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Commissioner's Court meeting opens with situation Sheriff's Department; "Where are $700,000.00?"

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A.D. Ibarra

 

-Eagle Pass

 

 

The Regular meeting of Maverick County Commissioner's Court was held on Monday and when it looked as though there would be no visitor's comments and things would be getting underway quickly, Sheriff Tom Schmerber approached the visitor's mic and mentioned some concerns of his which he felt needed to be aired out, if you will. The first was a credit card bill which comes from the previous administration in the amount of $12,425.00 which Schmerber does not feel his budget needs to cover, needless to say he may have also been questioning what the Visa card which was issued to former Sheriff Tomas Herrera was utilized for. When we reached former Sheriff Herrera for comment, he informed The News Gram that he had closed all credit cards in November. If in fact any of those cards had an outstanding balance, it would not have been that much.

"I have never spoken to (Sheriff Schmerber) about this," stated Herrera. County Judge David Saucedo advised Sheriff Schmerber that he would take the issue up with the auditor's office. Schmerber added that the card had items from June or July and he was told that it had been paid when the transition was being made. Another concern was the fact that four canisters of oxygen which are to be used in case of emergency to provide prisoners with O₂ were somehow discarded or thrown away without any form of documentation. His concern is that they cost $2,000.00 a piece and he does not feel they will pass State inspection without them. When asked about said containers, Herrera explained that the containers were outdated and the Jail Commission advised the department that they needed to be disposed of and had to be replaced. The biggest allegation Schmerber made was the fact that the $700,000.00 which were said to have been left over from the past administration are nowhere to be found, and this he said was very disconcerting. "I don't know where he (Sheriff Herrera) left them." stated Sheriff Schmerber, "There are many things that we checked that are not correct." In relation to the Stone Garden Grant funds which the present administration is referring to, Herrera said that he will be calling a press conference in order to formally address these and other issues. Once the meeting got underway, it was business as usual, and Schmerber seemed satisfied that Commissioner's Court made the right decision in approving the hiring of his new personnel as Judge Saucedo abstained from voting due to the fact that his brother Ignacio is coming on board as a member of Sheriff Schmerber's financial team. Mario Rodriguez, and Ramon Gonzalez were also approved. Other than these items dealing with the sheriff's department, there were many other personnel related items as employees were moved laterally across the County and hourly rates approved as they went. Oscar Cantu was named Office Director for the Pct. 1 Computer Center, and Valentin Guerra replaced him at the Road & Bridge Department and Luis Jimenez replaced Guerra. This opened up two jobs at the Maverick County Lake which were also approved among others. Discussion in relation to various projects in and around the County arose which caused friction between those in attendance, namely representatives from the County Auditor's office, County Attorney Rick Ramos, Judge Saucedo and County Commissioner Eliaz Maldonado. Although most of the projects which were brought up for approval were in fact approved, several of those which were for Pct. 1 such as a sidewalk project for Pct. 1 and an illumination project for Chula Vista that were tabled and no action was taken.

 

 

 

Last modified on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 21:41

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