Did Quintanilla Get "Caught Red-Handed"?
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Perez's press statement (shown below in its entirety) indicates that Quintanilla reported a more than $400 meal expenditure for Cattleman's Steakhouse as "volunteer's food / beverages" on his campaign finance report.
Paying for meals and beverages for campaign volunteers is probably the most common campaign expense next to paper. All campaigns pay for food. But most of the time when they pay for food its something inexpensive that can feed a lot of people like pizza, tamales, sweet bread, burritos, etc. I don't recall seeing too many campaigns take their volunteers out to Cattleman's and spending more than $400.
However the Perez campaign goes on to state that Quintanilla's Cattleman's expenditure was actually for a birthday celebration for his wife and family. Perez claims that use of campaign funds for personal use violates the states campaign finance laws.
Perez says, "This is not the first time Representative Quintanilla's actions have raised questions about his ethics...Following the arrest of Commissioner Willie Gandara, our community is in desperate need of strong and ethical representation. I hope voters will reject Quintanilla's unethical pattern of behavior and put an end to the cycle of failed leadership in Precinct 3, where politicians have selfishly used public office for their own personal gain, not the public good."
Quintanilla is going to have a hard time explaining Perez' latest critique away considering the Perez campaign attached a screen shot of an actual Facebook post of a Quintanilla family member's photo of the event that has the caption "celebrating mama's birthday".
If a family member is stating that its a celebration of Gracie Quintanilla's birthday, its going to really make it difficult for Representative Quintanilla to justify the expenditure as campaign expense for volunteers.
Ironically, Gracie Quintanilla is actually listed as his campaign treasurer.
The statement then goes on to list several of the allegations of unethical behavior Perez levels against Quintanilla including sending out calendars at tax-payer expense to people outside of his State House District, raffling off of cash to prospective voters, and seeking of an additional tax-payer funded pension.
Interestingly at a meeting of the Eastside Democrats earlier this month Representative Quintanilla took that issue head on stating that he earned his pensions and that he only made $600 a month as a State Representative.
Ironically I saw him drive away from that meeting in a Lexus sedan.
Below is the Perez statement in his entirety:
Chente Cattleman's
Rose, I realize you and Dora haven't gotten over the loss and probably never will. I know its probably hard because Vince wasn't supposed to beat two of the three valley candidates. But lets face facts, he did.
ReplyDeleteVince pointed out what he believes to be a violation of the law. Was he supposed to turn a blind eye? Hasn't the valley had too much of that?
Frankly I don't understand where all the crying from valley candidates is coming from all of a sudden about negative campaigning. The valley is NOTORIOUS for DIRTY campaigning.
And Vince might have a negative campaign message about his opponents, which I think is more a reflection of the state of affairs down in the valley, but its not dirty. Some of the people who have been candidates in the race I have PERSONALLY seen engage in dirty campaigning. Personal attacks. Chisme. You know the deal Rosie.
Hell, you know the candidates that have done it.
And now all of a sudden they have think skin for an issue-based criticism. I've heard both Dora and Chente both complain about "personal" attacks. Name one criticism from Perez that was aimed at either of them that wasn't issue-based.
Just one.
Interesting comment. I guess it depends on what you consider the valley. But since you clearly don't know, most of the residents in the district live in metro areas Marie.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't even get me started on how few people even care enough about what happens in their community to even vote.
As to your comment about "woody", its pretty funny. Not the first time anyone has heard it, but the fact that you mention his appearance rather than an actual argument leaves me to believe you don't have an actual argument. I don't like the personal stuff. For example I hate when I hear people mock Chente for his weight and say stuff like Chente the Hutt. I think its mean and it has no place in an intelligent discussion about issues.
I think its interesting that you told him to get his facts straight. From the press release it looks like he provided actual documentation of his claims. Sounds like getting the facts straight to me.
And in terms of Tornillo, its pretty well known that in Chente's own back yard, he seems to have a problem getting along with people there. Lucky for him, he won 70% of the few votes out in Tornillo.
Now I would be remiss if I didn't answer your central question about what he has or has not said about what he would do for the valley. From the first day he announced his candidacy Perez talked about ending corruption and holding people accountable. Frankly I think those are the two most important issues in the entire county. If you think differently I would love to hear what you think is more important.