The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 12, 1986 Page: 1 of 12
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Specials,
Page 12
RIO GRANDE HERALD
Serving Starr County For Five Decades
H.E.B.
Bargains,
Page 5
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Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
No. 33 THURSDAY, JUNE 1 2,1986
FIFTEEN CENTS
*
Martinez Ousts Chapa,
Alaniz Wins Narrowly
Jose M. Martinez, Jr. Reynaldo Alaniz
By KENNETH ROBERTS
Managing Editor
Rancher Jose M. Martinez, Jr.,
ousted two-term incumbent Bias
Chapa by a slim margin of 113
votes, out of more than 8000 cast, in
an upset victory Saturday that
guaranteed him the position of
County Judge for four years,
beginning Jan. 1,1987.
As of Tuesday evening, two
candidates- Abel N. Gonzalez, Jr.,
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Unsent Ballots Stir
Election Controversy
The discovery late last Wednes-
day that mail-in absentee ballots
had been kept in the County Clerk's
Office, instead of being sent to the
District Clerk's Office under a
district court impoundment order,
triggered a controversy that is still
raging.
Prior to Saturday's runoff elec-
tion, the candidate expressing the
most consternation about the issue
was Jose M. Martinez, Jr., who
proceeded to narrowly defeat in-
cumbent County Judge Bias Chapa.
At the current time, the can-
didate raising the unattended
ballots as a major point of
contention is Abel N. Gonzalez, Jr.,
who narrowly (by 26 votes) lost his
race to oust incumbent Precinct
Four County Commissioner
Reynaldo Alaniz.
For his part, County Clerk Juan
Mills insists, "There was no
tampering done The canvassing
board reconfirmed that ..With the
absentee mail-ins, we have to do a
clerical procedure. I must place
Food Pantry
Close To
Opening
A "Food Pantry", under the
auspices of Helping Hands
Ministry, is expected to open in Rio
Grande City later this week.
Mrs Gigi Gutierrez, one of those
most active with the program,
said, "We're trying to help the
local people. We're trying to use a
little wisdom to help the really
needy."
She added, "We're trying to
serve a family once a month,
unless there's an extra need, in
that case once a week We're
trying to provide nutritious meals
for a family for four days We're
geared now to serve 30 and 50
people once a week."
This Thursday, the pantry, locat-
ed at the J A Hinojosa Building on
East Main Street in Rio Grande
City, will be open to provide aid
from 9 a m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
H.E.B. is donating approximately
50 boxes of food per week
Most of the food served is
canned, but there is also flour,
beans, cake mixes, hamburger
helper, oils, cereals, sugar, salt,
and paper cups and plates Approx-
imately 50 to 75 pounds are brought
in from McAllen twice a week
The goal, she said, is to have at
least thre volunteers from every
church The 22 volunteers currently
on hand will work in 3 hour-shifts
On Monday and Tuesday, the
workers will do cleanup and
preparation of both the food and
the pantry area.
Eligibility requirements are quite
stringent, with Immigration of-
ficials chekcing the birth certifi-
cates of applicants The birth
certificates will be held for 'A
hours by Helping Hands Ministry in
order to gain positive identifica-
tion
Other documents required for
eligibility are: (1) A rent receipt
with landlord's name, phone
number and address for vesica-
tion (2) House payment or land
payment to financial institution;
(3) Utility bills of previous month
(electric, water, gas) plus the
minimum charge for having a
phone connection
(4) Birth certificate or legal
residence status card, (5) Weekly
(See P 4 \ TH ) . I'dfir 12)
the mail-in ballot with the applica-
tion requesting the ballot in an
additional envelope. Without the
application, the ballot cannot be
accepted. They need to be placed
together."
The purpose of this, Mills said,
was to make sure that persons who
had mailed in absentee ballots did
not turn up to try to vote absentee
in person.
Abel N. Gonzalez, Jr., provided
this statement to The Rio Grande
Herald on Tuesday afternoon,
"We're very dissatisfied with the
County Clerk's Office. The County
Clerk has openly supported my
opponent, and it is no secret whose
interest he serves.
"By his own admission, he has
not complied with the law. He's
done a great disservice to the
community because he has been
everything but impartial in the way
he has conducted himself."
Mills said he had made no secret
of his support for Commissioner
Alaniz and Judge Chapa. He added,
"Every time they called for
assistance, my office was helpful to
all candidates, including Mr.
Gonzalez. I don't see why they
should be dissatisfied with me."
On Friday, J.M. Martinez, Jr ,
held a press conference, insisting
that the serious possibility of fraud
existed and that those 600 ballots
should not be counted. On Monday,
he said he is undecided about
which route to take, but added that
"my main concern was that if an
order by the District Judge was
ignored, it wasn't done with the
best of intentions."
Approximately 600 mail-in ballots
were not impounded, but left in a
caged room after hours near the
County Clerk's Office. On Friday,
County Attorney Heriberto Silva
told The Herald, "If he (Mills)
wasn't doing it (complying with the
court order), he needed to do it."
Silva contended that fraud had
not been shown yet, but indicated
that "this could be the basis for a
contest Neither of us (him or the
District Clerk) feels there's that
type of problem now Both of us
were trying to make sure the court
order was complied with."
Starr County Democratic Chair-
man Benito Saenz expressed his
belief that Mills had "absolutely no
criminal intent."
On May 27, District Judge
Ricardo Garcia issued an injunc-
tion requiring the impoundment of
all ballots in the District Clerk's
Office. After the discovery of the
ballots being left in the County
Clerk's Office, Garcia issued an
injunction late Friday to keep the
mail-ins separate from the other
absentee votes
On Monday, at a District Court
hearing, Judge Garcia ordered that
the temporary injunction be con-
tinued.
Silva described the mail-in pro-
cedure as follows, "One sends a
request for an application to the
County Clerk. He sends the ballot
to them, and it should be mailed
back. There are instructions on
(voting procedure) He safeguards
(the ballot and envelope) until the
date of the election. It (the ballot)
is placed in the envelope; he
compares signatures on the ballot
to signatures on the application.
"They compile a list so each
election judge will have a list
showing which voters have already
voted absentee."
District Clerk Juan Erasmo
Saenz said he first heard about the
matter Wednesday afternoon from
a poll-watcher.
According to Valley media, Audi-
tor Jose Guadalupe Villareal first
discovered Wednesday afternoon
that 20 mail in ballots had not been
delivered to the District Clerk's
Office, and proceeded to contact
most of the candidates in Satur-
day's runoff election
Sheriff Gene Falcon could not be
reached, but two deputies arrived
on the scene. After Mills was
reached, he placed the 600 mail-in
ballots in a box that was sealed,
and the Sheriff's Deputies escorted
the ballots to the District Clerk's
Office on the second floor.
Saenz indicated that the '"boxes
are sealed already (upon arrival).
Once they're here, I just put them
in a safe place (the vault) The
sheriff has the keys."
The District Clerk indicated that
under an impoundment order, all
election materials are kept in that
office for 60 days unless "there's a
problem that comes up," such as
an election contest. The County
Attorney stated that without an
impoundment order or election
contest, the materials are kept by
the Democratic Chairman.
Mills said Monday that he was
aware of the impoundment order
on May 28, but a deputy in his
office placed it on his desk, and he
contended he hadn't had time to
read the order until late last week.
Mills added, "Basically, I knew
what the order said,"
The critical paragraph of Judge
Garcia's order reads as follows:
"Immediately following the close
of each day from May 28, 1986
through June 3, 1986, being the
period for absentee balloting, the
ballot boxes, poll list, tally sheets,
affidavits, and all other election
materials required by law to be
used during the election, and to be
placed in any ballot box or other
box and all other papers, records,
and paraphernalia held or used by
the election officials in connection
(See BALLOTS. Page 12)
La Cocina Grand
Opening Held
The grand opening for La Cocina
del Rancho Restaurant in Rio
Grande City adjacent to Starr
Plaza was held Friday
Cutting the ribbon was Oscar
Simo, Jr., the grandson of owners
Mr and Mrs Pete Diaz, Jr Among
local business leaders attending
were Industrial Foundation Presi-
dent and Executive Director Sam
Vale and Rene Montalvo, respec-
tively.
Also on hand were Gustavo Perez
and Fort Ringgold Golf Course
Manage-. Roel Villarreal Amelia
Reyes gave the invocation
in the Precinct Four Commission-
er's race, and Homero Salmon in
the treasurer's race- had told the
Rio Grande Herald that they would
be asking for recounts.
Also in Saturday's Democratic
runoff balloting, incumbent Pre-
cinct Four Commissioner Reynaldo
"Moreno" Alaniz apparently de-
feated the strong challenge of Abel
N. Gonzalez, Jr., by only 26 votes.
Aurelio A. Sanchez won a close
race over Homero J. Salmon for
County Treasurer, and incumbent
Hector "Ivo" Perez decisively won
his race for re-election as Precinct
Four Justice of the Peace over
James Van Nest.
Martinet carricd seven of 10
precincts to pile up his winning
total of 4059 votes, 114 more than
Chapa's 3945. Chapa's 400 vote-
victory in the absentee vote was
not enough to bring him victory.
Chapa told The Herald Monday
morning that he was not planning
to ask for a recount. He added,
"I'm satisfied; I congratulated Mr.
Martinez and offered my support.
We need to join forces and work
together for a better Starr Coun-
ty"
Martinez credited his victory to a
"tremendous team effort. People
must ha ve been ready, because so
many people came out to volunteer
from al 1 over the county. The
response gradually grew. It was
astound ing the way it came
together "
The v ictor contended that his
supporte rs deserved the credit for
his win He praised Chapa as
having r un a clean campaign, and
added th at the two have remained
friends uhroughout the campaign.
He expressed gratitude for Chapa's
offer of help and support, and
contende d he is ready and eager to
get to work on plans for his
administ ration
Martinez added, "The main plan
I have is to form an advisory
committee representative of all
parts of :he county and all walks of
life. I would like to see this
committee make a complete study
and com'2 up with a plan that can
intelligen tly approach all of our
problems."
The breakdown of Saturday's
voting bj' precinct, in the County
Judge's r. ice. is as follows:
Precinct One (Multipurpose
Center)- Martinez 200, Chapa 142,
Precinct Two (North Grammar)-
Martinez 228, Chapa 173; Precinct
Three (Roque Guerra)- Martinez
845, Chapa 545; Precinct Four (San
Isidroi- Martinez 326, Chapa 224.
Precinct Five (El Sauz)- Martinez
56, Chapa 18; Precinct Six (Roma
Elementary)- Martinez 649, Chapa
406.
Precinct Seven (Salineno)- Chapa
118, Martinez 106 Precinct Eight
(La Union in Garciasville)- Chapa
574, Martinez 269; Precinct Nine
(La Grulla)- Chapa 372, Martinez
364; Precinct 10 (Holy Family
Center, RGC)- Martinez 151, Chapa
100.
Judge Chapa decisively carried
the absentee vote by winning 1274
votes to 869 for Martinez.
Chapa said, "I'm very grateful
for the great work that my
supporters did. I think we had a
good turnout. People on both sides
worked real hard, and that was the
result. I feel great, and I'm
satisfied."
About the future, Chapa com-
mented, "He (Martinez) is going to
need all the help he can get,"
adding that oil valuations have
declined $70 million this year, and
may fall further.
In the Precinct Four Commis-
sioner's race, incumbent Reynaldo
Alaniz edged longtime Rio Grande
(See MARTINEZ, Page 12)
Zaffirini Wins Huge
Victory In Starr
Judith Zaffirini of Laredo was an
overwhelming 3-1 victor in Starr
County balloting Saturday for the
21st District state Senate seat.
Zaffirini decisively defeated
State Rep. Billy Hall of Laredo in
the 20-county senatorial district.
Her Republican opponent will be
former State Rep. Bennie Bock of
New Braunfels
Late unofficial returns on Mon-
day morning indicated that Zaf-
firini had 30,002 votes districtwide
or 59 9 percent, to 20,660 votes for
Hall, a 13-year veteran of the
Texas House.
In Starr County, Zaffirini won a
smashing victory in every precinct
to gain 4915 votes to 1656 for Hall.
The countywide vote is broken
down as follows, by precinct:
Precinct One (Multipurpose
Center)- Zaffirini 238, Hall 75;
Precinct Two (North Grammar)-
Zaffirini 279, Hall 70; Precinct
Three (Roque Guerra)- Zaffirini
925, Hall 261; Precinct Four (San
Isidro) - Zaffirini 360, Hall 124:
Precinct Five (El Sauz)- Zaffirini
34, Hall 15; Precinct Six (Roma)-
Zaffirini 560, Hall 378.
Precinct Seven (Salineno)- Zaf-
firini 125, Hall 72; Precinct Eight
<La Union in Garciasville)- Zaf-
firini 495, Hall 136; Precinct Nine
(La Grulla)- Zaffirini 428, Hall 176;
Precinct 10 (Holy Family Center,
RGC)- Zaffirini 180, Hall 43;
Absentee- Zaffirini 1291, Hall 306
Districtwide, Zaffirini carried 16
of the 20 counties. Her biggest
percental of victory was in
Zavala County, which she carried
with 83 percent of the vote.
ZAffirini's highest county vote
total was in Starr County
Her smelliest winning percentage
was in Za pata County, which she
carried with 51 percentage. She
carried all the San Antonio-area
counties, which did not have a
brisk turno ut in this race
Hall won Webb County with 61
percent of the vote, and also
carried Wilson, McMullen, and
Duval Counties. He won 63 percent
of the vote in both Wilson and
Duval Counties.
Zaffirini is the first woman to
win a party nomination for the
District 21 State Senate seat,
currently held by the retiring John
Traeger of Segum.
The other races state races
tallied as follows in Starr County
Railroad Commission: John
Sharp, 2910: P S. Ervin 890.
Supreme Court Justice Place
One- Oscar H Mauzy, 2279; Shirley
Butts, 1569
Supreme Court Justice Place
Two- Robert M Campbell, 1883;
Jim Brady, 1808.
Supreme Court Justice Place
Four- Raul A. Gonzalez, 4650; Jay
Gibson, 375.
Court of Criminal Appeals Judge-
George "Jorge" Martinez, 3823;
Rusty Duncan, 445
Ramirez Ford Wins
Top Dealer Award
Ramirez Ford of Rio Grande City
has been awarded Houston Dis-
trict's Quality Commitment Top
Dealer Award Trophy by Ford
Motor Comspany.
This prestigious trophy is a-
warded by Ford Parts and Service
Division's Houston District Office
to those dealers exhibiting out-
standing commitment to customer
satisfaction in sales and service
This commitment is measured by
the ultimat e judge, Ramirez Ford's
customer
During the first year of owner-
ship, drivers of Ford and Lincoln
Mercury vehicles complete and
mail to Ford Motor Company
consumer surveys indicating their
level of satisfaction with their
dealership's sales and service.
The Quality Commitment Top
Dealer Award is presented
quarterly to 13 Ford and Lincoln
Mercury Dealers in the Houston
District receiving the highest rat-
ing from their customers Ramirez
Ford is proud to be a member of
this prestigious group of dealers
The La Cocina del Rancho is
serving real pit barbecue; smoked,
charcoaled, and/or broiled
Brisket, pork ribs, sausages,
chicken, and carnitas are among
the meats served
An employee of the restaurant
told The Herald that there are nine
employees, not counting Mr and
Mrs Diaz, who are frequently on
hand to help
Over the past few weeks, Pete
Diaz. Jr., has frequently expressed
optimism about the prospects for
La Cocina del Rancho
Young Oscar Simo, Jr.. in the middle front row, is getting ready to cut the ribbon in
Friday's grand opening ceremonies for La Cocina del Ranch, a new restaurant
specializing in barbecue. The restaurant is owned by Mr. Pete I)iaz, far left front
row, and his wife, Ramona. standing behind Oscar Simo, their grandson.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 12, 1986, newspaper, June 12, 1986; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195032/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.