Cassandra Hernandez in Major Conflict of Interest

Word around the campfire is that the PD Union is going out for a ballot initiative, similar to what the Fire Department did a couple years ago. And thanks to a document that was leaked to the media, the boyfriend and would-be political consultant of a city representative is likely benefitting greatly from the leak.

The real story here is the alleged source of the leak. I don’t think any laws were broken, but it is likely ethically bad. I'll get to that in a minute.

We have the same number of PD on the streets now that we have had for years, so I'm generally supportive of the idea of taking something out to the voters to approve and its smart to get someone to help them pass it.

Multiple sources indicate that Jeremy Jordan is working for the Municipal Police Officer's Association. His work with any entity that does business with, or has items in front of the City of El Paso, is a major conflict for his current girlfriend, City Representative Cassandra Hernandez.

And it may have already been a major breech of public trust on the part of Hernandez, allegedly. According to sources, the document literally has Rep Hernandez's name all over it. The document I'm talking about is Tommy Gonzalez's contract. If you've seen news stories lately a copy of the City Manager’s draft contract was leaked to the media and sources indicate that the only people who had copies of the draft agreement were members of council. Their copies allegedly contained a watermark that was specific to each member of council.

The leak likely has major financial implications to tax payers. The public disclosure of the document, while PD’s contract is still on the table, made public issues that will impact the PD contract.

So if what my sources says is accurate - that the leaked document has Hernandez’ name on it - then there are serious questions as to why it was leaked. That contract contains information that Jordan wouldn’t otherwise have access to, nor any other member of the public.

If it wasn’t coordinated, it was extremely coincidental and at the very least conflicts Hernandez out of negotiations with the PD union.

Normally who someone is dating is really no one’s business and doesn’t impact policy. But it is a different story when the significant other is involved with political work or work that ultimately comes before council. The two have been dating for several months now and he accompanies her to high profile public events - most recently riding together in the Sun Bowl Parade on Thanksgiving.

She takes him to pretty much all city functions. He banks on that relationship and its his political currency. So any vote relating to this issue is now going to be up for scrutiny, which is why the guys at the union should look to find someone that doesn't have those ties and restraints, but can still get their item passed.

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Bad Ties for PD Unions

I can tell you right now, Jordan doesn't have the skill set to pass a citywide initiative. Also, if you're the PD union, you can't have your item being quarterbacked by someone who was fired follow an arrest for Domestic Violence a few years ago involving his now ex-wife and then have multiple Orders of Protection, sought against him by the same individual.

That just flat out looks terrible for the PD union and puts the city rep in a bad position as well.