Monday, February 22, 2010

The burning truth #1: Theresa Caballero is lying

Campaign Update Sunday February 21, 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters:

All the campaign news is good. I am happy to announce that today I received the El Paso Times Endorsement. I believe that this is an acknowledgment of the great work of the County Attorney's Office. With this last endorsement I believe that I received every endorsement made except one.

But this race is not over, this is where the campaign must kick into high gear to bring a victory home. Voter turnout is lower than expected so please contact your friends and family and remind them to vote.

Early Voting Sites:
Thank you to all the great volunteers who helped this week with the early voting sites and thanks to Gabriella and Danny for delivering food and supplies to all the volunteers. There are five days left for early voting and we still need volunteers to help with the polls. Next week, from Monday through Friday the polls will be open from 7 to 7. If you or someone you know can help, even for a couple of hours, please contact Gabriella at 920-8223 and she will assign you to a polling site. We especially need help next Thursday and Friday when we expect voting to be heaviest.

Phone Banking:
After early voting we will end our campaign activities with sign holding and sign holding. On Saturday February 27, 2010 we hope to have a strong phone banking effort reminding people to vote on Election Day. Please come by 911 Dallas to help make calls from 10:00 to 1:00. On Sunday February 28, 2010 we will be holding signs at a couple of locations to be determined.

Election Day:
Election Day is March 2, and we will be trying to cover as many precincts as possible. Many of you have signed up for election day but if you haven't and would like to help please let Gabriella know and she will assign you a precinct. You can come by on Saturday at 911 Dallas at 10:00 to pick up a T-shirt (if you don't already have one because supplies are low) and material for Election Day.

Negative Campaigning:

My opponent has taken her negative campaigning to a new low by leveling accusations that are both false and ludicrous. Although it is hard to remain positive sometimes, I want to win this election on my merit and not by going into the gutter. I remain confident that voters will see her campaign for what it is - a desperate attempt by a bitter opponent to win at any cost, even if it means misleading the voters. I won't be a part of it. Please help me spread the truth.

Election Night Party:

We will be gathering at Jaxson's on Airways to watch the election night results beginning at 6:00 p.m. Hope to see you there. We have been through a tough campaign and we are near the end. Please join me for one more week as we work to make victory a reality.

My deepest thanks for all the hard work you have already given - the coffees, the phone banking, the walking, the financial contributions, the poll sitting - and your moral support.

Best wishes,

Jo Anne Bernal

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Early voting starts - Endorsements

Dear Friends and Supporters:

As election time draws near, I want to share with you a complete list of endorsements that I have received. I am very grateful for each and every endorsement, but, truly, your personal endorsement to your friends and family is often the most important. Please help me start an email endorsement chain across the county with your name as the main endorser and a reminder to vote! I am humbly asking you to forward to your friends and family your own email endorsement. Here are the organizations that have endorsed my candidacy:

El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association
El Paso County Sheriff's Association
El Paso Firefighters Association Local 51
El Paso Central Labor Union
El Paso County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #97
WoPac - The Women's Political Action Committee
Black El Paso Democrats
El Paso Tejano Democrats
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union, Local 583
Laborers International Union of North America, Local Union, No. 16
The Greater El Paso Association of Realtors
Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 49
The Mexican-American Bar Association (MABA)

Additionally, I have just been informed that I received the most votes in the El Paso Bar Association poll (although the Bar does not do endorsements). With your e-mail endorsement, we can reach thousands of voters one last time before voting begins. Thank you for your continued support.

Jo Anne Bernal
County Attorney

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Combined El Paso Public Safety Coalition endorse Jo Anne Bernal For County Attorney


Today the Combined El Paso Public Safety Coalition endorsed Jo Anne Bernal for County Attorney. Bellow a transcription of the press release issued to the media this afternoon.

Community Safety At Risk
Unless Jo Anne Bernal Elected to County Attorney


Public Safety PACs Announce Candidate Endorsement

Media Conference

When: Today, Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Where: 747 E. San Antonio, Suite 103, EPMPOA Board Room

The Combined El Paso Public Safety Coalition:

El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association
El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association
El Paso Firefighters Association Local 51

The Combined El Paso Public Safety Coalition is publicly endorsing Jo Anne Bernal for County Attorney and ask for the voters support in electing her.

El Paso is the second safest city of its size. Much of this success is due to a strong and healthy partnership between the public, elected officials, law enforcement, the district attorney and the county attorney. In order to keep this community safe, we need a County Attorney who is ethical, courageous, dedicated and willing to work with law enforcement. It is for these reasons that we endorse Jo Anne Bernal for County Attorney. Her long standing commitment to public safety is in sharp contrast to her opponent’s relentless attacks on law enforcement and her inability to work well with others.

Problem Solving.
Under Jo Anne Bernal’s leadership, the County Attorney’s office can be counted on to work with law enforcement to solve crime issues that plague neighborhoods. Jo Anne Bernal has spearheaded anti-graffiti measures in the County. Jo Anne Bernal worked cooperatively with the El Paso Police Department to pursue gang injunctions in Segundo Barrio and Northeast El Paso in order to protect these neighborhoods from violent criminal organizations. In contrast, her opponent has defended members of the Bloods named in the injunction and has called the injunctions “unconstitutional.”

Collaboration. In partnership with Jo Anne Bernal, law enforcement and the County Attorney’s office has worked together tirelessly to prosecute offenders and protect victims. The County Attorney’s office has aggressively prosecuted serious juvenile crimes and initiated successful Teen Court programs in local school districts. In contrast, her opponent has worked tirelessly to prosecute law enforcement, using the courts and thousands of tax payer dollars to wage a personal war against law enforcement.

Trust and integrity. Jo Anne Bernal is a well respected lawyer whose legal counsel can be depended upon. Under her leadership, the County Attorney’s office has an enviable record of wins in the courtroom. In contrast, her opponent has had personal disputes with many judges and as a result cannot practice in the 65th District Court (the 65th District Court handles one third of all family violence protective order cases) and in the 388th District Court (the 388th handles one third of all family violence protective order cases). Her opponent is facing possible suspension of practice in the 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals where the County has several cases every year.

It is for these reasons that we believe that unless El Pasoans elect Jo Anne Bernal for County Attorney, the critical working relationships between the public, law enforcement, the District Attorney and the County Attorney will be harmed and the public’s safety will be put at risk.


For more information, contact:

Ron Martin
EPMPOA President
(915) 256-7822

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Campaign Update February 1, 2010

Dear Friend and Supporters:

We are down to the wire! There are four weeks to the primary election and two weeks left until the first vote is cast. Your support and hard work has been tremendous and I truly appreciate it.

WALKING: We are on target to meet our goal, but we are not done yet! I am hoping that this next weekend will be our biggest walk yet. We need everyone to show up, and bring a friend. What a message we will send to the community if we can have the city blanketed with our volunteers. We will be meeting at one location, at 10:00 in central El Paso for everyone's convenience and so that we can all gather together. The location is Display Services Inc., 821 North Raynor. This is where we met when we distributed the large 4 x 4 signs. You can park across the street in the Alamo Ballroom parking lot. Please let me know if you can make it and how many people you will be bringing with you, so that we can be sure to have enough refreshments. After Saturday, we have only one more Saturday to walk.

PHONE BANKING: We have also started our phone banking. For those that would like to phone bank during the week, please contact my sister, Judy Austin at djaustinaf@yahoo.com and she can get you a packet. If you would prefer to phone bank on Saturday, the AFSME union is sponsoring a phone bank at 911 Dallas. Just bring your phone and your phone charger. We had several volunteers there this past Saturday and they were able to reach a lot of voters. If you do plan to phone bank Saturday, please join us anyway on Saturday morning so you can participate in our little rally!

FUNDRAISER: We have a fundraiser scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, details to be announced. Please make plans to join us. More details to come.

FORUMS: There are still lots of forums scheduled but the big one is the East Side Civic Association, this Thursday on the East Side at YISD central office. Your attendance makes a huge difference and makes a strong showing of support. Please join me on Thursday at 7:00

YARD SIGNS: We now have yard signs!! We will have yard signs with us on Saturday so you can pick some up when you get there. If you need signs before Saturday, please contact either Manny Romero (920-0857) or Ralph Girvin (356-8114) and they may be able to make arrangements to get signs to you.

EARLY VOTING AND ELECTION DAY ACTIVITIES: Gabriella Edwards-Holguin has graciously volunteered to coordinate polling site coverage for early voting. We need volunteers to cover the polling sites and mobile voting sites for early voting, which is February 16 thru the 26th. There are 12 permanent early voting sites and 4 mobile voting sites. For those who may be willing to take some vacation time to volunteer, please contact Gabriella at 920-8223 so that she can make a schedule. The more volunteers we have, the more polling sites we can cover!

Gabriella has also agreed to coordinate polling site coverage for the election on March 2. There over 140 different precincts in this County. We want to cover as many as possible. Please contact Gabriella if you can volunteer on election day.

Finally, the first mailer was sent on Friday and most people received it Saturday or today. Our commercials start in English tomorrow and will air in Spanish by the end of the week.

Thank you to everyone again. We will win this together!

Jo Anne

Monday, February 1, 2010

Caballero rebuked by U.S. appeals court

Caballero rebuked by U.S. appeals court
2/1/2010 By Timothy Roberts/ El Paso Inc.
Theresa Caballero, a candidate for El Paso county attorney, was so busy late last year that it slipped her mind to process the appeal of a 25-year-old Mexican man she had represented against charges that he had attempted to enter the United States illegally.

As a result, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has removed her from the case and is considering suspending her from practicing in the Appeals Court for one year and notifying the State Bar of Texas “of her failings in this case.”

Caballero has admitted her error and has asked the court not to suspend her.

The defendant, Pedro Villa-Campos, was charged with using false documents to enter the U.S. at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry on Feb. 21.

According to records in U.S. District Court, he pleaded guilty to the charge less than a month later and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Last Aug. 7, Caballero filed an appeal to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

And that was that.

According to an order issued by chief Judge Edith Jones Dec. 29, “After filing the notice of appeal, she has taken no steps to see that the appeal proceeds.”

Judge Jones said that Caballero should have ordered transcripts of the case and has not responded when the clerk’s office inquired to her “delinquencies.”

“This has caused processing of the appeal to come to a standstill,” Judge Jones wrote in her order. “The court cannot tolerate this kind of delay, particularly in a criminal case.”

The judge gave Caballero 15 days to respond. She was four days late in replying.

“I’ve been out of the office for many, many days,” she wrote the court. She cited her busy fall schedule. She tried an aggravated sexual assault of a child case in September, a capital murder case in October, and an Army court martial in November, she wrote.

In addition, a close family member had serious health problems, “which necessitated days away from the office and my spending nights at the hospital.”

And then there was the campaign.

“I am also currently running for political office and am involved in a highly contested campaign for El Paso County Attorney,” Caballero wrote to Judge Jones.

But Caballero goes on admit that she was wrong not to follow up on the appeal.

“I accept full responsibility for all this and acknowledge that this is all my fault,” she wrote. “I will do whatever is necessary to rectify this.”

In a telephone interview with El Paso Inc., Caballero said she had addressed her errors.
“I take full responsibility for my mistake,” she said.

In the March 2 Democratic primary, Caballero is challenging Jo Anne Bernal, the current county attorney. There is no Republican on the ballot.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Dear Friends,

Thank you to all of you who have committed to walking this Saturday January 23. Let's hope for good weather. Unless conditions are unbearable, we plan on being out there. Here are some final details about our walking on Saturday:

Time: 10:00

Where: Eastside Walkers: Home of Gabriella Edwards-Holguin
3204 Kirkwall (off of Mcrae, if coming from freeway
turn left on on Lockerbie and right on Kirkwall)
920-8223

Westside Walkers: Michael Alvarez Home
1016 Upson
(exit Porfirio Diaz and go down to Yandell, turn
right on Yandell and Right on Upson)
731-2923

I will be appearing at 2 different forums on Saturday morning but everything will be ready for you when you arrive. Thanks again.

Best wishes,
Jo Anne Bernal