"I eat what I kill." -- candidate for District Attorney Theresa Caballero. Probably the best ever political line, used as part of Caballero's wrapup following a debate between she and incumbent DA Jaime Esparza. The context was her assertion that she is more qualified than Esparza in many ways, including that she is in private practice while Esparza "has always been at the government trough."
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The comment came during a lunch-time debate Tuesday. The event was sponsored by the League of Women Voters. In addition to Esparza and Caballero, it featured the 11 sheriff candidates.
The discussion between the two hit on some familiar themes -- particularly, the discussion on DIMS, under which "when a defendant is detained by the officer, an on-duty prosecutor instantly receives a report allowing him/her to decide, based on the merits of the case, whether or not it will be accepted for prosecution. If the prosecutor decides not to file charges, the individual is immediately released," stated a news release sent out by the DA and County Attorney's offices following dismissal this spring of four cases involving the program. If the case is accepted for prosecution, the peace officer recommends a bond based on a bond schedule approved by the El Paso Council of Judges, and that is reviewed by a magistrate.
Caballero drilled on her argument that DIMS is unconstitutional, Esparza that four lawsuits have unsuccessfully challenged the program.
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Esparza has been critiqued for not hitting back against Caballero, who has pummeled him with charges that he runs an unconstitutional program (DIMS), favors friends by protecting them from prosecutions, and has failed to properly prosecute cases. [kvia story on renteria case]
In her closing statement, Caballero accused Esparza of breaking the law in his prosecution of that case. She also alluded to her charge that he protected Alberto Ocegueda, a coach in the Socorro Independent School District who was accused of molesting a girl.
Ocegueda is the brother of Esparza's secretary.
Caballero sent a mailer describing the case, stating that Esparza "refused to prosecute."
Pretty damning stuff.
But then Esparza finally took a swing at one of Caballero's curveballs.
He said that because the accused was brother to his secretary, he referred the case to a special prosecutor, who did not find enough evidence to prosecute. He said that the case was investigated by the school district and the Texas Education Agency.
Then he pointed out that none of those facts were in her flyer. Further, the paper included Ocegueda's booking docket, which included such personal information as Social Security and driver's license numbers.
"I don't think you want a prosecutor who has that view of morals, that view of ethics," Esparza said.
Undaunted, as the sheriff's candidates lined up for their portion of the event, Caballero and lawyer Stuart Leeds, who supports her, passed out photocopies of the flyer.
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The state Rep. Paul Moreno camp jumped on the blog posting by Paul Burka today. [link]
The posting uses research by state Rep. Garnet Coleman to make the point that House Speaker Tom Craddick has recruited Democratic candidates to take out his opponents. That, of course, includes Marissa Marquez, who has denied denied denied any Craddick connection to her campaign and has said she will not vote for Craddick for speaker.
Of course, there's that pesky issue of perception, as Republican donors from El Paso -- such as Rick Francis, Woody Hunt, and Paul Foster -- give her thousands of dollars. Of course, they've also donated to many other Democrats in town.
This is what Coleman, through Burka, writes about the Marquez campaign:
"Craddick D consultants. Ricardo Armendariz works for the Marquez campaign. Armendariz also works for Rep. Norma Chavez, whose support of Speaker Craddick helped him win reelection in January 2007. Chavez has also endorsed Marquez and vocally advocated the defeat of Moreno. Rep. Chavez's position on Craddick's reelection is currently unknown."
That's not entirely true. Chavez has said bluntly she will not support Craddick for speaker again.
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The Clinton operation in El Paso is stepping it up. Chelsea Clinton will be in El Paso Friday for a pizza party, said U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes in a telephone call to KHRO 1650 AM radio host Paul Strelzin (a rapprochement between the political giants)?
In addition, the Clinton campaign opened the Clinton for President office at 800 N. Mesa Street.
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It has become an article of faith to many in El Paso that state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh was wrong to vote against the budget that contained funding for the El Paso medical school. DavidK referred to it in his recent column and a letter-writer sent NPT an El Paso Times editorial slapping Shapleigh for the vote.
Anthony Martinez, Shapleigh's press secretary, said those interpretations don't stand up to the record, which he wanted corrected. He wasn't alone. Many readers expressed a similar sentiment.
Here is Shapleigh’s explanation, written in two pieces. Essentially, the argument is that the medical school funding was not in jeopardy, but many worthwhile programs that are important to El Paso were, factors that led to Shapleigh's first no vote and subsequent vote in favor of the budget. The first piece is from April 13, the same day as the Times editorial. [link] The second is May 28, after Shapleigh voted in favor of the compromise budget that eventually was adopted. [link]
