It is campaign season and the candidates were required to submit their July 15 finance reports by yesterday, covering the period from January 1 through June 30.
City Rep. Cassandra Hernandez, who is running for Mayor, submitted her report on time but it is missing tens of thousands of dollars worth of contributions and loans.
City reps are supposed to report major contributions on City Council agendas in the interest of transparency.
Hernandez reported on the July 2 agenda (public record on June 27) under item 21 that her campaign was loaned $35,000 but this is totally absent from her July 15 report. She grossly understates the principle from her outstanding loans.
Contributions from Scott & Hulse, P.C. PAC ($1,000), Pablo Duran ($2,000), and Heidi Avedician ($500) are also missing.
And what about the $4,000 she reported under item 10 of the June 4 agenda?
And what about the $1,500 she reported under item 13 of the May 7 agenda?
And what about the $4,200 she reported under item 21 of the April 9 agenda?
And what about the $1,000 that Bettina Olivares reported she contributed on June 30?
In fact, Hernandez reported only one contribution on her July 15 report: $1,500 from the El Paso Municipal Police Officers’ Association.
Her report states that her total expenditures for the six-month reporting period were only $1,302. Does she expect us to believe that?
Why is Hernandez flagrantly violating the rules and disrespecting the media and general public, who have every right to know who is backing her?
We hope our local media will wake up and take a close look at her report because we are talking about multiple ethics violations, from a politician who has already been reprimanded for her egregious behavior.