With No Legitimate Brownsville News Outlet, Many Turn to Blogs, the Elizondo Case Study

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

A few months ago, one of The Brownsville Herald's headlines read, "Elizondo found not guilty of all six counts." The article went on to say how the disgraced former BISD School Board member and Brownsville Fire Chief was found not guilty on all six charges of computer security breach. 

He was accused of accessing a Brownsville Fire Department Emergency Reporting System while under suspension. According to the allegations, he accessed the system without permission from the city. The former chief breathed a sigh of relief when the "not guilty" verdict was read aloud in the 107th State District Court.

The Herald made it sound as if all was over and done with. Not guilty. Now, the former chief would petition to get his job on the Brownsville Fire Department back. Public perception seemed to be as if everybody wanted to welcome him back into the department with open arms. 

Elizondo appealed to the Brownsville Civil Service Commission. He wanted his old job back. But they certainly wouldn't give him the fire chief position, would they? At the very least, he must have thought, they'd allow me to return to the fire department as a lieutenant — the rank he held before being promoted to chief. In November, the Commission heard Elizondo's argument. After a two day back and forth, the Commission gave their decision — Elizondo would not be getting his job back with the Brownsville Fire Department.

But why? He was declared not guilty? Surely he should get his job back, right?

Well, it isn't that simple. While the Herald and sites like Channel 4's ValleyCentral.com let us all know he was declared not guilty, they forgot to mention something. They forgot to mention Elizondo faces another pending indictment. This indictment is alleging theft and misappropriation of fiduciary duty. According to the indictment, Elizondo, while being one of the firefighter union's top dogs, stole approximately 8,000 dollars from the union's fund. According to Jorge Lerma, the Brownsville Firefighters Association President, Elizondo was suspended from the Political Action Committee treasury In 2010 by the Texas Ethics Commission. An audit later revealed an ATM card was being used to withdraw funds. Elizondo did not provide any reasons behind these withdrawals. He was suspended from the fire department.

Sources with knowledge of the imbroglio say the 8K is just the tip of the iceberg. However, since so many paper records have gone missing, we may never know how much money was being bilked from the union's fund.

It is very hard to imagine one of Brownsville's Bravest behind a plot to steal money from his own. I understand these are allegations, but they are very serious allegations. I see no reason why someone who may be under investigation for these allegations should be allowed to return back to his position within the fire department. 

And here's where local news fails Brownsville. Despite being the Valley's largest city, we get the least amount of ink and the least amount of television coverage. I get all the "happening" things go on at the other end of the Valley, but Brownsville definitely needs to get more media coverage. Yes, Elizondo was found not guilty of the computer fraud, even though insiders tell of technicalities and legal loopholes being the reason why more evidence against Elizondo was not admitted into the courtroom, but he still faces the other allegations. This is something that local news should have covered.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I am not a professional journalist, but I believe journalists should give us the full story, not just the parts that make things look one way when they really aren't that way at all. 

This is why I strongly suggest you make the Brownsville Blogosphere a part of your daily reading. Often times you'll see stories printed in the local blogs that you won't see in the other media and news outlets. It really is a pity we don't have a legitimate local newspaper. Brownsville is definitely big enough that a stand-alone Brownsville newspaper should exist (yes, I know there's a Brownsville Herald, but the Herald hasn't been printed in Brownsville for some time now — most of the staff reporters are from Harlingen and McAllen and the only Herald office is a broom closet inside the VentureX building — hardly a fitting office space for a local newspaper).

I strongly encourage you to do as much research as possible, because you aren't getting everything from the "local" newspaper. 

To quote news legend Paul Harvey, "And now you know the rest of the story."