Cisneros says recordings show he was being threatened

Local developer Abraham Galonsky warned county worker and City Commissioner Carlos Cisneros to support Cristobal "Cris" Valadez's re-appointment to the PUB or skip the city meeting where the issue was to be discussed, or face retaliation.

In an audiotape obtained by The Brownsville Herald Thursday, Galonsky is heard urging Cisneros to take his advice.

"You have nothing to win going the way you are going; you got a lot to lose," Galonsky told Cisneros.

Galonsky doesn't identify the sources allegedly at work against the commissioner, but is heard telling Cisneros that his job with the county's Precinct 2 could be in jeopardy.

"I don't know what they have that they can use against you, but they have something," Galonsky said in one of two recorded conversations Cisneros said he taped.

"Si tu no tienes cola que te pisen, que ... te importa? (If you have nothing to hide, what the ... does it matter to you?)," Galonsky told him.

In an interview Thursday, Galonsky said he didn't know he was being taped when speaking with Cisneros and said that he feels betrayed.

"They're both my friends," Galonsky said, explaining that his advice to Cisneros was meant to patch up Cisneros' estranged friendship with Valadez.

"I really feel betrayed," said. "I didn't have any reason to threaten."

In Texas, it is legal to record a conversation as long as one of the parties is aware of the activity. Valadez knew of these and other audio recordings made by Cisneros, who has "more recordings than the Beatles," he said.

On Thursday, Cisneros would not comment on the tapes or Galonsky's comments.

He did say he is being "set-up" as pay back for attending the Oct. 2, 2007 City Commission meeting, voting to replace Valadez on the PUB, and standing up for what is right.

The record shows that if Cisneros had not attended the city commission meeting, the vote would have been tied and an appointment likely would not have been made that day.

Cisneros and commissioners Edward Camarillo, Anthony P. Troiani and Ricardo Longoria voted to appoint new member Emmanuel Vasquez while Mayor Pat M. Ahumada and commissioners Charlie Atkinson and Leo Garza voted against the appointment.

In the tape recordings, Galonsky is heard telling Cisneros that if he decided not to go to the City Commission meeting, he would immediately call Valadez to let him know and to get Valadez's word that there wouldn't be any trouble.

This week, accusations surfaced that Cisneros's county timesheets were falsified to show he was working, when he was not. Cisneros and his boss, County Commissioner John Wood, dismiss the allegations and a videotape showing Cisneros at home and around town allegedly when he was on the county clock.

Cisneros has accused Valadez of being behind the anonymous footage and time sheet speculation in retaliation for not reappointing him to PUB.

Valadez said he never asked Galonsky to intervene or to contact Cisneros.

"Mr. Galonsky is a very good friend of mine and he was a very good friend of Cisneros from what I understand," Valadez said, adding that Galonsky had only wanted to mediate and to see him back on the PUB.

"Being the kind of person that he is, he thought that Cisneros was a friend and got hurt. He's not a politician. He's a normal civilian," Valadez said.

Valadez says Cisneros and Wood are diverting attention from the issue. "A good defense is to mount an offense and that is what they are trying to do. If you get into some kind of hassle, divert attention," Valadez said.

"The bottom line is: Was he in Mexico, in Houston, at the Dallas Cowboys game when his time sheets show he was in the county? Was he in all these places? That is what he is trying to hide, plain and simple."