Officials: Mayor's indictment hurts city
BROWNSVILLE - Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. acknowledges that his indictment doesn't look good for the city.
"It hurts the city," Ahumada said of a three-count indictment on charges of theft, abuse of official capacity and misapplication of fiduciary property.
But Ahumada said his plan to deflect the possible harm to Brownsville is to "continue to be the leader that I am."
Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said an indictment of a public official has ramifications beyond the official. But he added that an indictment is only an allegation and that the mayor needs to be given the opportunity to defend himself.
"Indictments have a very, very bad and ugly sound to them. Some people automatically think that someone is guilty and it is unfortunate. But that is the way it is," Cascos said.
Cascos said that the relationship between the city and county government should not be affected in any way.
"But the bigger story here is the perception that one gets when someone has been indicted. We've had several county elected officials indicted and that impacted the county negatively because it affects all elected officials," the county judge said.
The mayor's indictment "taints the whole City Commission, not just one individual. They act as a commission. The quicker this is out of the way and put to rest, one way or another, the better for everyone," Cascos added.
Recently addressing the availability of a jury pool, District Attorney Armando Villalobos said that there are a lot of people in Cameron County who are oblivious to the charges against the mayor.
"You are going to have a lot of people who really don't know what is going on or really don't care because they are from other cities. It's amazing, here in Brownsville, wherever I go - I go to gas up, and they want to know what is going on in the mayor's case. I leave Brownsville and it is like a sigh of relief because nobody really knows what the problem is or what the issues are" Villalobos said.
"We have a large area of Cameron County that don't even know what is going on."
As the Rev. Jerry Frank, a leader in the religious-based grass roots organization Valley Interfaith, sees it: "The final result will have more impact than anything else."
"Of course, an indictment doesn't look good and it makes the city look bad, but we will know who is responsible for that when the trial plays out," Frank said.
Frank said his prayers go out to the mayor. "I hope he is innocent. He says he is innocent. There are doubts about that among many people, but I hope that he is found innocent in trial," Frank added.
Frank said he was very surprised by the indictment. "He appears to be a sharp, intelligent man. If he did this, it was not a very smart crime. It doesn't seem to have been well executed - for a smart guy."
The way Frank assesses the situation, Ahumada is innocent, and if not, he was under duress or emotional pressure.
Ahumada, who vows that he will be vindicated, recently said that he does not expect the indictment to affect the city's relationship with Mexico.
"I have formed good alliances with Mexico. I have formed good friendships with Mexico," he said.
Furthermore, the mayor said: "The people love me in Matamoros and Mexico. They are very supportive because they know we want to work with Mexico. We value them as our neighbor, and everywhere I have gone, they have extended me all the courtesies and shown their love and friendship for Brownsville. They will give me the benefit of the doubt."
