EL RRUN RRUN
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THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG: THEFT INVESTIGATION OF FORMER CHILD SUPPORT CLERK IN DISTRICT CLERK AURORA DE LA GARZA'S DEPT. BEING KEPT HUSH HUSH
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By <b>Juan Montoya</b><br />The reason for the sudden departure of a child-support payment clerk employed in Cameron County District Clerk Aurora De la Garza's department has been the world's worst-kept secret since it happened less than a week ago.<br />However, the cat is out of the bag and county court records indicate that Melinda Gonzalez presented herself with her step father (a Cameron County Asst. DA) before sheriff department investigators after they became aware she was the subject of an investigation and was charged with felony theft of between $8,000 and $10,000.<br />Apparently, Gonzalez had been pocketing money paid by child-support defendants at the county courthouse. and keeping it for her own uses.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96gRaF-WF7CVqEbXzuITFmTf-UWdDo7gWXdJHD30CvEx3K0hyphenhyphendWZASoWC4EtP5rtkoiqRyLibYpAPiakyidlgvVPgXmDvW9yz8NpyKP3JWvcoimpqg4B11R2KzQuGjq-1g_ROlV4uSXc/s1600/how-to-fingerprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96gRaF-WF7CVqEbXzuITFmTf-UWdDo7gWXdJHD30CvEx3K0hyphenhyphendWZASoWC4EtP5rtkoiqRyLibYpAPiakyidlgvVPgXmDvW9yz8NpyKP3JWvcoimpqg4B11R2KzQuGjq-1g_ROlV4uSXc/s320/how-to-fingerprint.jpg" width="320" /></a>Cameron County Sheriff's Omar Lucio said his department had followed the usual process followed with any other defendant that is suspected of a crime.<br />"Regardless of who it is, we have to follow the process and we had her charged and booked for felony theft," said Lucio. "It's unfortunate that her (step) father works for the district attorney's office, but we have to do everything as it is required by the law. What the DA's office does after we present it with the findings of our investigation or which judge is assigned to hear the case or what they do is out of our hands."<br />So far, no one at the District Attorney's office, or even the commissioners court, has made a statement about the matter and no media announcements have been forthcoming. Sources in the DA's office will only say that the Sheriff's department is investigating the theft report and that once they receive it, a decision will be made on how and whether to prosecute.<br />However, county courthouse sources indicate that the woman is the step daughter of a prominent local attorney Peter Gilman currenlty in the employ of the DA's office and that county officials knowledgeable in the matter have tried to keep it under wraps until some sort of arrangement can be made that will save the parents and office holders from public embarrassment.<br />Sources inside the district clerk's office say that before she was let go the woman was told by Aurora â€" herself under intense public scrutiny because of her suspected role in the ongoing Abel Limas judicial corruption scandal â€" that she would help her deal with the charges.<br />If things go according to the playbook that Aurora followed in the charges made against her son Joey after he was arrested and charged with theft of more than $87,000 from the Sunshine Haven Hospice in Olmito, the case will probably end up with a sympathetic assistant district attorney or a special prosecutor and shunted off to a sympathetic judge.<br />The political ramifications of the case may prove to be too much and Aurora may be unable to swing a deal for her former employee with special prosecutor (and Democratic nominee for DA and her in-law) Luis Saenz.<br />If that happens, then all the best efforts of the woman's politically-connected stepfather and her former boss may come to naught and the case exposed to the four winds.<br />County observers say that was the case when the son of a county auditor working with the pretrial release program got caught taking bribes to lower bonds on county prisoners for local attorneys. In that case, the case was handled quietly and he was allowed to resign without any fanfare, they said.<br />"The worst thing that the DA's office could do is to try to squelch this case and let her go with a slap on the hand," said a source intimate with the matter. "And Luis (Saenz) would be crazy to give out any deals if he is appointed as a special prosecutor because her step father is a DA employee. (Chuck) Mattingly would jump all over him come November. This case could be a landmine."<br />Mattingly won the Republican nomination for Cameron County DA and will face Saenz in the general election in November.<br />"Unfortunately, these things happen and all we can do is follow the process with her like we would in any other case and let the DA's office and the courts decide how they want to proceed," Lucio said. "But when you're in a position of public trust, you have to be held to the highest standards."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-1649207928460111490?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-cat-is-out-of-bag-theft.html
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AS COUNTY EYES BUDGET CUTS, A $2,000 RAISE FOR RIVERA AND DE LA GARZA COMPLIMENTS OF WOULD-BE COUNTY JUDGE DAN SANCHEZ
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In a little noticed (and unreported) action, a majority of the Cameron County commissioners approved raises of $2,000 each for County clerk Joe Rivera and District Clerk Aurora De la Garza effective budget year 2012-2013.</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/AVvXsEjE_HMbGF4XzmSaoXbe2KV-oCrMoWEJcRrtC9J6gsreV7YsTw2gj1q6JbfetYTDeU-fRLSg-k3_RVaq7QM8zKM_Q7LGjF5owPMnzuTbpyD7zrArUviYSlD4NUIgokLvvlpjJgcGXzinxEc/s1600/aDanSanchezFilePhoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" kda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_HMbGF4XzmSaoXbe2KV-oCrMoWEJcRrtC9J6gsreV7YsTw2gj1q6JbfetYTDeU-fRLSg-k3_RVaq7QM8zKM_Q7LGjF5owPMnzuTbpyD7zrArUviYSlD4NUIgokLvvlpjJgcGXzinxEc/s200/aDanSanchezFilePhoto.jpg" width="200" /></a>The action came during an item to publish the salaries of elected officials. The motion was made by Dan Sanchez, commissioner for Pct. 4, and was included in the minutes of the Aug. 2 meeting. Voting along with Sanchez was Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez and Pct. 1 commissioner Sofia Benavides.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">But at least for two commissioners, their official actions and their public statements are somewhat at odds.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Hernandez, in comments to the local media, said of the budget: "We are going to squeeze that turnip a little bit more."</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And Sanchez, also commenting on the upcoming trimming of the budget said: "We have a duty to taxpayers to run an efficient government."</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/AVvXsEizVnfKpYIvncsAOTlrBnXOZvKraPmAlyP-2W5LRz4iXsRoGg6QH8LLskS8sUp6zhRRaqxYxnJ2bvRiwdfwF7TzZgMKvrcdY2UUy6gBtCurGZ95HYh47j4rDaNmmMF5PQSQgRz_HGaikCo/s1600/aurora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVnfKpYIvncsAOTlrBnXOZvKraPmAlyP-2W5LRz4iXsRoGg6QH8LLskS8sUp6zhRRaqxYxnJ2bvRiwdfwF7TzZgMKvrcdY2UUy6gBtCurGZ95HYh47j4rDaNmmMF5PQSQgRz_HGaikCo/s200/aurora.jpg" width="133" /></a>Although the budget process is still underway and the County Judge Carlos Cascos has stated that he will try to get a pay raise for county workers making under $50,000, the $2,000 raise for the two elected officials makes for a nice chunk of change for both. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In fact, with the increase, then total compensation for both in the coming year effective Oct. 1 will be upped from a base salary of $71,745 plus $5,400 for auto allowance plus the additional $2,000, totalling $79,143.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The justification for the salaries, according to Sanchez, was that both Rivera and De la Garza have been with the county longer than has Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre who, according to figures from the auditor's office commands $93,210 in total compensation.</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/AVvXsEgNrRthFN6g_FHhCGEIfa4TulAEVCh_zkqCF5IHHyo_Sqv3fAYK39FCxEZ3YqckmfnXo9gVQVbQQbM3r131i2ND4SgmmeHeRIT9dAQPzCOZd8R7zhmSuirYJNYHj-EM3uHwuUKkXwcn_IY/s1600/joe.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNrRthFN6g_FHhCGEIfa4TulAEVCh_zkqCF5IHHyo_Sqv3fAYK39FCxEZ3YqckmfnXo9gVQVbQQbM3r131i2ND4SgmmeHeRIT9dAQPzCOZd8R7zhmSuirYJNYHj-EM3uHwuUKkXwcn_IY/s1600/joe.gif" /></a>Yzaguirre, who had the court honor his request to have his car allowance of some $7,200 transferred to his salary during the court's efforts to trim the budget by 5 percent in the 2010-2011 budget year, has been making more than either since.<br />"Well, he did cut the his department's auto allowance line item to zero, but he gave himself a $7,200 raise by having it transferred to his salary," said a county worker.<br />And even though the 2011-2012 approved budget has him listed at .a $77,530 salary, his salary at the county auditor's office has him listed at $84,730 with an additional $960 per month telephone allowance. If these numbers are correct, he is receiving about $93,210 in total compensation. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">By comparison, Cascos makes a base salary of $64,062 which is augmented by a $5,400 stipend for serving on the County Juvenile Board.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">"When Yzaguirre requested that the court transfer the car allowance to his salary in 2010-2011, the commissioners were all were under the impression that he was going to retire and was requesting that to increase his retirement benefits at the highest salary," recounted a county employee. "But he didn't retire and he ran again and won. The other two thought they should paid the same."</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The raises of Rivera and De la Garza, coming as it does on yet another cost-cutting year for Cameron County, is bound to raise some eyebrows. Although the county will publish the elected official salaries in the coming weeks, the action taken by the commissioners won't take effect until after the budget is approved.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YufguAf9fGvM6373_OXFeB5-Xf8-M_eilcOBwdOD_Mvy2LqciUpnNpRcu1df_K6UL0KlGXv3LLe-aIpa1kXRp9EZQb30XbaQQJFSCA9Ynsc6HxOP0tnK-Pn-6L46LOzW6-AZKRJTwq4/s1600/atony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YufguAf9fGvM6373_OXFeB5-Xf8-M_eilcOBwdOD_Mvy2LqciUpnNpRcu1df_K6UL0KlGXv3LLe-aIpa1kXRp9EZQb30XbaQQJFSCA9Ynsc6HxOP0tnK-Pn-6L46LOzW6-AZKRJTwq4/s1600/atony.jpg" /></a>"I don't think people know this has happened and probably won't be pleased that it was doe just to match their salaries with those of the tax assessor-collectors," said the same county employee. "We're supposed to be cutting the budget, not giving elected officials more raises."<br />When it comes to Cameron County, however, there always seems to be some political angle involved in the actions of the court. For a long time Sanchez has let it be known that he harbors dreams of filling the seat now held by Cascos as county judge and this move to appease two of the most powerful Democrats in county government isn't lost on some observers.<br />"Dan is running already," said a county administrator. "This is just one way of making sure that these two are on his side, or at least not against him."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-1781319372433476857?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/08/as-county-eyes-budget-cuts-2000-raise.html
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