In most years, most people, even the very politically astute in town, have the same general feeling about some of the races on the ballot like the District Clerk, County Clerk, and the judgeships. The general sentiment is, who the hell cares?
The reason is, as long as you never have to deal with any of those offices, you have no idea if they are running smoothly or if they are a complete and total wreck. You know the saying, no news is good news.
Much like the world was different in terms of security in a pre 9-11 world, the political climate is much different in a post-FBI raid-on-the-county-courthouse world we now live in. Well, at least it should be.
Sure, we’ll scrutinize the big offices more and pay moderately more attention to the people we vote for, but in a town that is notorious for voting for bad public servants, it’s a matter of time before we fall of the wagon and start voting for the wrong people again.
But for now at least, things are somewhat different and the idea that we need to elect good, ethical public servants is still fresh in our minds. That’s what makes the race for District Clerk so interesting.
It’s the only race (so far) involving a figure in the on-going public corruption case running for re-election, the District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez. Depending on who you ask, the idea of Sanchez running for re-election in the midst of a federal corruption case is either a case of incredible political strength and bravery, or an overabundance of ego and stupidity.
Either way, it takes a lot of guts. But then again, Sanchez seems to be comfortable facing the odds. If you remember, the guy held a meeting with his staff declaring his innocence right before he went to turn himself in to the authorities.
I am not going to go in to the particulars of his case because I don’t know enough about the specifics to comment on the case, but let’s examine the political side of the mess. Sanchez is mostly known by voters in a negative context. Think about it, if you’ve never had to deal with his office on a regular basis, you wouldn’t know the man existed, what his office does, or the fact that it is an elected position. Its simply one of those obscure offices that is an elected position, but no one people pay a lot of attention to unless they have to, sort of like Railroad Commissioner on the state level.
If most voters only know Sanchez’s name within the context of an FBI public corruption investigation, how the hell is he supposed to win? He will have to do something that leaders have been advising against since the days of Sun Tzu, fight a two-front war. He will simultaneously have to prove to voters that he is innocent, and prove that he deserves re-election. Aside from the obvious difficulty running for office while he’s currently under indictment, Sanchez has to show tangible results in an office that most voters have only a vague understanding of its responsibilities.
How does the idea of running for re-election while under federal indictment even happen in the County Courthouse? Simple, having worked there myself I can tell you exactly how. Because the Courthouse changes your perception of political reality.
You start to think that everyone understands the intricacies of county business and operations. You start to think that everyone is a regular voter. You start to think that everyone presumes innocence until proven guilty. It can be Bizzaro-World.
So going back to the original premise of a Sanchez run for re-election, is it an example of political strength and bravery, or an overabundance of ego and stupidity? I guess I’d have to say it's brave, but ill-advised.
Sanchez is going to be the unfortunate sacrificial lamb on the ballot. If you look back at anyone remotely connected to corruption or scandal who has been up for re-election since the investigation broke, they have been blown out or bowed out.
Connie Telles-Odom
One of Sanchez’s challengers is Connie Telles-Odom, who has previously run against Sanchez for the District Clerk’s job about 7 ½ years ago. Telles-Odom says she’s very proud of her name and is going by just Telles during the campaign. She is not, to her knowledge, related to the politically prominent Telles family.
Telles has worked in several District Courts, including the 171st, 65th, and 120th, which means she worked for Judge Alfredo Chavez. Telles appears to be pretty aware of the association with Chavez and met my follow-up question about working for Chavez head-on. When asked if she was concerned about an association with the former judge, Telles said that she only worked for the judge and that any negative perception of that would be unfair.
“That would be like saying that all the people that work in Gilbert’s (Sanchez) office have poor leadership or judging them on anything he may have done that’s not proper,” replied Telles.
I also asked Telles if she would be running against Sanchez if he wasn’t under federal indictment and she replied, “absolutely.” She continued by saying Sanchez “has failed on all levels to deliver records timely and accurately.”
Telles said that she’s learned a lot since the last time she ran and when asked what she would do differently this campaign from the failed campaign she previously ran, Telles said that she is a full-time campaigner and has a strong grassroots effort in place this time.
“I’m going to work harder and I bring more experience”, Telles concluded.
The use of the Telles name is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s the usual link to the Latino community that happens only in El Paso. On the other hand, the name is not without its share of negative recognition.
The fact that Telles is a full-time campaigner and has started campaigning this early (I’ve seen her around at a few functions this season) means that she will be a factor. She can argue that she has the most experience and understanding of the inner workings of the District Clerk's office and mentioned that she helped create an application being used by Sanchez’ office to capture records and information in the juvenile court.
Telles is not shy about going after her opponents and will be a tough campaigner. About her other opponent, Norma Favela, she says, “Norma would have to learn everything from scratch. She’s the least qualified person to be the District Clerk because she’s never worked with the office before.”
One thing is for sure, I am not going to miss the first candidate forum for this race. Most years, it would be an unbelievable snooze-fest, but with Telles and Sanchez in the mix, it's going to be pretty interesting, especially when you consider Telles’ parting shot.
“You can rest assured, I will not be attending Commissioner’s Court in shorts and sneakers,” a reference to a Sanchez appearance before the Court in relaxed attire.
Norma Favela
Norma Favela is the final candidate for the office held by Sanchez. Favela has been serving as the #2 over at the Tax Assessor’s Office under Victor Flores. She’s been the Chief Deputy Tax Assessor Collector for the last 10 years.
As such, Favela oversees the budget and supervises a staff of over 80 people, not including the 30 contract staff in nine offices spread out across the county that she indirectly supervises.
Favela is a new-comer in terms of the election scene but she’s been at the County for more than 24 years, previously working as a staffer for Commissioner’s Court, so Favela’s been around the block and knows what to expect.
Favela has the steepest hill to climb because she has to get her name and message out to people who haven’t previously heard it before. But that might actually be an asset in a race involving someone under the cloud of suspicion for public corruption. She’ll have to brand her candidacy as an outsider coming to clean things up.
You get the idea that she’s aware of that when you hear her answer to why she would be the best candidate. “I would bring an Administrator to the office. Politics is the art of dealing with people, but some leaders have taken that to the extreme … when I see long lines at the passport office, I think to myself, ‘there has to be a better way’.” Favela charges that the long lines are an indicator of a lack of administrative prowess on the part of Sanchez.
Favela is also not shy about going after Sanchez. “It might sound corny, but I believe in being a public servant. My office hours would be Monday through Friday, 8-5 … not leaving home early on a regular basis.”
I never thought I would have so much interest in a race for such a mysterious office. In some ways, this race may end up being a referendum on the public corruption investigation as well as the candidates.
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Abeytia writes the Lionstar blog and is a political animal who spends way too much time traveling the wilds of El Paso politics. Reach him at lionstar@thelionstarblog.com.
