In a recent interview with Jay St. John, Judge Danny Valdez claimed the Casseb Youth Village to be his greatest accomplishment as County Judge. To be fair, it WAS completed and dedicated in 2009, but all Valdez did was cut the ribbon. It wasn’t his idea. It wasn’t his project. It wasn’t paid for as a result of his efforts.
Maybe that’s as good as it gets after two terms at the helm of the county.
He boasts about his budget balancing skills and having never raised taxes. So why isn’t he claiming this “accomplishment” from 2013″
This, from LMT:
Webb County is scrambling to find $400,000 after a grant they were expecting to be approved fell through.
The county was seeking a state-administered grant for its Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program. The funds, dispersed by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, or TDHCA, were intended to assist low-income families in the payment of utilities and to provide energy efficiency education to the community at-large.
The amount of money the county expected to receive from the 2010 grant was around $500,000. Based on those expectations, the county had spent $400,000 on energy assistance and efficiency education by the time the grant was refused by the state agency.Webb County Auditor Leo Flores revealed the budget shortfall on Wednesday at the monthly board of district judges meeting.
In a letter dated Jan. 16, TDHCA formally denied the county’s request for reimbursement.
Since the Jan. 16 letter, all county programs associated with the grant have been suspended indefinitely.
To appeal the rejection, Webb County Judge Danny Valdez and county Economic Development Director Hector Vargas spoke Friday with Michael DeYoung, deputy director of customer service for TDHCA.
Valdez said it was a blow to learn the county would not be reimbursed.
“We didn’t do it right and we got in trouble; this time we did it right and we still got in trouble,” Valdez said, referring to Webb County grants that the state de-obligated in 2010 following the mismanagement of the Community Action Agency’s weatherization program.
Vargas said discrepancies in correspondence with the state point to TDHCA being at fault in the rejection.
http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2013/03/08/front/news/doc513a93f29fe3b583021712.txt
Ray
January 23, 2014 at 7:24pmJudge Dany has been lying to us for years. he says he doesn’t raise taxes but our property values go up big time every year. He says he balances the budget but needs grant money to pay for his spending habit.
when these grants fall through, who get stuck with the bill?
It is US!
Ya Basta!
The Lizard
January 23, 2014 at 11:57pmThanks Rey.
Check out Valdez’s videos on our new 2014 Campaign Pages. He’s truly shameless.
I wonder who is supporting him.
Nomasno
January 24, 2014 at 7:16pmHey lizard how true is it that Danny Valdez never graduated from high school. Is it myth or is if true. Why won’t El EMPTY put him to task for him to present his high school diploma
The Lizard
January 24, 2014 at 8:11pmWe really don’t know that for a fact, but the rumor is that he never graduated Martin, but instead got a GED, for which we applaud him. That may be his greatest triumph. It’s been all adrift since then.
Don’t expect LMT to hold anybody’s feet to the fire. Like most print media, they’re doing their best to stay in business.