The question posed at the top of this post is now being asked more frequently by a growing number of Cameron County administrators and commissioners as they become aware of the bloated salaries commanded by some county employees, often time the result of double dipping into other entities' pockets.
The most glaring of all is probably that of County Supervisor Pete Sepulveda and his assistant David "Do Nothing" Garcia.
Garcia, a political hire holdover from the bad old days of Gilbert Hinojosa, has been riding the county's gravy train for the better part of a decade, earning a combined $186,900 a year from his $111,900 salary from the county and an additional $75,000 from the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (CCRMA).The justification for hiring Garcia was that he had worked for Solomon Ortiz for close to a decade and had the ear of Ortiz's assistant Lencho Rendon. He has ridden that claim to fame even after Hinojosa and Ortiz were kicked out of office. In other words, his raison d'etre has long since disappeared.
Likewise, Sepulveda in February 2012 was named executive director of the CCRMA, which in a press release stated he would stay in the county for a transition period. It has almost been a year and the transition has not happened and Sepulveda and his able assistant continue to double dip as do others in the CCRMA and the county.
In fact, at least six other on the regular county payroll also command attractive candy money from the CCRMA at the same time they are drawing their annual salary from the county.
Put it in this perspective. Garcia takes home more than $7,500 every two weeks for his troubles.
And what are his troubles? Let's just say he is a modern-day Atlas if we are to believe he and Sepulveda can actually administer the departments they are paid to run. The source of both of these men's salaries come from at least four different departments within the county and the CCRMA.
Planning and Inspection (Asst.): $56,089
Veterans Bridge (Asst.): $16,222
Los Indios Bridge (Asst.): $16,222
Gateway Bridge (Asst.): $17,121
Total (County) $105,654
C.C. Reg. Mob. Authority: $75,000
Total (Salary) $180,654
(This total does not include any benefits or raises given Garcia for the 2012-2013 budget year which raises it to the $186,900 figure.)
What, a reasonable person may ask, can he Garcia possibly do to command a salary higher than the commissioners and than any other county elected official including Cascos and Sheriff Omar Lucio?
Other employees besides Garcia and Sepulveda drawing a pretty penny from the CCRMA in addition to their salaries include court legal counsel Dylbia Jefferies Vega, $1,100 Martha Auditor Galarza who takes home an extra $800 a month, Sylvia DeHoyos, $400, Maria Robles, $450, Jesus Martin Peña, $200, and Hendrick Quelhorst, $125.
When he left, Hinojosa tried to saddle the county with a special department where he placed some of his protected employees only to have Cascos dismantle it for being redundant of tasks performed at other departments. Garcia has been able to stay under the radar so far. However, there are murmurs in the underbrush that that might not last for too much longer.
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