EL RRUN RRUN
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CHIRINOS BASH WILL FEATURE BLUE B-DAY CAKE
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By<b> Juan Montoya</b><br />Heard about the birthday cake being prepared for newly-elected Brownsville Independent School District trustee Jose Hector Chirinos by his large number of admirers?<br />It seems that everywhere he went, whether at the main office, Porter High School or the BISD Transportation Dept. the charismatic administrators nurtured a growing female fan base.<br />At the high school and main office they were called "Las Barbies" like the doll. At the transportation department, he called them 'Las Princesas." In each case, they were a loyal support group, especially after BISD administrators homed in his department after shortcomings were detected through cursory audits.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_T29zpW3qUb8j3tiQDnj7AzVzc8POPDCcZ7I4LBB-6hrtl8j_hWNWup2rnLiITqlR9hSFSmwDL7spBtWxyV87rDWKvSjPJTU_WtAXBDfedtkYQiA7oWHbbwMw7om9RT6SLSEbBUAfG_Y/s1600/birthdaycake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_T29zpW3qUb8j3tiQDnj7AzVzc8POPDCcZ7I4LBB-6hrtl8j_hWNWup2rnLiITqlR9hSFSmwDL7spBtWxyV87rDWKvSjPJTU_WtAXBDfedtkYQiA7oWHbbwMw7om9RT6SLSEbBUAfG_Y/s200/birthdaycake.jpg" width="186" /></a>The final straw was the performance of the forensic audit which found that Chirinos openly admitted that the widespread abuse of overtime for bus drivers existed when he arrived and continued until he was removed to another position after the administration had had enough.<br />The forensic audit, for example, indicated that over the five or so years that the affable Casanova was at the helm more than $3 million in unjustified overtime was doled out to department employees. A new audit performed just recently indicated that the overstocking of inventory at the bus barn totaled into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. What's worse, some of the items overstocked are no longer of any use to the district or are may be obsolete.<br />Today, BISD administrators say they will save more than $106,000 monthly after they implemented cutbacks on the generous overtime practices kept in place by Chirinos.<br />Unfortunately, Chirinos is now a new BISD trustee and some BISD employees wonder whether he will attempt to get back at the administration that removed him from his loving followers.<br />For the moment, however, it is said that at his approaching birthday this month, the Princesas and Barbies will bake a cake for Chirinos in his favorite color, blue.<br /> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4100029966887444182?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/12/chirinos-bash-will-feature-blue-b-day.html
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ERNIE SETTING ALL THE DUCKS IN A ROW FOR HIS EMPIRE
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By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br />With the installation of his daughter Erin Hernandez Garcia as Justice of the Peace 2-2, Ernie Hernandez and his vote-harvesting machine have come one step closer to establishing his political empire.<br />Hernandez, the commissioner for Cameron County's Pct.2, took to handing out patronage and jobs like a duck to water. In fact, his former buddy and close associate John Wood did him the favor of hiring him as his assistant two months before he took office before Wood lost to Carlos Cascos for the position of county judge.<br />It was like letting a kid loose in the candy store. But he lacked finesse, as he found out when his ruse to give his brother-in-law a job as a security guard at the Veterans Memorial Bridge (Los Tomates) was foiled after an investigation disclosed that poor Roberto Cadriel couldn't pass his Civil Service exam and that someone else (an affidavit exists) that an employee at the Human Resources Dept. took it for him and he passed after tow dismal attempts to pass it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtTJKOMEz9EvIV4VjiwfZ6DHdomu2dyieY9mmE6Cq5FRc3ImWTh1qgcwrmNKNZCp5tOH51pUjsb8eb2GTU7E6JwcN6v99uE9kR40vil_cT8iz-79I18yp-8VKVWQRGFbpoz0O4Rytg_E/s1600/ernie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtTJKOMEz9EvIV4VjiwfZ6DHdomu2dyieY9mmE6Cq5FRc3ImWTh1qgcwrmNKNZCp5tOH51pUjsb8eb2GTU7E6JwcN6v99uE9kR40vil_cT8iz-79I18yp-8VKVWQRGFbpoz0O4Rytg_E/s400/ernie.png" width="400" /></a>As a result of the ensuing controversy, Cadriel resigned after one day as a security guard at Veteran's Memorial Bridge. Acting Human Resources director Robert Lopez resigned immediately after the story became public, right after Cadriel. That case is still being investigated by the county's District Attorney Armanado Villalobos, who himself has been indicted for racketeering and corruption in cases related to the Abel Limas scandal, among others.<br /> With Public Works Supervisor Louie Ara resigning for unspecified reasons, Ernie must now seek someone else to dispense his patronage. Ara had Santana Vallejo as his assistant there. You remember Vallejo, he used to to be streets supervisor with the City of Brownsville until management sniffed out something wrong with their neighborhood sidewalk program. Apparently, some of the cement being delivered to the program somehow found its way out of the city and ended up being used by individuals who then sold it to homeowners for driveways and sidewalks.<br />And just last year, a homeowner's complaint in rural Olmito filed with the Cameron County's Sheriff Department charged that Vallejo and his compadre Rosendo Rodriguez had sold them driveway pipes they were replacing as they performed ditchwork on the roads and keeping the money for themselves.<br />Sheriff Dept. officials said that the complaint against the two were dismissed on a "technicality," but insiders say that aggressive defense attorneys for the men scared them into withdrawing their charges telling them they were just as guilty as their clients because they knew the pipes were not legitimately acquired.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZ8GlNSOopdDLKtFEbZOy5hftCUfME-ZvwsY5xyYf89xAK1NMKyn_BsQdWwLz88LHUTkPEL4tApOKDtjlgwjAGFTb3zUowHF3wkWZFI7NjVKRxiNwMpHnhjEUa6cXP351TpELc0E0Gy4/s1600/ratas.gif"></a>With the charges withdrawn, the men returned to their positions free and clear.<br />And it just so happens that Rosendo's brother, Ricardo, is also working for the county in the colonia grants section and mostly in Cameron Park. Ara had put that crew under the supervision of inexperienced supervisor and one of his favorites, foreman Ruben Gonzalez, who showed immediately upon arrival at the project that he didn't know his keister from a bar ditch.<br />He had workers climb into deep trenches without the OSHA-mandated protection for workers in sloping ditches. OSHA mandates that entities doing the work may use a trench box or shield that is either designed or approved by a registered professional engineer or is based on tabulated data prepared or approved by a registered professional engineer. <br />Well, our Mr. Gonzalez knew nothing of this and had the workers climb into the trenches without the required protection. One, Javier Mendoza (Nuco), had the misfortune of suffering the predicable: the trench collapsed and trapped him under tons of dirt. He suffered serious injuries including damage to his internal organs and has now been declared disabled and can no longer work. As an afterthought, Ara suspended his appointee as foreman Gonzalez and now the county has been forced to pay for all the injured worker's medical and disability payments.<br />After Vallejo left the city, he ended up in the Cameron County Public Works department under Ara, who is under Pete Sepulveda, county administrator. But the incestuous nature of the Ara-Vallejo-Hernandez relationship didn't end there. <br />Ara's sister, Lavinia Ralston Long, who used to work at Fiesta graphics, Ernie's company, is now the receptionist for Hernandez's Precinct 2 office.<br />And remember Gilbert Galvan, the county's hapless safety officer who wrecked the county SUV when he failed to negotiate the curve at the intersection of FM 803 and Henderson Road? Well, apparently just after the truck was repaired, accident-prone Galvan had it hit by another car and the vehicle sustained some damage. Back to the repair garage!<br />Hi sister, Claudia Garza, by the way, works as receptionist at the county warehouse on 14th Street in Brownsville.<br />And Vallejos' wife, Linda C. Vallejo, also works for the county auditor's office.<br />Vallejo's brother was also found a spot on the Cameron Park colonia work crew.<br />Ernie is getting better at this all the time.<br />It is apparent that the colonia fund crews and county jobs had become the destination of Hernandez-Ara-Vallejo patronage ring with the predictable results. So what are a few thousands dollars in wasted road materials when they tried to pave Carmen Avenue and ended up botching the job? They just shrugged their shoulders, blamed the quality of the materials sold to the county by the Texas Department of Transportation and tried it again.<br />And who can forget Aroldo Cadriel, who as we well know is Ernie's wife Norman's cousin? He has been charged with murdering a young woman with whom he had a romantic relationship and dumping her body is a desolate rural area. Ernie sent Public Road crews at a cost of thousands of in caliche and manpower to spread it past his firing range even though there were no residences more than a half mile from there. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7P8IyKdhlZlEGaJkhXGaEz4OSU-15UmY3djzrRRHAnv-28dl-Q7A2SrLXtVnKpTOhrcnaIOt9SPj4zAyBBI-EMTfG9mxNuAExdKRGgfhN6AS9a5qCDxYKDtJ825zmM8mOVU38jU_kbg/s1600/erin+h_+garcia.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5742112572988335650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7P8IyKdhlZlEGaJkhXGaEz4OSU-15UmY3djzrRRHAnv-28dl-Q7A2SrLXtVnKpTOhrcnaIOt9SPj4zAyBBI-EMTfG9mxNuAExdKRGgfhN6AS9a5qCDxYKDtJ825zmM8mOVU38jU_kbg/s400/erin+h_+garcia.jpg" style="float: right; height: 267px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 400px;" /></a>Remember when Ernie's niece â€" the former Magistrate Patricia Edlestein â€" gave the commissioner's daughter-in-law Daisy de la Fuente, a former receptionist with the Cameron County Sheriff's Department, a "get out of jail" card after she was arrested after being engaged in a drunken brawl in northern rural Los Fresnos?<br />De la Fuente, married to Evan Hernandez, Ernie' son, was said to have been clocked traveling more than 100 miles per hour on Highway 100 at <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NGI9MTLIZ39m3PqTmxOYZRN_NiU1MW-AstMTJKmMkBqymMkM6j5CAOALIV1pGeh2cmWpMdaXObarIac2Qpt7g3xniNd9-DwWumi0y4L274riz78q_aCB0VY5OmFUxBsxyjHO_qmuxDA/s1600/daisy.jpg"></a>approximately 3 a.m. <br />Los Fresnos police chased her and she is reported to have ditched her car and taken off on foot through the bush to elude them,<br />She then called her friends at the sheriff's department to ask them for a ride. Police found her walking on the side of the road. Unfortunately for Daisy, she forgot that she had left her purse and ID in the car and when the Los Fresnos cops went though it, they found out her real identity.<br />Even with Ernie's pleading, Sheriff Omar Lucio decided he had had enough embarrassment from one of his employees and declined to keep her on board.<br />Now, as Ernie's daughter Erin Hernandez Garcia takes over the JP 2-2 helm, can we reasonably expect any different?<br />She is, after all, an important cog in the machine Hernandez and his extended family of politiqueras vote harvesters have built and none which county residents will have to contend with for years to come. Even should Ernie lose the next election, the pieces are all in place for him to pull the strings from behind the scenes and try to control the political life in this county.<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-563660927878042145?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/12/ernie-setting-all-ducks-in-row-for-his.html
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IS KALIFA-TETREAU LEAKING EXECUTIVE SESSION INFORMATION TO BLOGGERS?
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By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br />Has City Commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa been leaking the secret discussions held by the city commission in executive session?<br />If we are to believe a local blogger who fancies himself a kingmaker and local political mover and shaker, she apparently is.<br />\NO less than two mentions in Erasmo Castro's (the Head Cheez) Internet page indicate that someone is leaking confidential information to his site. Given his historical attachment to Klaifa-Tetreau, all indications seem to point to her as the potential leaker.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZue-pLM3VSZHa6Ja7kXxfrnPrmSbHwyMFpw8MNFiAjR_dCt4ykGEkUdNx5bFQy8rh4q1yb9m92ucMijcZUsG0p_sp78Kav2CFlXXFbjaAMsKW3DBvLXkpGjMJZ5peYphW-asRo4BMBgw/s1600/executiveleak.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/AVvXsEjZue-pLM3VSZHa6Ja7kXxfrnPrmSbHwyMFpw8MNFiAjR_dCt4ykGEkUdNx5bFQy8rh4q1yb9m92ucMijcZUsG0p_sp78Kav2CFlXXFbjaAMsKW3DBvLXkpGjMJZ5peYphW-asRo4BMBgw/s1600/executiveleak.jpg" /></a></div>In two posts, Castro flaunts the fact that he is privy to what goes on "behind closed doors" on a number of issues. If you'll remember, his group (Cheezmeh) took full credit for the victory of the feisty commissioner over hapless Charlie Atkinson. Since then, the fortunes of the group have fallen on hard times, so he obviously couldn't help himself but to flaunt the apparent acces to the halls of power though loose-lipped Jess.<br />Another blogger recently published the political scorecard of Cheezmeh, Jessica's main suppoters, and noted that it is not a shining one. Here, in their own words is the Cheezmeh political record.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Terry Vinson for Sherriff LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Alex Dominguez for State Reprsentative LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Carlos Masso for DA LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Chuck Mattingly for DA LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tad Hasse for TSC LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Robert Uresti for TSC LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Dennis Blanchard for District 34 LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jessica Bradshaw for District 34 LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Donald Clupper for BISD LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">Linda Gill for BISD LOST</div><div style="text-align: center;">He even tried to push Mitt Romney but was skeptical because he was too far away to extort money from him and his contact outside of Brownsville, TX couldn’t reach him through Facebook.</div><div style="text-align: center;">One Winner by Cheating Erin Hernandez</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Score is 1-10 ½</b></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1FsdGnVvOH8M0uG2MFQD6s54m0-npTJCB-kUuz9-anYcQafODlh00rMkTzYHJU9C6YY3e5GdHVUEdCXixjQAsZ1F5Qh_nOojBm2ZrxMYRnM16NYLOwFnwg5t_jY4eEeUnUlbwIyH7xk/s1600/mail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1FsdGnVvOH8M0uG2MFQD6s54m0-npTJCB-kUuz9-anYcQafODlh00rMkTzYHJU9C6YY3e5GdHVUEdCXixjQAsZ1F5Qh_nOojBm2ZrxMYRnM16NYLOwFnwg5t_jY4eEeUnUlbwIyH7xk/s1600/mail.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCVwoi-GNs38-n4vxLrd127rd4AnT5SAS7sZNfs0EggVbjIV0-24H4T1h-ZaVzzM1tEVmxkm7F-y1GgFkHXdQcZn8ZaAKjeVEq5f-zUFNjQ7hZhruZucbFwnVLh7wknNAQNDjnasVd_g/s1600/Jessica_Tetreau_BPD_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCVwoi-GNs38-n4vxLrd127rd4AnT5SAS7sZNfs0EggVbjIV0-24H4T1h-ZaVzzM1tEVmxkm7F-y1GgFkHXdQcZn8ZaAKjeVEq5f-zUFNjQ7hZhruZucbFwnVLh7wknNAQNDjnasVd_g/s320/Jessica_Tetreau_BPD_400.jpg" width="320" /></a>In the post shown here, Castro indicates that the commission was discussing an issue in executive session and that he was posting in real time (as we speak). In another, he chides a commenter who points out the illegality of disclosing the discussions held between commissioners in executive session. Castro describes this as "pathetic rantings" and defends the practice as an exercise in informing the public about what their elected officials are discussing in private (and may we point out, legally).<br />While some may find it daring and roguish to divulge the private conversations between elected officials, we may also add to the "pathetic rantings" of the commenter derided by Castro by merely saying that it is highly illegal to do what he is doing, and doubly so if the commissioner is the source of the leaks. Will this continue or will someone bring this to the commission's attention?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-1057501750079212279?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/12/is-kalifa-tetreau-leaking-executive.html
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DOWNTOWN ECONOMY FLYING HIGH! IT'S IN THE BAG!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46c1kuE0Y-gx7IOCj3AMb2fpogmLvnRLPiF97HFNFiMof6pFTullfVCxKosNc-gpFO3BgJcGlQpv6PNj_mR-fUEJSRZ-AujskI3s15CEUpz2itaNl14it300mHzXh5XPdgWLKLdsy6t0/s1600/bags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46c1kuE0Y-gx7IOCj3AMb2fpogmLvnRLPiF97HFNFiMof6pFTullfVCxKosNc-gpFO3BgJcGlQpv6PNj_mR-fUEJSRZ-AujskI3s15CEUpz2itaNl14it300mHzXh5XPdgWLKLdsy6t0/s640/bags.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br />We were having coffee with some of our friends at a downtown cafe within spitting distance of the Brownsville Municipal Court and City Hall when we noticed a profusion of small plastic bags often used by jewelers to pack small items for their customers.<br />As we stood by the door of the restaurant, one of our friends pointed to the curb by a parked truck and said that the crack and cocaine dealers are apparently doing a land-rush business by the number of plastic bags littering the street. We counted no less than nine or 10 bags on the curb, some of them still containing white residue.<br />While merchants complain of the lack of business downtown, it is obvious that some people are doing very well, thank you. The three bags you see above were just a small number of those that we co9uld see all up and down the curb. Business â€" someone's business â€" is apparently on the upswing.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-3670186178300688452?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/12/downtown-economy-flying-high-its-in-bag.html
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