Justice of the Peace Candidate Slams Incumbent as Unethical in Public Forum

The subject of professional ethics—or an alleged lack of them—dominated the Wednesday evening discussion during a Justice of the Peace candidate forum in the Community Room of the Stephens Central Library.

It began during opening remarks from Jo Ann Martinez, the Democratic challenger to Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Kay Longest. Martinez described the practices of  Republican incumbent Longest's office as unethical. Several members of the 40-plus audience demanded more details.

Also on this panel—hosted by Conexión San Angelo—was GOP Precinct 3 County Commissioner Rick Bacon. Bacon's democratic challenger, Cidia Flores, did not attend.

When pressed for more detail about her ethics remarks, Martinez explained she was referring to an incident during which a staff member falsified hours on a timesheet on Longest's watch.

Martinez is the wife of Jesse Martinez, who once was JP of the same office. Martinez also criticized the way her opponent now manages her husband's former office during the hour-and-a-half forum. 

"They (employees) are never there," Martinez said. "The phone keeps ringing and there is no one there to answer them. And the office is always closed. ... I go to file paperwork on evictions and I am having to call them and no one is following up with me. ... The office is chaotic."

Longest, asked by some audience members to respond to her opponent's allegations, acknowledged the time sheet infraction did indeed happen. She said it was committed by a longtime employee who had worked with her and even Martinez's husband for several years. Longest said it happened during a period when she took three days off to be with her granddaughter, who was visiting her from Florida.

Longest said she returned from the vacation to discover the offense and immediately fired the unnamed employee. She said the employee will never work for Tom Green County again if she has anything to say about it.

"I did what I had to do and it broke my heart," Longest said. "When you do something like this you have to take action and I took action."

Longest added she takes extra care to be as careful possible checking time sheets now.

"I make sure I do them myself," she said.

Longest said she doesn't perceive her office as being in disarray.

"We have two (phone) lines that come in the office," Longest said. "The lines ring constantly. If you get the answering machine, it means more than likely we're on the phone. But you have to keep calling back. ... We are not 'closed all the time,' I don't know what Mrs. Martinez is talking about."

Martinez said she learned about the time sheet incident from media reports. When criticized by an audience member for making a political issue out of the matter without doing her own research, Martinez added she had "sources" (whose identity she would never disclose), who communicated to her the allegations made in the press. 

Martinez also alleges there were three incidents of falsification rather than just one, as Longest alleges.

"I was also under the impression it was a one-time thing but the news media did an open records request and it was three times," Martinez said. 

An audience member asked Martinez -- and only Martinez -- where the majority of her campaign funds come from. Martinez responded her campaign funds had come from donations from friends, and from various fundraisers.

An audience member asked Martinez  if she had received contributions from Battleground Texas, a Democratic state and federal political action committee dedicated to making Texas a swing state—or "battleground state" that does not have overwhelming support in securing electoral college votes during an election. 

Martinez responded that she has received nothing from Battleground Texas.

Meanwhile, on a separate topic, an audience member asked Commissioner Bacon what Tom Green County's biggest issues are right now. The commissioner responded one huge issue is water.

"Those who live in Grape Creek have been under Drought Stage 4 for a long time," Bacon explained. "The city of San Angelo got a reprieve when we had the big rains back in May and [Lake] Nasworthy filled back up, went from having 12 months left of water to over 36 months, but that didn't help the citizens of Tom Green county who depend on well water."

Commissioner Bacon said he has investigated the possibility of a desalination plan in Tom Green County to help desalinize water for use.

"There's a ton of water below us," he said. " … It has a saline solution that is not as salty as sea water. ... If you don't have water, you don't have life. You don't have growth."

In an email about the forum, Conexión San Angelo officials urged residents to get out and vote. They said early voting continues through Oct. 31, and Election Day is Nov. 4.