Mike Hernandez Endorses Frank Carter for July 2 San Angelo Police Chief Runoff Election

 

A run-off is scheduled for July 2 for one city council seat and for the San Angelo police chief race. In Single Member District 5 (SMD 5), upstart challenger Lane Carter edged incumbent Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff by just four votes, 827-823. Since neither candidate received 50 percent plus one vote, a run-off is mandated. 

In the race for chief of police, challenger Lt. Frank Carter beat incumbent Police Chief Tim Vasquez 3,072 to 2,862 votes. In a four-way race, Carter received 33.64 percent of the vote, well short of the required 50 percent plus one.

Carter faces Vasquez in the run-off July 2.

Challenger in the police chief race Mike Hernandez, a Lieutenant in the San Angelo Police Department whose votes fell short, wasted no time endorsing incumbent Police Chief Tim Vasquez's opponent, fellow Lieutenant Frank Carter.

“Carter has my full support. I hope that those who supported me will do the same and support Lt. Carter. We need change at the police department,” Hernandez said. “We are both on the same page about our thoughts and ideas about the direction the police department needs to go. We were hoping it would come out in our favor, but now the voters have spoken, and I believe Lt. Carter is quite capable to carry the banner forward. I am very humbled and very proud of those who supported me on this journey. Their support was just priceless.”

Also, in a comment on our story, Jeff Davis said, "I would like to thank all of the wonderful people [who] supported my campaign. I would also ask that each and every one of you now support Frank Carter. It is time for change. Twelve years of what the police officers and citizens have endured is long enough. Pull the strength together, and let's get rid of what we have had. Thank you all, Jeff."

Here is the original story as election returns came in Saturday evening, with candidate reactions:

It's now 7 p.m. and the polls in San Angelo and Wall are closed. We will be providing an update on the numbers and our reporters are out at the candidate parties to await results and get the reactions once winners are announced. Early voting and absentee numbers are up, so here is where we're at.

Update: Shortly after 8 p.m., San Angelo LIVE! received word that eight of the 20 polling locations have been processed. Numbers will be released shortly.

Update 8:19 p.m.: Thus far, 10,285 votes have been counted. Here are the new numbers.

Update 9:30: All results are in. Here are the final numbers.

Update 10:30 p.m.: Lt. Mike Hernandez endorses Lt. Frank Carter for Chief of Police.

San Angelo Police Chief final results:

City of San Angelo Police Chief Race (FINAL)
CandidateVotes ForPercentage
Mike Hernandez2,29825.17%
Tim Vasquez (Incumbent)2,86231.34%
Frank Carter3,07233.64%
Jeff Davis8999.85%

SMD 1 Winner: Bill Richardson

SMD 3 Winner: Harold "Harry" Thomas

SMD 5 Runoff: There will be a run-off election between Lane Carter and Elizabeth Grindstaff, July 2.

City of San Angelo City Council (FINAL)
CandidateVotes ForPercentage
Single Member District 1
Trinidad Aguirre1,04748.95%
Bill Richardson1,09251.05%
Single Member District 3
Daniel "Danny" Cardenas41546.21%
Harold "Harry" Thomas48353.79%
Single Member District 5
Elizabeth Miller Grindstaff (Incumbent)82345.17%
Lane Carter82745.39%
R.A. Cantrell1498.18%
Martin W. Guinn231.26%

Wall ISD final results:

Wall ISD Bond Election ($19.7 Million Bond) (FINAL)
ActionVotesPercent
For67855.76%
Against53844.24%

In the Wall ISD, Erwin Frank Schwartz, Jr. and Chris Wilde won places on that school district's board of trustees.

Wall ISD Trustees (FINAL)
CandidateVotesPercent
Erwin Frank Schwartz, Jr.69136.81%
Scott Alexander28114.97%
Chris Wilde61332.66%
Natalie Scherz Craddock29215.56%

Candidate Reactions

Trinidad Aguirre, City Council Candidate SMD1

With the early and absentee votes posted, there has been some mixed reaction. For Single-Member District 1, Trinidad Aguirre is taking early returns in stride; however, his supporters are stunned Bill Richardson is in the lead.

Previous City Council member Paul Alexander said, "Trinidad lost to a coward who has been kicked off most local blogs for inappropriate posts, and who is a mental case that I've had to alert security at council meetings about."

He added that it's a case of a percentage of non-Hispanics voting for the white guy, and not knowing Aguirre is a former CEO of a Fortune 500 company while Richardson is "a solitude mental case." Alexander's full thoughts are on his Facebook page here.

Jeff Davis, Chief of Police Candidate

Chief of Police Candidate Jeff Davis said he feels through this campaign, he has met a lot of wonderful people.

"Their awareness across the board has risen to a new level. I mean early voting showed that. I think that, if nothing else, some of our ideas will be implemented if we don't get elected," said Davis.

Davis noted that he did eight years worth of research on all the issues and solutions, and he believes his campaign had a really good platform.

"We ran the course and stayed honest," he added. "We played clean, and we just wanted to address the people. We believe in this community. Law enforcement is awesome here, but leadership is lacking a little bit. I believe that's why we stepped up to the plate."

Davis said, eight years ago, he started talking to the men. He retired from the police department in 2007 as a police officer. When he asked people how they felt about local law enforcement, they said they feel like they're boxed in. He said many of them told him these feelings stemmed from policies and procedures. With the accredited policing so-to-speak, it doesn't really work in San Angelo, Davis added.

"Rather than the community adjusting to the police department, the police department needs to adjust to the community," said Davis. "This community is unique because we're like an oasis. We're in the middle of nowhere."

He added that San Angelo is a city without an interstate, and it's not a metropolitan city; that's makes San Angelo and its people unique. This knowledge, and the comments from police officers who said morale was down, started Davis on this path, he said.

He described the foundation of the police force as "faulty," and said his goal is to get the ground troops going and utilize "the fishbowl effect."

"The fish sees you, and you see it on a regular basis," Davis explained. He added that it's important to get back to having a relationship. He noted that he would never delegate something to officers that he himself is not willing to do.

A supporter of Davis, Steve Hill, who was a fireman for 26 years, said Jeff was was on the PD for over 25 years, and he was asked to run for chief back then because officers weren't happy with Vasquez.

"All of the officers were just unhappy with him," said Hill. "That was just evident with the poll that came out when they polled all the officers."

He said after Jaime Padron was murdered in Austin, that "lit a fire in Jeff" and in himself. That's why he supports Davis, he said.

Hill added that he can make a list of at least 20 police officers who do not care for Vasquez, but they can't speak up for fear of retaliation, so he wants to see Davis, Carter or Hernandez take the helm.

"Anyone but him," Hill stated.

Tim Vasquez, Chief of Police Incumbent

Chief Tim Vasquez said he's excited about the runoff. He says now that it is narrowed down to just two candidates, "we can focus on the facts."

"This isn't about buying an election," he said.

This statement is in reference to the Odessa family who donated $30,000 to Frank Carter's campaign. Vasquez said he was behind on fundraising because of that.

"I can tell you this; I raised more money from more local people than Carter or any of my other opponents."

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Above: Stephen McLaughlin, campaign manager for Grindstaff, Vasquez, Aguirre, and Thomas, reads the early returns from the May 7 election at the watch party at Sealy Flats. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

Frank Carter, Chief of Police Candidate

At his election party taking place now, Frank Carter said if he wins, the first step is to take time to gather his thoughts.

"You don't want to go [into the job] and turn everything upside down the first day," he said.

He added that he will get his leaders in the right position, formulate a plan and go from there.

Frank Carter's election party (LIVE! Photo/Cameron Niblock)

He said he could bring leadership and experience to the Chief of Police position.

"I've got the most patrol commander experience of anybody in the department," Carter said. "I know how to expand the manpower there. I know what policies need to be changed in order to get these officers back working."

In regards to his campaign focus, Carter said safety for the community is his goal, and he'll do that by reducing crime. He reiterated that drugs are the root of all crime.

"I think we need to strengthen that unit, as well as our patrol division and focusing on the issues at hand," Carter said.

Carter said, for the future, he hopes to work with the City to expand the number of patrol officers and detectives so they can work towards a common goal of reducing crime.

Kim Graves, who works on Carter's campaign, said it has been a phenomenal experience during this political process.

"We have a phenomenal team," she said. "We've all come together well and did the best we could to get his name out, and to let everyone know who Frank Carter really is."

Graves reiterated that the message of Carter's campaign was about making San Angelo safe again.

Frank Carter's election party (LIVE! Photo/Cameron Niblock)

"We worked around that slogan," she said.

Graves said there was a high turnout this election compared to the previous two.

"We've had a great response to the message we tried to put out," Graves said.

Harry Thomas, City Council Candidate SMD 3

Harry Thomas said the people who voted today really know the difference between him and Cardenas.

"I think I'm looking out for everyone in the district, and not just one particular segment of the population," said Thomas.

Thomas said being on the Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, he's worked with people of all backgrounds.

"I work with all people, and I will continue to work with all people," he said.

Now that he's won, Thomas is ready to take the helm. He's been going to the City Council meetings for the last three years, so he knows what the issues are.

Thomas said first business will include looking at other options to the water issue, and to work with the Water Advisory Board to understand the issues. He said he's not ready to spend $136 million on water reclamation before looking at other opportunities. He wants to look closer at the Hickory Water Project. Speaking of Hickory Water Project and Water Reclamation, stayed tuned. San Angelo LIVE! has a story that will provide some answers for Thomas.

Lane Carter, City Council SMD 5

Lane Carter, who is in a slight lead over incumbent Elizabeth Grindstaff, said he had no idea the race was going to be so close.

"I'm glad that I pulled the majority off," he said. "That just means I have to get out there again and go get those votes that the others picked up."

Carter said he's been getting tons of calls and people telling him they're backing him and saying, "Let's do this."

"I'm ready to get out there," he said.

Carter also wanted to thank all the people who voted for him.

"It's not won yet," Carter pointed out. "I can't sit back. I have to keep going as I have been. I want everyone to know that this shows a lot of people aren't happy with how our city is being ran. It shows that people are ready for that change--that more sensible government that can be the voice for them. It's a race!"

Elizabeth Grindstaff, City Council SMD 5

Elizabeth Grindstaff said she was expecting a runoff. 

“With three running against me, I am not surprised to be in a run-off.  I’ll get back to work next week and continue on a campaign path that represents the values and concerns of SMD5.  A margin of four votes is really close and easy to overcome. Most important, I am grateful to those who voted for me and ask that they vote again for me July 2 in the runoff,” Grindstaff said.

Like Chief Tim Vasquez and his challenger Frank Carter plan to do, Grindstaff said she will take time off to examine the campaign and results and make adjustments before launching into the campaign for the runoff.

Note: Joe Hyde and Cameron Niblock contributed to this article.

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I would like to thank all of the wonderful people that supported my campaign. I would also ask that each and every one of you now support Frank Carter. It is time for change. 12 years of what the Police Officers and citizens have endured is long enough. Pull the strength together and let's get rid of what we have had. Thank you all, Jeff Davis

as much as i would have liked jeff davis to make chief, i support frank carter, although i have moved on to a new job and city, i believe frank would make a superb police chief.

I hear officers talking all the time. I'll be voting against Tim Vasquez. I will also be voting against Elizabeth Grindstaff, who was in favor of making Police Chief an appointed position. If she'd had her way, we wouldn't be in a position to rid ourselves of Vasquez now.

This town has gone downhill so much that I have childhood friends that have moved elsewhere in order to get away from the crime here. Many of them have been keeping tabs on the election and some have informed me that they would definitely consider returning to San Angelo if we get a new police chief. Something drastic needs to happen. My husband has done masonry work with Mr Carter in the past and he seems to have a strong grip on reality and knows what needs to be done in order to restore San Angelo. My family and friends along with myself fully support Frank Carter. As for Mr Vasquez, I have my own grudge against him as does my family, resulting from an incident almost 11 years ago involving my Brahma bull named Dirty Deeds. He was shot down with myself along with my brother & fellow bull riders within 10 feet of him as they opened fire. I understand why there was concern about my bull wandering around after getting lose from the nearby arena and I understand why they did what they did. But at the same time, they showed no concern for the safety of the riders or myself as they opened fire while he was walking up the trailer ramp with us literally feet away. Vasquez made the judgement call that could have resulted in us being seriously injured or killed. Because of his bad judgement call at the beginning of his first time as police chief has always had us wondering how good he would be. 12 years later, we have seen our town crumble and they continue to get worse. Many people have been told some other disturbing issues involving Mr Vasquez, whether or not they are true, this town needs a change. Frank Carter is exactly what this town needs to make us feel safe and restore it back to what it was 12 years ago. Thank you Mr Carter for attempting to help San Angelo heal.

N.A. Cole, seriously??? You are blaming your bull incident on Tim Vasquez? Your bull was endangering others. What if it would have gored someone? Whose fault was it that it was roaming the streets for this incident to escalate to what occurred? I've lived here for more than 13 years and I do not see crime as increasing. I'm very interested in where your childhood friends moved as I seriously doubt their very decision to move was because of crime in our city (unless they were in a gang?). I also refuse to believe they would return if we had a different police chief. Yes, everyone knows more about crime (as they should) because they have the privilege of having access to more media resources than ever (how many people had smartphones 12 years ago?). Drugs are a problem in EVERY city our size and San Angelo needs to continue to be vigilant on that issue. I will be very happy when the election is over as this senseless propaganda and finger-pointing is very stupid. On a second note, I was very disappointed in the voter turnout. It seemed that most were supporters or friends/relatives of supporters. I hope we have a much better turnout so that the voice of San Angelo is heard once and for all.

Have you missed the shootings, car wrecks with meth heads at the wheel? The drug busts and money laundering? Wow. Just wow. Keep your koolaid.

Not sure who you are - you obviously choose to obscure your name. Are you saying San Angelo should be "Utopia" with 100,000 people? Some of the 100K people moved here in the last few years due to the oil boom that was supposed to happen. Ordinarily, they would move to where the next boom is, but guess what? That's not happening as the oil has plummeted. I'm not pretending there's not a drug issue, but drug issues are prevalent in EVERY city our size. Look it up! Where do you live, by the way - just curious... Some of the suspects caught are not even from San Angelo - we are just a means of travel along our highway. We could choose to ignore it, but DPS has caught many. Kudos to them!

I did not once say that I blamed him for shooting my bull. I said that he was negligent in the safety of the bystanders when they opened fire with my brother, other bull riders along with myself standing within a few feet of my bull. And for the record, my bull had stubs as horns due to being cut regularly. Also, for the record, he was not running around terrorizing the town. He was literally walking down the street. I drove beside him, got out of my vehicle, and was keeping him in place by feeding him while the riders were getting the trailer in position. During that time, some neighbors understandably got scared and called the police. There was several witnesses to this and several dozen wrote letters to Standard Times voicing their concern for how the situation was handled by the SAPD. The first page along with the last 3 pages of the Standard Times Newspaper was nothing but those letters written verbatim. If you would like MA'AM, me and my family still have the original newspaper from the incident in case you were wanting to learn the facts. No disrespect to you. I just think you should understand why we all had these concerns and why us and many San Angelo residents feel like Vasquez has failed our town tremendously. As for my friends moving away due to the crime is all fact and has nothing to do with drugs MA'AM. It has everything to do with wanting to raise their families somewhere they feel is safe. If you must know, quite a few of them moved to EDEN. And yes, they would return to San Angelo if it was returned to its former self. I hope I have answered all you questions and concerns. Have a good day.

Ms. Trojcak, my name is Karen Freeman. I lived in Capital Heights. And yes, in June 2013, I sold my home and moved to Cedar Park because of increasing crime here, and no solutions or attempts to solution coming from our city leaders. I hope that you would compare our crime rates with Cedar Park and other cities and voice an educated comment. I have lived here far longer than 13 years. My father and Tim's father were on the force together. I grew up at the police department and can only voice facts and opinions based on what I experienced and witnessed. I have no reason to doubt N A Cole's comments, especially considering the facts he presented. I have a great love and respect for God's and Mother Nature's creation, and am horrifiedby that incident. The situation was under control when police arrived, and I too am grateful there were no human casualties. My heart is broken that such a magnificent animal was murdered so that he died a slow and painful death. I was judgemental, narrow minded and part of the good old boy mentality. I have been an LVN for 22 years, so humanity and sympathy are endowed in me. My disappointment is with the lack of, education, sympathy, humanity and sense of family in San Angelo. My father was born and raised here. Anyway, my thought processes, desire for education and definitely my sense of compassion were greatly changed on Sept 1 2013. My 22 year old daughter was shot and killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was killed by a known criminal to not only the PD, but to the attorneys, bails bondsman and judges in our city. San Angelo may boast a population of over 90,000, but remains a very small town existance. This piece of garbage was on probation for a drive by shooting he had done in April 2013. He was pulled over on the night he viciously murdered my only child on a traffic violation, under the influence and with the stolen guns in his car, and allowed to proceed to commit his crime. In 2015 at his hearing where he plead guilty of capital murder, I was made aware of TWO PENDING ASSAULT WITH DEADLY WEAPONS charges when the judge dismissed them. These are facts that were never reported in the media. And when I confronted Tim Vasquez, he replied, "Yes he was stooped on a traffic violation." The officer was not reprimanded much less an apology offered. I do not only blame Tim, I blame the officers, attorneys, bails bondsmen, judges and citizens of San Angelo that prefer to only become involved in solving our crime rate only if they are involved. And, only for the crime committed to them. So you are Ms. Trojcak, many crimes go in reported. Many of my daughter's friends have left here to raise their children in a safer environment. Perhaps you should speak to the gentleman whose home was invaded, he was not only robbed but beaten so badly he spent several days in the hospital. Or the young lady in College Hills was a victim of home invasion. Or the mother of the 2 and 4 year old little girls whose souls were murder by a creature so vile that he didn't want it and smile terrifyingly when ask about it. He only received 10 years probation. The lack of empathy as a parent appalled me. I only continue to tell my daughters story is so that I can hopefully prevent one parent from have to ensure this continuing, escallating help that I exist in daily. You see, they were not charged with my murder. This city needs competent, educated leaders who are more concerned with the citizens they serve and not their own convenience. If it can happen to my daughter and myself, a middle class white citizen, then it can happen to anyone. I could continue to voice facts, but I hope I have at least reached out to one person that will make an educated vote so that our children don't have to move and take out gramdchildren.

Does anyone have any idea how long it took to kill a bull with police service arms, all because a chief wanted to establish his authority instead of use common sense?

Unfortunately my bull didn't die instantly. In fact, all the shots resulted in him being unable to hold his weight, preventing him from entering the trailer on his own. We actually had to get rope and tie him and pull him inside of the trailer while he was fully conscious and bleeding everywhere. We had to take him to our vet to have him euthanized because the damage was so severe. By the time we got him onto the trailer, he was exhausted from trying to stand and move himself. We all could see the pain in his eyes. My white shirt was completely soaked in his blood because I just held him. He was literally the sweetest bull ever. Didn't show any signs of aggression until he was in the chute and the rope was in place. Then he knew it was time to start bucking like crazy and he was an excellent bucking bull. When the rider and rope was off.....he would instantly return to his sweet friendly self. Since losing him, I refuse to own another bull since he was given to me. As for my brothers and other riders, they all still continue to ride. They all ride at the Santa Rosa Sports Arena where the old San Angelo Speedway was located.

This is one of many demonstrations of lack of integrity, character, and leadership that come to mind when I think of Tim Vasquez. If any regular citizen had taken such action upon himself, it would have been considered criminal cruelty to the animal. But if you are the chief, I guess you do as I say, not as I do. And we keep hearing that more and more as the years go by. Time for new leadership!

I did read about your bull not dying instantly. That was very unfortunate. However, there were concerned citizens or else they would not have notified the police. I'm sure the SAPD did not know your bull as well as you did. Bad things happen to good people, but I cannot fault the SAPD as they were concerned about the safety of others (and emphatically do not agree with "YouDoNotSay" - obviously, he does not want to be recognized in this conversation; I do not believe this to be a power play). Eden is a very small town - you cannot compare it to a town the size of San Angelo or Abilene. No other police chief will be able to compete against that. Again, very sorry about your bull - I truly love animals. I do, however, do not believe the Chief had any motives in his agenda in regards to this unfortunate incident.

As a victim of auto theft by a criminal informant of the SAPD, I think there is time for policy change. Watching someone order police to use firearms not of a lethal enough caliber to result in immediate death of a large so far peaceful, but potentially dangerous if provoked am an otherwise uncontrollable, animal, because "he said so"and out of complete ignorance, should be enough to demonstrate how much knowledge he has about public safety in our very special town. It didn't matter where the criminals are from, either. The fact is, they find themselves here because that's where the drugs are. We have had gang shootings, shots fired calls with increasing severity and quantity, yet Vasquez wants to make the public believe, at least up until election day success, that crime is down. "The kids are alright". Yet he posts on his own personal Facebook page staged vandalism of his political signs. I thought crime was down?? Such immaturity and foolishness, San Angelo has enough of that on the other side of the badge. We don't need it hammering down on our finest.

I feel that the bull was an unfortunate incident. Animal behavior is very unpredictable, and I'm sure it was a very stressful situation for all. Furthermore, it occurred over 11 years ago, and the citizens reelected the Chief two occasions after that. Regarding your vandalism comment, I'm not sure what happened with the campaign signs. Neither one of us can say one way or the other unless we were an eyewitness to what occurred. The signs do take a beating with windy weather. As stated in a previous post, no police chief will turn San Angelo into a perfect place. If anyone thinks the city can be drug-free, they are living in a dream world. There are too many factors involved. Consider today's headlines: two persons were arrested for intent to distribute a few months earlier (one of which included robbery), and the state granted them a plea bargain of 10 years probation. Now they are back on the streets. Do you feel this is the current administration's fault as well? If there was a continuing occurrence of unsolved crimes, then I would question the leadership; however, that is not the case.

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