Texas Border Business
Pharr, Texas – The candidates that are participating to win over the Pharr establishment have filed very serious allegations. According to candidates Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez, Dr. Ramiro Caballero, Eleazar Guajardo and Ricardo Medina said that they have discovered multiple violations.
They also stated that as Pharr Forward candidates filed sworn complaints with the Texas Ethics Commission and the United States Office of General Counsel, alleging violations of state and federal law. The complaints of alleged violations, which may have civil remedies and/or criminal repercussions, are also being forwarded to the appropriate state and federal authorities.
Candidates Jose Adan Farias, Aquiles “Jimmy” Garza, Arturo Cortez and Mario Bracamontes, the Pharr First slate, could have committed the alleged violations.
Texas Border Business placed phone calls to incumbent commissioner Jimmy Garza and Mayor Pro-
Tem Jose Adan Farias and they didn’t answer and have not returned calls.
Additionally, a phone call was placed to Eddie Cantu; he has also been named in these alleged violations. Eddie Cantu is the current Hidalgo County Commisioner and appears as the treasurer for Pharr First slate.
The alleged list of violations was discovered after the challengers Pharr Forward reviewed the campaign finance reports submitted by Candidates Jose Adan Farias, Aquiles “Jimmy” Garza, Arturo Cortez and Mario Bracamontes.
Mayoral candidate Dr. Ambrosio “Amos” Hernandez said, “We find it alarming that several sections of the Texas Election Code and federal law were violated by the incumbent candidate slate.” He continued to say, “If these candidates, several who have been in office for many years, blatantly disregard the simple and straightforward laws governing Texas elections, how can we expect them to follow the Texas laws and statutes that rule governing a city?”.
Pharr Forward candidates released the list of alleged violations to Texas Border Business that you can read below:
- Accepting illegal campaign contributions from a foreign (Mexican) entity in violation of federal law;
- Receiving thousands of dollars in illegal cash contributions;
- Failing to properly report the requisite information for a loan in the amount of $15,000;
- Listing and reporting over 100 campaign expenditures with no address included for any recipient;
- Listing campaign expenditures with no entity or person to which the expenditure was paid;
- Not including employer or occupation for any of the 62 contributors;
- Not including addresses for contributing entities;
- Failing to indicate the full name of the person or political committee authorizing the political advertising on a mailer’s political disclaimer, as required by Texas Statute; and
- Signage disclaimer indicates that signs were paid for by Eddie Cantu, Treasurer; but no contribution (in-kind or other) from Eddie Cantu was reported to any of the candidates benefiting from the signage.
In addition, Dr. Hernandez said that a federal complaint has also been submitted to the United States Office of General Counsel, alleging that 2 U.S. Code Section 441e was violated by Pharr First candidates comprised by Candidates Jose Adan Farias, Aquiles “Jimmy” Garza, Arturo Cortez and Mario Bracamontes, who reported accepting a monetary donation from an address listed in Reynosa, Mexico.
“These violations of state and federal law are yet another example of poor management and leadership from the incumbent candidates.” Dr. Hernandez stated, “This is not the first time that laws have been violated under their watch, and these recent violations indicate that it won’t be the last,” he continued.
Texas Border Business called the candidates that are members of the establishment and in order to hear their side of the story, however no response yet as this article is being prepared for distribution.
Furthermore, Dr. Hernandez stated that findings from the City of Pharr 2014 independent audit report indicated that on multiple occurrences, city staff and employees violated Chapter 252 of the Texas Local Government Code, pertaining to purchasing policies and procedures and the competitive bid process. He also added that the audit found that the cause of the violations stemmed from a “lack of internal controls over the bidding process and/or lack of knowledge of State and City bidding policies and procedures.”
Just last week, Ms. Lorena Singh, a longtime Las Milpas resident and Valley Interfaith leader told Texas Border Business that Las Milpas has multiple needs, she said, “These are basic needs for Pharr and especially for Las Milpas, a community of 40,000, almost half the population of Pharr. These needs include a public library/resource center, a bridge/walkway that will connect the community to our only park, continued funding for project VIDA, paving of streets that are in poor condition, curtailing predatory lending and access to public transportation.”
