“Et tu Brute?"

The Spilt and Downfall of Western Hidalgo County

It has been quite a while since I updated my blog and I even had trouble remembering my password in order to log on and make this post. This page has been idle for to long and while the new LJISD election begun in full swing today, I decided to take a stroll down history as to provide some background so that we can better understand the current turbulence occurring in present day Western Hidalgo County. I have been posting frequently in The Monitor’s comment section on a recent article by Sarah Perkins. This post is in response to a poster calling him/her self, “New in La Joya”.

Excuse my ignorance but, I have been living in La Joya enough to vote in the upcoming elections, but not enough to have voted in the last ones. Can someone please explain to me who belongs to what party and what is it that they want to do for the district? And why are these elections happening again? Please excuse my ignorance again.
-New in La Joya

First let me say that both parties involved in this race run under the banner of the democrats, and that in itself can be confusing when the word party is being thrown around. Back in the 1965 a man by the name of Leo J. Leo, the first mayor of the re-incorporated La Joya and Mexician-American Civil rights leader, had an idea of unifying all the Latinos of Western Hidalgo County as a political force. It was here that the term “The Party” was coined for this particular group of individuals. Billy Leo is the son of Leo James Leo, and continued his father’s legacy of the unification of the West and became the Party’s leader. With this powerful political bloc, the West was able to secure attention and funds from county, state, and federal leaders, rather than having multiple disorganized voices that no one would listen to. Kino Flores was one such political leader that was a member of this party, and with his ownership of a State Rep. seat, was a powerful ally to have in the party.

It is unclear when and what caused the party to fracture in half, but it is my opinion that Kino Flores was tired of playing second fiddle and not reaping any kind of personal benefits from "The Party". I believe the fracture first occurred during the 1998 County Judge race when Billy Leo entered the run-off election against a better financed and well known Hispanic name, Eloy Pulido (nephew to Tejano Star Bobby Pulido). Despite being the 2nd highest vote receiver of the 5 candidates, the lack of financial support and name recognition was clearly going to be to much for Leo to overcome. So one by one, the people whom Leo considered his close friends stopped being so vocal of their support for him and starting shifting their attention at the candidate in the lead. This is politics at its finest, where loyalties go out the window in order to satisfy the person who will emerge victorious. Politicians and elected leaders began to grovel at the feet of the soon to be victorious Pulido with the hopes of catching a favorable eye or even some scraps from the new “king”. Here is where Kino Flores comes back in to play, as he was one such beggar at the feet of the soon to be County Judge Elect Eloy Pulido. The infamous Irene Garcia, who was being watched by the Secretary of State for her tactics used in the recent LJISD elections (I can’t find the document detailing this even anywhere online, but I promise you I saw it in person- I’ll try to find a hard copy and scan it, and upload it for all to see), was seen driving around the Palmview area telling voters to go vote for Pulido over a PA system, and that is where everything went downhill. Kino Flores had pulled a Brutus by stabbing his Caesar in the back and thus creating the initial rift in “The Party”. Flores furthered the divide by putting up a Triumvirate slate of candidates to run against Leo’s “The Party” candidates in the March 2006 LJISD school Board race-Uresti, Salinas, Alaniz also known as USA-and officially produced the fissure in the West that remains till this day. Arturo Gonzalez (another former Party member) and Espie Ochoa (self proclaimed Team GO) are a continuation of this slate supported by Kino that has spilt a unified West in half. They are opposed by the original party candidates, Mingo and Elma, a party that was never involved in any fraudulent elections, scandalous promotions , creating hostile working environments, unethical and unprofessional tactics, or money squandering techniques. While those comments I just threw out may be considered opinions, they are backed up with plenty of factual evidence here in my blog.

The upcoming March 25 elections are a re-do of last year’s School Board election that were ruled fraudulent by a local court, an election that was run by the LJISD who was/is controlled by the Kino party. As the first article states, this election was supposed to have taken place on February 16, but a flurry of appeals and stalling tactics by the GO clan forced the date to be pushed back. After exhausting their first appeal, which upheld the fraudulent ruling of the first judge which stated that election clerks put there by the Kino party: "1) Allowed ineligible voters to vote, 2) Prevented eligible voters from voting 3) Improperly relocated voting machines, and 4) Engaged in Fraud."

While this new election has been delayed for a while know, it is only fitting that Early Voting begin on the week of the Ides of March, the same date that Brutus carried out his sinister plot in 44 B.C.