit filed June 15 in Hidalgo County Court-At-Law #5, Henderson oultines a list of alleged violations of her civil rights that she said she endured at the hands of Avila while she was employed with Cameron County.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlr-b5ElLP5cW3qCHgT94qyuqYpnHoqEM5JyvjSl9cmBNC19U_UikEL5lLqsZDEWJHxhXBL8KBt8N-8lCV_UVT-sf5c4QBiivhsAnp1G7ZRvwyKYoaN0UwtJ-jyz7nhsYdoBzAQER0mo/s1600/process_service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlr-b5ElLP5cW3qCHgT94qyuqYpnHoqEM5JyvjSl9cmBNC19U_UikEL5lLqsZDEWJHxhXBL8KBt8N-8lCV_UVT-sf5c4QBiivhsAnp1G7ZRvwyKYoaN0UwtJ-jyz7nhsYdoBzAQER0mo/s320/process_service.jpg" vca="true" width="320" /></a>Henderson begin working for Avila and Cameron County June 2009. Avila in the past has said that he hired Hendreson because at least three sitting county commissioners asked him to consder her employment and gave their recommendations. However, after a time, she was written up at least twice for not following directions (locking the office doors). There were also some confrontations reported between her and other bailiffs at the courthouse.</div>She claims in her lawsuit that Avila constantly harassed her and touched her inappropriately on several occasions, including once entering her home. Avila has disputed the claims and said he was forced to ask Henderson for her resignation and gave her a 30-day and a further 15-day extension when she said she couldn't find work. In the end, he said he was forced to ask her for the office keys in the presence of other constable deputies after she had first refused to hand them over.<br />After she left the constable's office, Henderson filed an unemployment claim with the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division which was denied. However, she obtained a plaintiff's dismissal and right to sue from the Workforce Comission on April 12, 2012, almnost a year to the date of her resignation.<br />The letters were received in Edinburg and gave her the right to file in Hidalgo County. Cameron County is also listed as a defendant in the action.<br />Avila's supporters say that the timing of the lawsuit indicate a political motive since Avila is locked in a heated runoff with former constable Abelardo Gomez. They also say that the woman's credibility has been questioned during her unemployment hearing and that she has also been sanctioned in the past for fraudulently claiming Medicaid and Food Stamp benefits by stating in her application that her daughter lived with her when in fact she was living and attending high school in Austin, Texas.<br />Documents indicte that she voluntarily signed a statement admitting she signed the fraudulent applications for benefits.<br />"She had to pay back more than $2,350 in food stamp and Medicaid benefits when she was caught," said one. "The only reason she was able to negiotiate that was because Rene Oliveira was representing her and he negotiated a deal."<br />The same supporters also hint that Henderson might have political motivations for filing the lawsuit hoping that any ensuing controversy might result in his loss to his opponent in the runoff. They also hint â€" as other have in the local blogs â€" that Gomez might be the subject of an investigation related to the ongoing Limas corruption case and of the Cameron County District Attorney's office.<br />"Gomez has been seen going to the US Attorneys's office and there is even a report that he might have been taken to San Antonio for questioning," said a commenter on a blog. <br />Avila said he had been served Monday as had been county's legal counsel.<br />"They told me not to worry about it," he said. "I didn't believe it when she left the county that she was going to cause trouble for me in the election."<br />Observers say that the Hernderson lawsuit will probably not be heard for months after it was filed, but that the timing of the filing and the service was meant to generate a negative impact in the constable's bid for re-election.<br />"What other reason could there be for the filing and publication of it now?," asked one. "It's like the rumors against Gomez. It's curious it all comes out right at election time."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-1801201377011625410?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/06/sparks-fly-in-constable-runoff-pete.html
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