Socorro Judicial Update

Well once again the rest of Socorro city council had to come in and fix problems started by Mayor Elia Garcia and Councilman Ralph Duran.

Last night they basically undid the little movida that was underway that many in Socorro say was just a way to funnel the judicial seat to a friend of the mayor. Whether or not that is actually try I can't say, but that is the perception around El Paso County's second-largest municipality.

Duran and the Mayor was visibly annoyed at having their plans walked back, and council avoided having to get into a potentially expensive MOU with another entity to hear the cases that would normally be heard in Socorro.

So they keep the judge that they had, who is pretty popular in Socorro and there were residents of Socorro there addressing council urging them to keep Judge Velarde. She also gets a small raise of $2,500 per year.

In an obvious attempt at saving face City Rep Duran pretended to not be aware of the fact that the amount of raise being considered was $2,500 instead of $25,000. No one believed him on council and they called him out on it.

They also called him out on the fact that he was saying it was too much money for the current judge but he was trying to get the former judge, now mayor, an even larger raise when she was the municipal judge in Socorro.

So for once, Soco appears to have triumphed over loco.

Still don't know what is happening with the case where the Mayor of Socorro is representing a resident of Socorro against the police department of Socorro. The fact that she was ever on the case has boggled the minds of lawyers here in El Paso's legal community. The fact that she is still on the case, many attorneys have said, could be ethically problematic for her legal career.