At tonight's meeting of the El Paso Democratic Party Executive Committee there was a punitive effort spearheaded by Dr. Anna Perez to remove El Paso County Democratic Party Treasurer Michael Apodaca.
Apodaca is a prominent member of the El Paso Democratic Party and has long been the workhorse of the party taking on the task of ensuring that the Party adheres to established laws, rules and procedures.
He was assailed tonight by a minority in the El Paso Democratic Party who were upset at the fact that their candidate of choice, Tony Quintanilla, lost in court.
The majority of the El Paso Democratic Party confirmed their faith in Apodaca and the effort spearheaded by Dr. Anna Perez, lost.
The reality is that all of this was one big transa by certain members of the Party. I'll outline all the details of who and what was done but the short of it is that Mike Apodaca was targeted by some people in the Party with an agenda because he did the right thing.
Its a terrible message but its the truth. They are mad because Mike did the right thing when it was easy to do the wrong thing.
He showed character.
I realize that is a fucking foreign concept to far too many in the local Democratic party but its the truth.
Before I go further let me explain something. The fact that I even have to write about Mike Apodaca shows exactly how bad of a state the El Paso Democratic Party is in. Chairman Maya stated on the record that there were no major problems but I respectfully disagree.
Apodaca is a prominent member of the El Paso Democratic Party and has long been the workhorse of the party taking on the task of ensuring that the Party adheres to established laws, rules and procedures.
He was assailed tonight by a minority in the El Paso Democratic Party who were upset at the fact that their candidate of choice, Tony Quintanilla, lost in court.
The majority of the El Paso Democratic Party confirmed their faith in Apodaca and the effort spearheaded by Dr. Anna Perez, lost.
The reality is that all of this was one big transa by certain members of the Party. I'll outline all the details of who and what was done but the short of it is that Mike Apodaca was targeted by some people in the Party with an agenda because he did the right thing.
Its a terrible message but its the truth. They are mad because Mike did the right thing when it was easy to do the wrong thing.
He showed character.
I realize that is a fucking foreign concept to far too many in the local Democratic party but its the truth.
Before I go further let me explain something. The fact that I even have to write about Mike Apodaca shows exactly how bad of a state the El Paso Democratic Party is in. Chairman Maya stated on the record that there were no major problems but I respectfully disagree.
Anytime the Chairman ends a meeting with the phrase "Don't fuck with me." its not an indicator of a healthy Democratic Party.
Chairman Maya has been taken advantage of. He hasn't been in charge of the day-to-day operations of the El Paso Democratic Party for over a year because of his health. He has only been to handful of meetings and when he does go, he doesn't run the meetings.
Tonight's meeting was the first meeting he's actively presided over in a long time. Its usually been Michael Apodaca and Iliana Holguin running the show.
Let me be very clear about something. No one in El Paso County, regardless of their age, has done more to elect Democrats and advance the cause of the El Paso Democratic Party than Mike Apodaca. Most of the people that were at the meeting tonight are "social Democrats". The are people that go to the monthly CEC meeting and their respective club meetings that are mostly social and give them something to do other than bingo night or dinner at Furr's. I can count on one hand the number of people that were in that room that actually WORK to elect Democrats.
You see they like the part of going to meetings where they eat free food, or going to events were they can be seen and drink free beer, but when it comes time to actually make phone calls, knock on doors, or solicit donations, most of the people in that room disappear.
Mike is a work hose.
Mike is the kind of guy that my pop would've loved to have for a son.
Because he's a god-damn work horse.
He's never the first one there because he's habitually late, but he's always the last to leave. I've known the vato and worked side-by-side on campaigns with him, and been on opposing campaigns against him, for at least a decade. We have spent many a late hour working on VAN and cracking jokes at one-another's expense.
Apodaca is the one and only person in the entire county that I think has actually knocked on more doors of voters than I have. There are only three other people in town that I ever consider consulting when it comes to a campaign or political question I might have. In short, Mike knows his shit and works harder than everyone in that room.
Most especially Rosemary Martinez. She was the lady that was quick to jump in front of the camera for a little attention but I've never seen her do a damn thing for a Democrat in this town.
There never should have been a vote against Mike tonight. He deserves better than that. It was just a bunch of bitter old people who have never done shit for the Party or a Democrat other than attend a Tejano meeting.
And to be clear, I mean people like Dr. Ana Perez.
Here's a picture of Dr. Perez earlier tonight that I stole from Don Williams. This is her reading some hate mail from her close friend Othon Medina about Apodaca at the meeting tonight.
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What Dr. Ana Perez and Othon Medina and crew are upset about is the fact that their candidate lost and they blame Apodaca for essentially doing the right thing.
When Quintanilla signed up to run for office his change of voter registration wasn't effective yet.
Commissioner Perez sent a letter informing the Party that he didn't meet the requirements.
So Apodaca sent an email to the Secretary of State's Office to inquire about several questions the Party had that arose due to the letter sent to them by incumbent County Commissioner Vince Perez.
That communication is public because it was sent to the Secretary of State's Office. The Secretary of State does not represent the El Paso Democratic Party in legal matters so it was not protected communication.
Here is an excerpt of Apodaca's request for information from the Secretary of State's Office.
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Apodaca went on to ask this specific question about Quintanilla and the Secretary of State's answer follows:
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Read the answer again slowly. The Secretary of State's Office VERY CLEARLY explains the almost comical inquiry by the party regarding location. The reason the inquiry was even made was at the behest of some members of the Party that had a vested interesting seeing that Quintanilla make it on the ballot.
So before responding to Commissioner Perez, the Party was already told by the authoritative voice on the issue that Quintanilla had to live within the confines of Precinct 3. Are there any of you reading this that interprets the answer from the Secretary of State differently?
And this is the email that has certain voices in the party upset. Because communication that was a public document that indicated that the opponent was ineligible to be a candidate because of his registration was acquired by Commissioner Perez.
And because of this, people who haven't knocked on as many doors or made as many phone calls as Apodaca has in a run-off election has in their entire lives like Dr. Ana Perez, Othon Medina, and Rosemary Martinez are calling for his removal.
The Party was presented with a document that showed that Quintanilla wasn't eligible, an inquiry was made at the state level that showed Quintanilla was ineligible and the Party knew they were wrong before they declared Quintanilla eligible and yet declared him eligible anyway and Mike's the bad guy?
He did what was right because it was the right thing to do. And oh by the way, the Party was going to get sued either way. If they ruled against Quintanilla he would've filed suit too.
This effort to make the hardest working man in the Democratic Party - who I've seen do everything from sweep the floors to file financial reports for the Party - the bad guy is an embarrassment to the work he's done.
These kinds of transas are what turns people away from the El Paso Democratic Party.
Tomorrow morning I will show you the connection and interest these members of the Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats have to this story and their possible movidas.
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Stay tuned, it gets much worse.
Chairman Maya has been taken advantage of. He hasn't been in charge of the day-to-day operations of the El Paso Democratic Party for over a year because of his health. He has only been to handful of meetings and when he does go, he doesn't run the meetings.
Tonight's meeting was the first meeting he's actively presided over in a long time. Its usually been Michael Apodaca and Iliana Holguin running the show.
Let me be very clear about something. No one in El Paso County, regardless of their age, has done more to elect Democrats and advance the cause of the El Paso Democratic Party than Mike Apodaca. Most of the people that were at the meeting tonight are "social Democrats". The are people that go to the monthly CEC meeting and their respective club meetings that are mostly social and give them something to do other than bingo night or dinner at Furr's. I can count on one hand the number of people that were in that room that actually WORK to elect Democrats.
You see they like the part of going to meetings where they eat free food, or going to events were they can be seen and drink free beer, but when it comes time to actually make phone calls, knock on doors, or solicit donations, most of the people in that room disappear.
Mike is a work hose.
Mike is the kind of guy that my pop would've loved to have for a son.
Because he's a god-damn work horse.
He's never the first one there because he's habitually late, but he's always the last to leave. I've known the vato and worked side-by-side on campaigns with him, and been on opposing campaigns against him, for at least a decade. We have spent many a late hour working on VAN and cracking jokes at one-another's expense.
Apodaca is the one and only person in the entire county that I think has actually knocked on more doors of voters than I have. There are only three other people in town that I ever consider consulting when it comes to a campaign or political question I might have. In short, Mike knows his shit and works harder than everyone in that room.
Most especially Rosemary Martinez. She was the lady that was quick to jump in front of the camera for a little attention but I've never seen her do a damn thing for a Democrat in this town.
There never should have been a vote against Mike tonight. He deserves better than that. It was just a bunch of bitter old people who have never done shit for the Party or a Democrat other than attend a Tejano meeting.
And to be clear, I mean people like Dr. Ana Perez.
Here's a picture of Dr. Perez earlier tonight that I stole from Don Williams. This is her reading some hate mail from her close friend Othon Medina about Apodaca at the meeting tonight.
When Quintanilla signed up to run for office his change of voter registration wasn't effective yet.
Commissioner Perez sent a letter informing the Party that he didn't meet the requirements.
So Apodaca sent an email to the Secretary of State's Office to inquire about several questions the Party had that arose due to the letter sent to them by incumbent County Commissioner Vince Perez.
That communication is public because it was sent to the Secretary of State's Office. The Secretary of State does not represent the El Paso Democratic Party in legal matters so it was not protected communication.
Here is an excerpt of Apodaca's request for information from the Secretary of State's Office.
Apodaca went on to ask this specific question about Quintanilla and the Secretary of State's answer follows:
Read the answer again slowly. The Secretary of State's Office VERY CLEARLY explains the almost comical inquiry by the party regarding location. The reason the inquiry was even made was at the behest of some members of the Party that had a vested interesting seeing that Quintanilla make it on the ballot.
So before responding to Commissioner Perez, the Party was already told by the authoritative voice on the issue that Quintanilla had to live within the confines of Precinct 3. Are there any of you reading this that interprets the answer from the Secretary of State differently?
And this is the email that has certain voices in the party upset. Because communication that was a public document that indicated that the opponent was ineligible to be a candidate because of his registration was acquired by Commissioner Perez.
And because of this, people who haven't knocked on as many doors or made as many phone calls as Apodaca has in a run-off election has in their entire lives like Dr. Ana Perez, Othon Medina, and Rosemary Martinez are calling for his removal.
The Party was presented with a document that showed that Quintanilla wasn't eligible, an inquiry was made at the state level that showed Quintanilla was ineligible and the Party knew they were wrong before they declared Quintanilla eligible and yet declared him eligible anyway and Mike's the bad guy?
He did what was right because it was the right thing to do. And oh by the way, the Party was going to get sued either way. If they ruled against Quintanilla he would've filed suit too.
This effort to make the hardest working man in the Democratic Party - who I've seen do everything from sweep the floors to file financial reports for the Party - the bad guy is an embarrassment to the work he's done.
These kinds of transas are what turns people away from the El Paso Democratic Party.
Tomorrow morning I will show you the connection and interest these members of the Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats have to this story and their possible movidas.
Stay tuned, it gets much worse.