2014 ELECTION RESULTS: Voters elect first female mayor; call for sweeping change on school board

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

Antonio "Tony" Gonzales

Antonio “Tony” Gonzales

Celeste Zepeda Sanchez

Celeste Zepeda Sanchez

In an overwhelming call for change in leadership, unofficial results of Saturday’s general elections in San Benito saw citizens elect the community’s first female mayor and institute a shift in power on the San Benito CISD Board of Trustees.

According to uncanvassed votes in the San Benito City Commission and SBCISD races, 2,286 ballots in the former and 3,108 in the latter were cast in the respective elections – numbers which include early voting tallies. However, the number of provisional ballots that may be pending was not confirmed as of presstime.

Celeste Z. Sanchez – former San Benito City Commissioner, soon-to-be retired SBCISD Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction and now Mayor-elect – was ecstatic about the turnout, which saw her defeat incumbent Joe H. Hernandez by a 448-vote margin, 1,390 to 942.

Shirley Vega

Shirley Vega

Rene Villafranco

Rene Villafranco

“I’m humbled and grateful that the citizens of San Benito put their trust in me to be their mayor, and I will work hard and try not to disappoint them,” Sanchez said. Concerning her margin of victory, she noted, “I attribute that to my grassroots campaign. I got out with the public, visited their homes, listened to people and their concerns, and I also think that the majority of the people I met wanted a change.”

On her election as the first female mayor in San Benito, Sanchez said, “I’m very humbled to finally break that glass ceiling that used to sit here in San Benito, but I hope that I’ll be a role model for other women that are interested in public office.”

“I think my first order of business,” she added, “is to familiarize myself with the revenues of the city and the expenditures, because people ask me, ‘Where is my water increase going.’ So my first order of business is to get a thorough presentation and review of the budget to let people know where their money is being spent.”

Hector Leal

Hector Leal

Arnold Padilla

Arnold Padilla

Hernandez, who has served as Mayor of San Benito for nearly 10 years, expressed shock, saying, “I can’t believe it,” immediately after the results were announced. When asked if he would consider running again in the future, Hernandez said, “I think this would be it. I had already mentioned to my family that, win or lose, this was going to be it.”

Furthermore, Hernandez partially attributed his defeat to allegations levied against him in recent years. Specific accusations include making terroristic threats to a former City Commissioner and abuse of official capacity in the raspagate scandal, in which he was accused of circumventing the City permitting process by providing City utilities to a snowcone stand owner who operated on Hernandez’ barbershop property. Said claims have since been dismissed via a not guilty jury verdict in the first case and through the completion of a pre-trial diversion program in the second.

“Maybe what they’ve done to me in the past, the allegations, did have an impact on it (election turnout),” Hernandez said. “And, of course, she (Sanchez) did spend a lot of money – that could have been the outcome of it.”

Angel Mendez

Angel Mendez

Oscar Medrano

Oscar Medrano

Hernandez, however, expressed pride in his tenure as mayor. “I am actually very proud of what I did while I was the Mayor of the City of San Benito and had the citizens and the city of San Benito in mind all the time,” Hernandez said.

Taking the Place 1 City Commissioner race was incumbent Antonio “Tony” Gonzales over Joe F. Rodriguez, 1,212 votes to 1,036.

“I was expecting it a little closer than that,” Gonzales said. “This gentleman (Rodriguez) worked really hard. I was victorious though, and I’m very happy with that. San Benito has been very progressive with this commission we’ve had these three years. We’ve worked very [well], but politics are politics. Everybody thought I was going to win by a lot, but I was worried. The gentleman did what he had to do and I did what I had to do.”

Rodriguez, a former budget consultant and computer, mainframe, systems and pricing analyst, said he did not expect such a large turnout in his favor given that he did not accept any political contributions nor did he make many expenditures. “I believe I sent out a good message, that if you like what’s going on, don’t vote for me, but if you don’t like it, vote for me,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t put as much effort as I should have, mostly because the last few weeks my mom was ill, so I didn’t go out and campaign as much.”

Still, Rodriguez attributed his turnout to a single expense: a political advertisement seen on the San Benito News website, sbnewspaper.com.

“You don’t need a lot of money to win,” Rodriguez said. “The San Benito News web ad helped me a lot because it reached a lot of people, and it got my message out that I’ve got the experience and the knowledge to do this job.”

Pl. 2 Commissioner Rene Villafranco, though the would-be victor in his race against challenger Shirley Vega, will face a recount as he narrowly took the tally by six votes, 1,146 to 1,140.

“I’m still confident that six votes are not going to come out,” Villafranco said. “[There may be] one or two, but that’s always the case during a recount.”

“I’m very impressed and just honored that people have that much confidence in me,” Vega said of her voter turnout. “I did see some discrepancies when I was there at City Hall taking care of business. I saw elderly people walk in and they didn’t have their driver’s license, so they couldn’t vote even though they didn’t drive anymore and were very disappointed. And I understand there were some provisional votes – people that didn’t have their ID but they let them sign a waiver and let them vote. That is a cause of concern for me, so I owe it to my constituents and my supporters to request a recount.”

School board races saw two incumbents re-elected and as many challengers successful in their bids.

In the Pl. 4 race, Arnold Padilla, former City Commissioner and current executive director of the San Benito Housing Authority, defeated incumbent June Aguilera by a significant margin of 1,288 votes – 2,170 to 882.

“I’m happy about the way things turned out, and from my part I’m pleased that the constituents and all the people voting felt that they had enough confidence in me to step forward, be involved and help bring this district back to where it should be: fiscally sound with strong educational programs and successful programs for our community,” Padilla said. “I’m extremely pleased and happy with the result. We’re not going to take anything away from my opponent. I’m happy that someone that young gets involved and I really do not ever want to take away from someone wanting to get involved, but I think that what we’ve seen is a lack of experience cause some problems in that representation, and maybe the community felt that we needed someone a little more seasoned who has been involved in federal programs and understands budgets well. I believe I bring enough of that to the table to be a productive trustee.”

A visibly emotional Aguilera did not rule out running again in the future. “It’s definitely something that I’m considering,” Aguilera said. “I want to be here for the kids. If they (new board members) do anything to hurt those kids or anybody in this district or our community members, staff or anybody, then I’ll be the first one to come out and now they’ll have two Aguileras for public comment.”

Aguilera was referring to her father, Jesus “Chuy” Aguilera, who is a regular speaker during the public comments portion of regular board meetings.

Hector Leal, Pl. 5 incumbent and longtime board member, won the vote with a resounding 1,675 ballots cast in his favor to City of San Benito employee Roberto “Bobby” Benavides’ 650, Progreso teacher Rene Salinas’ 452 and U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee Joyce Aguirre’s 274.

Leal was unavailable for comment Saturday night; his son, Hector Leal Jr., said the Pl. 5 board member and photographer was shooting the local high school prom that evening.

Benavides and Salinas, though displeased with the outcome, said they enjoyed the experience of running for public office and were uncertain whether they’d consider running again.

Pl. 6 incumbent Oscar Medrano won his race against challenger Orlando “Papas” Lopez, a radiology manager, by 642 votes, 1,855 to 1,213.

“It means a lot to me,” Medrano said of his victory. “I thank all the volunteers that helped me out, my supporters and the voters of San Benito. The voters have spoken, and I just want to thank everybody for coming out to vote. We’ve got to get this district ahead. We have a lot of work to do and I want to thank everybody.”

Lopez said, “I’m very fortunate to have my family and I’ll be moving forward with them after this race. I just hope the new clan going in will do what’s right, hold people accountable and focus on the kids. So now I’ll sit down with my family to see about running again in the future.”

In what was arguably the most contested race of the school board election, Angel Mendez, a college readiness specialist, took 1,094 votes to secure a win over Pl. 7 incumbent Julian Huerta (788), former City fire chief, ex-Commissioner and retired SBCISD truancy officer Gilbert Weaver (721); and business owner Esteban “Steve” Rodriguez (453).

“I think the community wants change,” Mendez said about the vote. “They really want a stable board, and I think that the new group of individuals coming in is coming with that vision and that hope that stability comes back to the district. We’re here for our community and our kids and that’s what we’re going to be concentrating on.”

Huerta declined comment after the voting tally was announced; Rodriguez and Weaver, like Benavides and Salinas, were grateful for the opportunity to run for public office.

Votes are expected to be canvassed at the next city commission and school board meetings.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2014/05/11/2014-election-results-voters-elect-first-female-mayor-call-for-sweeping-change-on-school-board/

52 comments

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    • Selena on May 15, 2014 at 7:14 pm
    • Reply

    It is no secret that the sour grapes candidates that lost on Saturday cannot accept truth and respect the peoples voice . They are acting true to their character . They are grasping at straws , unable to walk with dignity and leave What do you not understand, dahhhh ! MOVE ON, GET A LIFE , GOODBYE , ADIOS ! San Benito wants to move forward after we clean up the mess . It will take time, but Justice prevailed and that’s the start to a good thing . Brenda , you refer to me as a Mr. Tumberlinson supporter . Dahhhh, you do know he has not been on the board in years ? I have never met the man so that assumption doesn’t merit my time nor do I give one peppercorn or a grain of salt. I think some people need to put on their big girl / boy panties and go on home . Even a dog knows when to stop chasing cars.

    • Selena on May 14, 2014 at 8:14 pm
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    I just finished see the board meeting on Channel 17. Since when is it appropriate and professional for a school board president to be wearing a wash out faded blue jean jacket and sun glasses on her head. This is not middle school and a woman in her 40’s should dress her age. I worked at service merchandise and remember we could not wear the darkest blue denim or even black denim to work there even if we were in the shipping department. If you want to be a professional dress as a professional. A hair band would look much better on the top of your head than sun glasses unless you have problems with the moonlight.

      • WeThePeople on May 15, 2014 at 8:35 am
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      She wouldn’t know ‘professional’ if it slapped her! While dressing professional she could trying acting that was as well!

    • DelaSera on May 14, 2014 at 3:21 pm
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    Saying the illianas accomplished nothing is an understatement. They accomplished a huge NEGATIVE! I dont know what the surplus fund is not but I would be interested in finding out what the fund was before they took office and what it is now after all the waste.

      • DelaSera on May 14, 2014 at 4:23 pm
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      sorry double post

    • DelaSera on May 14, 2014 at 3:18 pm
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    The previous board accomplished much, several new facilities in which state funds were used, a small amount of local funds and a bargain. Saying the illianas accomplished nothing is an understatement. They accomplished a huge NEGATIVE! I dont know what the surplus fund is not but I would be interested in finding out what the fund was before they took office and what it is now after all the waste.

    • WeThePeople on May 14, 2014 at 12:11 pm
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    Celeste not only won but put a BEAT DOWNon King Joe. According to the official precinct-by-precinct count, (thank you San Benito News for posting), Ms. Sanchez ,b>won EVERY precinct.. The other incumbents won their races by small margins. Villafranco’s race will be subject to a recount. It is clear: the times they are a changin’.
    Everyone that cares about our City should stand with our new Mayor and not accept the status quo of the ‘what’s-in-it-for-me” compadrismo politics that has persisted in San Benito for generations!

    ~~
    “The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason” – Marya Mannes
    ~~
    Come gather ’round people
    Wherever you roam
    And admit that the waters
    Around you have grown
    And accept it that soon
    You’ll be drenched to the bone
    If your time to you
    Is worth savin’
    Then you better start swimmin’
    Or you’ll sink like a stone
    For the times they are a-changin’.

    Bob Dylan

    • Get lost on May 14, 2014 at 11:18 am
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    Go Papas Go

    • Big Griff on May 14, 2014 at 6:56 am
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    BLAME OBAMA….!!!!!

    • Old Maintenance worker on May 13, 2014 at 10:21 pm
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    Olivia, Limon was never paid two salaries….He was doing both jobs for the salary of superintendent. He could of filled the personnel position, but didn’t saving the district over 90 K a year for all those years….Get your facts correct…..

    • The Negotiator on May 13, 2014 at 10:04 pm
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    You all forget Mr. Orlando Lopez wasn’t the only candidate that ran a clean race. Let’s not forget the other candidates that ran a positive campaign,kudos to them too. Mr.Steve Rodriguez, Mr. Gilbert Weaver and Mr. Rene Salinas let’s not forget Ms. Joyce Aguirre too. Their heart was in the right place, in wanting to make a positive change for SBCISD.

      • Olivia on May 14, 2014 at 8:19 am
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      I agree negotiator; however, Mr Lopez was the only candidate that was bashed all over town by his opponent thanks to Medrano, Rosie Garcia, and Anna Cruz. How sad that Anna forgets the reason why she is on the board.

      Furthermore, what’s this I hear that Medrano and Cruz want to fire certain individuals who work with the school dist because they were for Mr. Lopez. How pathetic is that! Citizens have the right to vote for whom they want to vote for without retaliation.. Get a life people! Mr. T instead of having these board members as your puppets you should run again for school board. NOT!

      I think it’s time to get the media involved.. this is RIDICULOUS!

        • Get lost on May 14, 2014 at 9:49 am
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        Olivia,
        Get lost!

        So Yliana and Chuy and their trio of puppets can do it, but Mr. T and his puppets can’t. It’s all BS. But don’t bash them if you can’t bash yours. Pathetic? Pathetic is the school board allowing Chuy to sell the district mediocre tablets (most of which don’t work anymore) and speak publicly about zorrillos.

        BREAKING:
        Yliana and Chuy and their puppets want to hold a special meeting this week so they can do last minute adjustments before they lose majority.

        ” Mr Lopez was the only candidate that was bashed all over town” I bashed him too and I am not Medrano, Garcia, or Cruz. So get your facts straight. And there is nothing wrong with bashing. Bashing, praising, ever heard of freedom of speech? Sounds like whining and sore losers to me. If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned. T, Chuy, 4, 3, new, old, I can bash em. You can bash em. You can point. I can point. If you are, be willing to take it and not just dish it. Don’t cry and complain when its dished. Pathetic!? And what’s with everyone calling this guy Mr. Lopez now? Que paso con PAPAS? No que Go Papas Go!

        drop it all already, hope for change, hope for a better future, focus on the good, not the bad, focus on the future, not the past, with what we have for now….

          • Olivia on May 14, 2014 at 10:25 am
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          @ get lost.. .do exactly what your name says… GET LOST.. no one is crying..

          WOO HOO! GO PAPAS GO!

          LOL! 🙂

    • Terry on May 13, 2014 at 5:09 pm
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    @ Bad dog, you are correct Mr. Lopez ran a very clean compaign and not once did he use durty tatics or threaten any school dist employee for a vote.

    I AM STILL AND WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT MR. LOPEZ he is a very HARD WORKING, very well educated man with family morals and class. There was no need for him to go around bashing any type of person or to threaten anyone to come out on top. We all know how T went about this race and all I can say is every dog has it’s day!

    GOOD LUCK TO THE SAN BENITO SCHOOL DIST.. I just hope they don’t end up on the same boat as Rio Hondo!

      • Get lost on May 14, 2014 at 8:18 am
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      Terry,
      GET LOST

      “Mr. Lopez ran a very clean compaign and not once did he use durty tatics or threaten any school dist employee for a vote.”

      Perhaps you are correct in saying he didn’t use “durty tatics”. He was associated with Yliana, June, Julian, Fatima, and Chuy. Therefore, he he is guilty by association of using “DIRTY TACTICS.”

      There was a “Papas” supporter a while back that posted comments about being the lesser of two evils when compared to Oscar Medrano. Both candidates can arguably be considered worthless, depending on who you ask. But as far as Mr. T goes, he is not a saint. But to quote that comment made a while back, Mr. T is “the lesser of two evils” when compared to Chuy and his squad (Yliana, June, Julian, & Fatima).

      Every dog has its day. Mr. T will have his. Chuy will have his as well. Castrated bulls seems more appropriate I would say. I mean why else would they not run for school board themselves. Why get others to do their work for them? Bull > Castrated Bull. Cheers to the bulls, winners and losers, that weren’t castrated and had a pair to run for school board. I’d take you over Mr. T and Chuy any day.

      Best of luck the new board. Doing what is right and doing what is best for the students and employees of the district, IN UNITY, are what is best for the district. See to it that it’s done.

    • Get real on May 13, 2014 at 4:52 pm
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    Typical! Always bashing their own. ( Thankfully, I am not from this crazy town!) Again, this city will never progress because of all the critics that do just that, stand and criticize and never amount to anything.
    I am neither for or against Ms. Aguilera nor any other candidate since I am not from SB. Of course June would run to her father, why wouldn’t she? Many people tend to run to their loved ones for consolation. Is that a sin? We are all human. Do you people think before you all type what you all are trying to say? And as far as Mr. Lopez, he seems like a great person and a family man who seems to want whats best for the children. I hope one day he gets elected as a school board member as he aspires to be.

      • Get lost on May 14, 2014 at 8:03 am
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      “Thankfully, I am not from this crazy town!”

      Get real,
      GET LOST!

      And tell your friend mr potatoes to go run for school board wherever it is you are from.

    • Bad Dog on May 13, 2014 at 4:11 pm
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    SB voters came out and wanted change. First of all I would like to say to Mr Orlando Lopez, thanks for running a clean race. You displayed alot of class after the results came in. You stated “oh well I tried and I lost, life goes on and now I will concentrate on my family.” I think if you would have ran a campiange by yourself you would have won…but you assoiciated yourself with the Huerta guy and Aquilera girl. Second…I saw Aquilera running away and crying to her daddy and stating “we lost daddy I can’t believe we lost.” Well not even all your daddys posters of you in your high school picture could get enough votes. Don’t worry…the board is not gonna hurt the kids as bad as you did. Finally to Mr Huerta…I saw you with a face that was in shock. You said ” I can’t believe I ended up with so little votes…I thaught we all ran together and should have had the same amount of votes.” The voters came out and showed you all that they were tired of the BS.

    • Brenda on May 13, 2014 at 3:32 pm
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    @ Selena, you mention getting the school back to how it was.. haha, the school dist has always been a mess ever since T, Medrano, Sloppy Joe, De La Fuente and Leal took over years ago. No clowns have ever been on the school board; however, there are PUPPETS on the board. Medrano ran a classy race… who are you kidding.. there is nothing classy about that man nor his bank acct (T) he is educated, professional nor do’s he know anything about being ethical. As far as the other candidates that won they too don’t know anyting about being ethical just ask Mendez.. WAIT A MINUTE! They do make a good team due to all of them being unethical starting with the man who pulls their strings MR. T.. Only time will tell, San Benito will see the true colors of new school baord and who is really running the board. As for the comment you make towards Mr. Lopez, please if you think this is humility think again… What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… always remember that!

    Selena, it seems to me that you are on the T team and you too are uneducated and try to use dirty tactics to make a point across. Grow up! BTW, where is this education that Medrano seems to have? The cert that Sandra Tumberlinson have him doesnt make him educated nor does it mean that he has a bachelors degree.

    I can’t wait to see the day that the citizens of san benito come to their senses and realize that these people elected are a JOKE to the school dist.

    Have a great day!

    • Selena on May 13, 2014 at 1:51 pm
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    The people have spoken, they were never fooled by election signs, that was a big waste of money. Kudos to Mayo you said it the best. We want to go back to the great school district we once were before these clowns got elected. Mr. Medrano thank you for running a classy race, no obnoxious signs or arrogant signs that back fired. Congratulations to the new board who are educated, professional, ethical, and well meaning people. I heard several times on Saturday people quoting “happy days are here again”. Hope to see our superintendent back and best wishes as you clean this mess. By the way clean up all those political signs that are cluttering our streets and causing traffic distractions. June take your quincy picture down, false advertising. In closing I encourage Mr. Lopez to remember humility is a beautiful virtue. Congratulations to my Comadre Celeste on her win, you go girl!!

    • Mayo on May 12, 2014 at 5:32 pm
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    The unfounded accusations that the previous board wasted funds is apparently the only defense for the illianas blatant waste of our money. What the previous board spent money on was the construction of Bobby Morrow stadium, Veteran’s memorial campus, Judge DelaFuente school, Riverside M.S., Brazil agriculture complex are what I can think of. Now the Harlingen cisd also built a ag complex, upgraded Boggus, and a 9th grade campus after The previous board did. These are great accomplishments. The illianas have only accomplished wasting funds on personal vendettas. Zero accomplishments. These are facts jacks.

      • Olivia on May 13, 2014 at 3:40 pm
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      @ Mayo, you fail to mention the thousands and thousands of dollars that were spent on Joe D Gonzalez, Benavides suing the school dist, and LImon holding two positions and getting paid two salaries. With Mr. Joe D Gonzalez they wasted money to get him out and paid him off (nothing came out of it) Benavides was another wrong move by the board at the time and he suied the school dist and they took him to court several times and nothing was ever settled another waste of money. Then we have Limon who was placed as interm super and head of HR and getting paid two salaries at the same time, another waste of money. Now you tell me if they are the brightest of the bunch? I’m not saying that Yliana has had her faults but to continue to bash her is just a shame… SHAME ON YOU!

        • gabby dlg on May 14, 2014 at 5:35 am
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        You have STILL failed to mention Yliana and her cronies’ accomplishments. What progress did they make? What did they do?? Enlighten me. Please!! As far as I can see, they did nothing but witch hunt! I’m glad their reign of terror is over!

          • OH BOY on May 14, 2014 at 12:16 pm
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          Yes Olivia please enlighten us WHAT HAS SHE DONE FOR OUR SCHOOLS ?

        • DelaSera on May 14, 2014 at 3:11 pm
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        If you are talking about Benavides, the director of maintenance who could not speak English, who needed a translator at the meeting, who broke a rule to buy a water heater without proper procedure, a favor to a local vendor at 3 or 4 times the value. Since that was a personnel issue, I dont have details but apparently there was cause. Joe D. Is a friend of mine and a good man. I also do not know why he was dismissed and I was not privy to the cause. Things happen and decisions are made and we do not have details because they are confidential. But if you have any sense at all you know that there are grievance procedures all employees have access to and must exhaust all local remedies first before going to court. So if anyone goes to court, TEA already ruled with the board. Now for your misplaced use of the word “shame”. Shame on illiana and her supporters like YOU for suspending the superintendent without cause. I am not a supporter of him but if there is not enough evidence of wrongdoing to fire him, then just let his contract expire. DO NOT PAY 2 Salaries. The previous interim even did not agree on hiring another interim, he recommended Celeste. illiana refused to do this. THis would have been an option to save some funds. Ask illiana about when she was at the polls when she yelled at two voters who happened to be small people, “I didn’t know the circus is in town.” Also ask her if she hasnt tried to get her father a promotion, and if he can speak English. If these are true, Shame placed here is proper.

          • Reform San Benito on May 14, 2014 at 8:27 pm
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          If everyone will recall, the harassment of Mr. Limon started just before he was set to preside over graduation and hand a diploma to his daughter. In their attempt to harass and annoy him, Yliana and her band of misfits suspended him just prior. In order to make their suspension appear justified…well, y’all know the rest of the story.

          I do hope the new boards’ first order of business is to reinstate him. Like you, DelaSera, I was not necessarily a supporter of Mr. Limon, but the boards’ injustice to him has made me take his side against them. Do hope they are held personally and financially responsible to him for the damage and harm they caused him.

            • WeThePeople on May 15, 2014 at 8:21 am
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            Your recall is correct RSB! And I agree, the suspension was just meant to humiliate Mr. Limon. I still believe the whole incident was a conspiracy to harm his credibility and deny him that moment. Stupid, evil people.

            ~~~
            “Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.”― Margaret Atwood, Surfacing

    • WORKIN MAN on May 12, 2014 at 1:52 pm
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    I just want to congratulate the San Benito Voters for taking action and voting this election cycle, especially as it pertains to the school board elections. I moved my family to San Benito seven years ago and was beginning to believe I had made a big mistake in having done so. Thank you citizens of San Benito for helping restore my faith in this wonderful community. The voters have spoken. I was beginning to think that the only qualification needed to become a school board member was to have a lot of friends or a lot of relatives. Thank you voters from saving your city and school from being completely ruined by the corruption of a few. I wish we had done a more thorough job at the city level, but at least we gained some ground. For the incoming Mayor. Congratulations! You got my vote. Having said that, please help us all by finding a way to fix our streets. San Benito citizens should not have worse streets than even some Mexican border towns I have visited. The poor condition of our streets has really become an embarrassment. I can only think that good streets are a reflection of good city government, whereas streets in poor condition reflect a city that is run by either unqualified or corrupt government. Just sayin.

    • CC Watcher on May 12, 2014 at 10:12 am
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    Congratulations to Mrs. Sanchez! Joe, you’re out of here! The voters have spoken and thank God. As for the school board, Aguilera out! Now, her dad will have to work to make money off the school district. Hey Gonzalez, you’re tenure ruling is coming to an end. As for Hector, well he’ll still be making money off pictures.

    • Da truth on May 11, 2014 at 10:57 pm
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    Can’t we all just get along elections has become a zoo there’s so much hate here in San Benito we need to start loving and helping each other not cutting each other’s legs for underneath us ok so u want change then the first thing is change the way we think the way we are so quick to talk down to someone for no reason I hope all the people who won do the right thing we all no San Benito needs it let’s work together not against each other open ur hearts up residents of San Benito hate will only tear u down when election time comes around I see a lot of people acting fake to get the votes don’t do that be genuine people if u no ur intentions are not good the why even get involved and this is coming from someone who didn’t even graduate ps.I LOVE YOU SAN BENITO lets do the right thing for once here

    • Cook on May 11, 2014 at 10:45 pm
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    Please somebody ban that unstable man (Chuy) from School Board meetings. He is an embarassment to society.
    The only good thing he has done for our city is put out the flags downtown on Flags Day.

    • Old Maintenance worker on May 11, 2014 at 9:25 pm
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    Fatima and Yliana 2015. Your next. Chuy should be banned from coming on to any school property. The man is unstable.

      • WeThePeople on May 11, 2014 at 10:18 pm
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      Chuy’s incessant rambling should not be allowed. He never heeds the time limit placed upon public comments and is a nuisance. Board meeting rules should be enforced and allow only 3 minutes per person, (regardless of WHO they THINK they are).
      If he doesn’t play by the rules, he needs to be BANNED from attending the meetings, PERIOD. If he gets arrested enough times, he might get the hint.
      With the elections over, it should be time to get back to business and enough already of the CIRCUS!

    • A SBCISD Students' parent on May 11, 2014 at 8:54 pm
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    To June,

    Dont be a sore loser!… And you just proved with that comment .. you are just like ur dad.. lol. PERHAPS if you had made wiser, and your own choices as a school board member and actually had WORKED FOR THE STUDENTS’ INTEREST AND NOT YOUR daddy’s pocket .. .. you might have been re-elected. Please move on lady!

    From A parent that doesnt need you or your father to fight my children’s educational rights.

      • FLASH BACK on May 13, 2014 at 9:45 am
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      EXCELLENT couldn’t of had said it better sore loser !

    • Olivia Villagomez on May 11, 2014 at 3:23 pm
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    Mayo, medrano has been wasting tax payers money for years and the only reason you haven’t hear about it is because it’s always been kept hush hush…the board members that were re-elected and elected are all part of Mr. T’s clan.. Although Mr. T isn’t on the board he will be running the show.. Good luck to San Benito school dist! Mr. Orlando Lopez I applaud you for running a clean campaign and never talking or bashing your opponent. You are a man with class and much respect to you! SBCISD will end up like Rio Hondo..

    Now it’s time to sit back and watch these school board members (T’s clan) make a mess of the dist…

    Good day!!!

    • Mayo on May 11, 2014 at 2:12 pm
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    It is disturbing to see that Aguilera thinks that she was there for the kids. She was one of the 4 responsible for wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on something other than the kids. The fruitless suspension and investigation leading to nothing. And she thinks the new majority will be worse. Her dad is a bully. People are afraid of him because he seems unstable. Just listen to how he presents himself on public comments. They have nothing to offer but contempt for any opposing them. And Pappas comment about holding people responsible. The new majority will hopefully stop the wasteful spending.

      • WeThePeople on May 11, 2014 at 6:04 pm
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      People don’t like bullies and people are sick of the circus that has become SBCISD.

    • Reform San Benito on May 11, 2014 at 1:33 pm
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    Mr. X, let’s just wait and see. While that is possible, no sense creating controversy where none exists. Who knows, maybe they will welcome working with Mayor Sanchez. One accomplishment the former mayor left us citizens when he created charter revisions, is a less stringent requirement to recall City Commissioners. One thing quite clear from yesterday’s election is that the voters demanded change. May not be too difficult to mobilize them for a recall if the Mayor encounters obstacles. Let’s just wait and see.

    In the mean time, let’s just enjoy what yesterday’s election provided us: HOPE!

    • Mr. X on May 11, 2014 at 12:15 pm
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    Interesting comment the soon-to-be ex-mayor made about the costs. Of course, we all know where his money went: towards court fees.

    However, I would like to raise a concern that the current commissioners might start to to block/table anything that Celeste puts on the agenda. I would hazard the guess that they would be loyal to Joe, and therefore try to forestall anything noteworthy, then put the blame on her as time goes by. But they cannot be that short-sighted, right? Anyone?

      • WeThePeople on May 11, 2014 at 6:01 pm
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      If you passed behind City Hall where the election results were read yesterday, you would have seen Tony, Rene and Joe D all huddled with Joe Hernandez and company. In fact, Joe D was decked out with his ‘Joe for Mayor’ T-shirt. Along with that gaggle several wannabees like Jose Morales, (chain-smoking like there was no tomorrow) were there with them.
      So, Mr. X, you assertion that the other commissioners will be anti-Celeste could be accurate. On the other hand, the public is sick of the corruption, abuse of official capacity, and being the laughing stock of South Texas.
      With a solid victory, the voters gave Celeste a mandate for change.
      Alas, Tony and Rene did not share in the new mandate and both were in close races; in fact they were almost beaten by two candidates that spent little money of their campaigns. Shirley Vega only lost by SIX votes and has stated publicly that she will ask for a recount.
      Joe D and JD Penny are up next for election next time around and had better understand there is a new day in San Benito. Citizens are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
      I drew a few conclusions from the elections:
      1) You can’t fix STUPID, but you can VOTE IT OUT!
      2) It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on political signs.
      3) Time wounds all heels.

      Time for a new era. If you didn’t vote this time, please vote the next election.

      *********************
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.-George Orwell
      *********************

        • FLASH BACK on May 12, 2014 at 10:45 am
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        For some reason Tony Gonzales reminds me of Lupe Trevino does anyone see the similarity he pretends like his son is a saint de tal palo esta la estilla
        !

          • Lori on May 12, 2014 at 7:31 pm
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          The difference is that Tony has never denied what he has or who he is. You are all pathetic bringing family into this matter when your family is probably pathetic and ignorant just like you. Instead of talking smack about Tony on this website you should have the guts to go to him and tell him to his face. You keep bringing up how it was a close race, but the fact of the matter is the WINNER is TONY GONZALES . You all are just upset that you could not get him out. I am laughing so much right now!! Green is not a pretty color on you, but I must say that we are flattered. Go ahead keep mentioning his name because he is just that fabulous and you obviously do think he is worth your breath. And you are talking about spending have you seen how much Celeste spend to win I mean come on. Really!?! FYI Tony was not born with a twin so no he is no Lupe Trevino. Besides Tony ran for the city not the title unlike Celeste who ran for the title. Have a Blessed day! 🙂

            • FLASH BACK on May 13, 2014 at 9:41 am
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            Oh my no need to get upset it was just a question and of course Lupe Trevino never denied who he was either ! No need to get so ugly lady relax and what does Celeste have to do with my comment since you brought it up I CAN ASSURE YOU THE MONEY SHE SPENT WAS EARNED BY PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR THEIR MONEY NOT LAUNDERED MONEY ! I’s only a matter of time all will come out and then the town will be laughing with you or will you be laughing is the question have a wonderful day Lori !

              • Cynthia on May 13, 2014 at 5:46 pm
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              You are one piece of work, every election that Tony has won, you seem to say the same bull over and over. Men like you are just talkers that .can’t deal with a loss. Regardless family should never be brought into it, and you sir like to play dirty, just like the a certain person that was running. You say your gonna have the last laugh, well its been 3 elections and you still can’t get Tony out and that’s because people know what a true man he is and how he’s there for the people. Tony’s life is an open book, he has nothing to hide or be ashamed of and if you think he really cares what you think or say about him, then you really don’t know him. Maybe that’s why you hide behind your your screen name instead of using your real name. I know you will be there for the swearing in and yes there will be a new mayor, but next to her will be Tony Gonzales City Commissioner for a 3rd time. May you have a wonderful day.

            • Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer on May 13, 2014 at 1:50 pm
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            Lori, please don’t interpret this as an attack on Tony but please tell me one or two things Tony himself, not the commission as a whole or the city administration, has done for the city besides the streets paved and speed bumps in LaPalma.

            What type of business background experience does he have to read and understand a complex contract or a financial audit? I think that is a fair question to ask anybody running for elected office representing the voters. He has never really advertised to the citizens of San Benito what his business or professional experience is besides a career at the post office.

            All I have read in NEWS REPORTS, not innuendo, is that he voted with the other commission members to INCREASE OUR TAXES to pave streets that are not even used by the majority of the citizens. How many citizens actually drive on north mccullough past business hwy 77 or north Travis Street?

            He also voted to give up one mile of the city’s ETJ. That is one mile of potential property taxes and user fees that are no longer available. I have never heard or read about a city giving up ETJ property. If you have please let the rest of us know.

            Any citizen or voter with an unbiased opinion will agree that it was a close race. It was decided by a little over 100 votes. So go ahead and gloat and laugh “so much right now” because the only ones who won are his financial backers.

            Just keeping the faith!

            • OH BOY on May 13, 2014 at 2:36 pm
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            Lori or Laura what ever your name is that pink lipstick is not your color either !

              • Lori on May 13, 2014 at 6:19 pm
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              “OH Boy”- obviously you can’t read it’s LORI not Laura so I think you may need to go back to school and learn the basics. LOL Oh and I look good in any color. Thank you 🙂

              Flash back – Oh you may be mistaken I am definitely not upset. How can I get upset on the outcome that I wanted. Oh and my comment was regarding other comments on here not just yours I didn’t know I had to break things down for you but I guys I should have known better.

              Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer – I understand what your saying but I am only going by what I have experienced as a tax payer. It doesn’t take a degree to be able to read a contract it takes common sense and that is what he has. I just find it kind of ignorant how people are always trying to cut someone down because he doesn’t have a degree. I mean what are you saying to future generations. I guess I have to thank my lucky stars that I had parents who taught me the value of hard work. I do have a college education but I know others who don’t and have worked hard to be where they are at now. I guess everyone was raised with different values. But I think some of you facts are wrong you may want to go up to city hall and check them. Oh I have been laughing since the last two election not just right now. I do want to thank you for keeping it about the city and not about personal issues unlike some people that have commented on this site.

              • Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer on May 19, 2014 at 11:13 pm
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              Lori, please let me know which facts I mentioned are wrong and I will follow up when I get an opportunity.
              Good Day to you!

    • TRUTH on May 11, 2014 at 12:12 pm
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    Congratulations to all winners!!

    I pray and hope that they all work together to make our home and school district a better place!!
    Let’s move forward!

    • Gilberto Villarreal on May 11, 2014 at 9:45 am
    • Reply

    Happy Mother’s Day.

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