County attorney race goes digital

David Montero

Feb. 9, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Replay live forum with county attorney candidates Jo Anne Bernal and Theresa Caballero.

EL PASO -- The setting was novel, but the subjects were fairly familiar as two Democratic candidates for county attorney debated online at the El Paso Times building Monday.

Theresa Caballero, the challenger, zeroed in on reform repeatedly -- charging the county was operating a "slush fund" and that "cronyism, favoritism and nepotism" have been the norm for the past 16 years.

"The corruption at the county has been allowed to flourish unchecked," she said. "I have been fighting the corruption for many years as a private citizen and as a lawyer in the courtroom. I want to bring good change from inside county government."

Incumbent Jo Anne Bernal painted Caballero as a "single-issue candidate" who was unable to speak to the broad issues and responsibilities required to run the county attorney's office on a daily

basis.

"She has never explained how she will serve the community. She has never mentioned domestic violence victims or victims of crime," Bernal said. "She recently acknowledged in a forum that she did not even know about the (county attorney's) Teen Court program and how it operates."

The debate, which lasted for an hour, featured both women in adjacent rooms where they couldn't see each other. The questions came from the staff at the paper, as well as from readers.

Both candidates were given two minutes to type their answers, which were then streamed online at the paper's Web site. Bernal typed her own answers while Caballero dictated hers to a Times staffer.

Budget issues were highlighted early.

Bernal said, if faced with tough budget cuts, she'd have to carve from training and education of peace officers, social workers, educators and teachers.

"I would, however, maximize use of discretionary funds to save taxpayer dollars and fulfill my responsibilities, such as occurred with the hiring of a lawyer to prosecute the corruption suit," she said.

Caballero countered by saying it was wrong to hire a lawyer at $90,000 a year during a countywide hiring freeze and that the money instead should have been spread around to plug other budget holes in the general fund.

"The slush fund the county attorney used to hire her friend in the middle of a hiring freeze that was not subject to county commissioners' oversight," Caballero said.

The lawyer in question, Michael Wyatt, was hired by former County Attorney Jose Rodriguez, who stepped down to run for a state Senate seat. The county commission launched an ethics probe into the matter, charging he was hired through cronyism. The investigation is ongoing.

But Rodriguez has stated the money for the hire came from a state special prosecutors fund he hadn't used before and the salary didn't come from the county budget.

The County Attorney's office has a budget of $7.7 million and a staff of 39 attorneys who act on legal issues ranging from domestic violence to offering legal counsel to a variety of government agencies.

Controversial El Paso County Medical Examiner Paul Shrode also came up, with Caballero saying she would recommend as county attorney that the Commissioners Court fire him for lying on his resume and lying on the stand.

"In my role as a prosecutor, I will not use him as a witness because he is a liar, and it would be unethical for me to put him on the stand," she said.

But Bernal countered by saying Shrode can only be fired by the Commissioners Court, which has chosen not to. Bernal also said Shrode is qualified to testify according to the district attorney's office and that "numerous courts" have shared that view.

"My opponent's failure to use the (medical examiner) will result in an added expense to the taxpayer which we can ill afford," Bernal said. "I will not impose added burdens to the taxpayer."

The entire transcript of Monday's debate can be seen at www.elpasotimes.com.

David Montero may be reached at dmontero@elpasotimes.com; 546-6249.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0478-41901158