HOT SEAT: New county judge will learn on fly

Rene Ramirez has made his political career working behind the scenes.

As chief of staff for state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, Ramirez was accustomed to deflecting all attention to the senator, a practice borne out of Ramirez’s own preferences more than expectations from Hinojosa.

Hinojosa himself is quick to joke that Ramirez — who joined his staff when he was elected to the Texas House in 1997 — does all the work in the Legislature while Hinojosa garners all the credit.

But as Ramirez was sworn into office Tuesday as Hidalgo County’s interim county judge, the television cameras and the attention were focused on him. And with Hinojosa administering the oath, the county’s new chief administrator had no one to deflect the spotlight toward.

"When I worked with Hinojosa, it’s always been about Hinojosa," Ramirez, 40, said earlier this week about the position he inherited when J.D. Salinas resigned as county judge. "I’m sure there will be an adjustment to that and it will come with time."

LEGAL QUESTIONS

A whirlwind period that began with Salinas’ long-rumored announcement that he would step down to take a federal post culminated Tuesday when Ramirez took the county judge’s customary seat at the center of the Commissioners Court’s dais.

The court’s tumult may not be over quite yet.

Citing a complaint filed by County Commissioner Joe Flores, Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra said he will decide by Friday whether to file a quo warranto — a lawsuit questioning Ramirez’s legal standing to hold office.

Flores is arguing Salinas should not have voted for his replacement since he resigned from office the same meeting the vote occurred, Guerra said. Flores also says the court did not properly follow Robert’s Rules of Order — the authority for parliamentary procedure — by failing to second a motion to appoint Ramirez.

Flores and Commissioner Sylvia Handy, who are backing former county judge Ramon Garcia in March’s primary to regain the seat he lost to Salinas, voted in the minority against Ramirez during last week’s meeting.

Salinas cast the decisive vote for Ramirez shortly after a temporary restraining order aimed at preventing him from voting was ruled against in state District Court.

Judge Noé Gonzalez ruled Salinas could fulfill the duties of county judge — including voting for his replacement — until the interim county judge was sworn into office.

Gonzalez said it wasn’t his place to decide whether ethics demanded Salinas abstain from the vote but that legally he was in the clear.

However, Guerra said he disagreed with Salinas’ legal standing to vote~and his decision to do so.

"This deal with J.D. voting for Rene Ramirez, who I like and who has been a personal friend, I didn’t like the way it developed," Guerra said. "I didn’t like the way it went down. It doesn’t look true and it doesn’t look good."

ONE YEAR

On his first day, Ramirez reiterated a view he expressed after he was first appointed — that he sees his job as a managerial one and not a political one.

He will have to convince Flores and Handy, both of whom left the meeting shortly after he was sworn in, leaving him alone with the two members of the Commissioners Court who supported him.

Still, Ramirez is setting up meetings with the four county commissioners to get up to speed on their issues, and he says he wants to work to build a consensus on the court.

Hinojosa, who worked side-by-side with Ramirez during the legislative sessions and his re-election campaigns, said Ramirez is a "solid, balanced person" with experience in all forms of government.

Ramirez is thorough — intently studying the issues — and balanced, the senator said — both beneficial traits for the office he takes over.

"I just told him to be himself and deal with issues through what’s good public policy," Hinojosa said. "Don’t get pulled down by petty politics."

Ramirez worked on many of the county’s transportation and economic development issues in the Legislature — experience he plans to put to use as county judge.

With barely a year left in Salinas’ term, Ramirez will have to learn quickly when it comes to unfamiliar matters, including how to handle the spotlight.

"A year is an eternity, especially in politics," said Ramirez, who has expressed that he has no plans to run for the office in March. "But I’ve got to do my part and let everybody know that I’m here."