Homer Jasso, the former Edinburg city councilman who is seeking to unseat Precinct 4 Hidalgo County Commissioner Ellie Torres, filed a lawsuit earlier this week alleging that Torres has libeled him in her campaign advertising.
“Defendant, Ellie Torres, knowingly published false statements accusing Mr. Homer Jasso Jr. of actions which equate to corruption,” reads the complaint, which was filed Wednesday. “The defamatory statements were published by the Defendant with knowledge that the statements were false. As such, the defamatory statements were made by Defendant with malice.”
Jasso’s lawsuit refers to a television ad campaign that began running during local newscasts once early voting got underway. The advertisement — which includes a sound bite at the end of Torres approving the message — alleges that Jasso was found guilty of violating the Edinburg city charter.
Jasso’s campaign claims the campaign ad implies he committed a crime — an implication his campaign insists is false.
“It was a commercial that was slanderous and it said that he was charged with criminal activity and that he had been charged during his time as city councilman for the city of Edinburg,” Jasso’s campaign manager, Selina Hayes said when reached for comment Thursday.
“That was false, and so as soon as we saw that, I want to say on the 17th, we filed a TRO and notified her via email,” Hayes further said.
A message left with Jasso seeking direct comment was not returned as of Friday.
Jasso’s campaign sent Torres a cease and desist letter, demanding she pull the television advertising and retract the allegations which had also made their way to campaign mailers.
Jasso gave Torres until Feb. 17 to retract the ads. When that didn’t happen, Jasso filed the lawsuit and was granted a temporary restraining order pending the outcome of a hearing scheduled for March 1 — Election Day.
“She has yet to remove the commercial. I just saw it right now on the 6 o’clock news,” Hayes said Thursday.
Torres did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story. Instead, her attorney, Efrain Molina, emailed a statement on behalf of his client.
Molina also declined to speak to specifics of the allegations, saying he preferred to preserve his legal strategizing for court.
In the statement, however, Torres rebuffs Jasso’s lawsuit as nothing more than an attempt to stifle free speech.
“The public has a right to free access to information to help them determine who should represent them in elected office. Attempts to limit political speech are attempts to limit the public’s right to make a fully informed decision,” Torres’ statement reads, in part.
“The real issue at play is Homer Jasso Jr.’s attempts to abuse the legal system in order to restrict, alienate, and suppress information during an active election. His lawsuit constitutes a direct attack on freedom of speech,” Torres further states.
Torres goes on to reiterate the bullet points from her campaign ads, alleging that Jasso profited off the city during his time as an Edinburg city councilman.
“By his own admission, Homer Jasso Jr. obtained public funding from the taxpayers of the City of Edinburg while he served as a City Councilman. He is now trying to hide behind a technicality to prevent potential voters from learning about his actions,” Torres states.
At the heart of the dispute between the two candidates is a tire recycling contract Edinburg entered into in 2016, as well as a shift in the political majority on the council which took place not long after.
Jasso owned a minority interest in the company the city contracted with, Santa Anita Reclamation LLC, which was later reincorporated as Santa Anita Recycling, according to court documents.
Edinburg had contracted with Santa Anita Reclamation prior to Jasso purchasing a minority stake in the company, court records show.
Jasso claims he consulted with the Edinburg city attorney and city manager prior to purchasing a stake in the company. The pair both told him he could do so, so long as he disclosed his interest.
In 2017, however, the minority faction on the Edinburg City Council attempted to conduct an inquiry to determine whether Jasso’s ownership interest in the company violated the city charter.
Torres’ husband, David Torres, who was also an Edinburg councilman at the time, made the motion to conduct an inquiry into Jasso during a March 23, 2017 meeting. The motion was seconded by then-Councilman Richard Molina.
The motion failed, however, when the council split its vote 2-to-2, with Jasso abstaining.
The following year, however, the council majority shifted. Richard Molina was elected mayor, and with his election win came the political majority.
By February 2018, the council again sought an inquiry. It also sought to oust Jasso from his seat.
But Jasso fought back, filing for an injunction in 2018 to prevent the council majority from removing him from office.
While the court granted a TRO enjoining the city from removing Jasso, the new council majority nonetheless conducted its inquiry and found that Jasso had “willfully violated” a section of the city charter which states that, “No member of the city council… shall have a financial interest, direct or indirect, by reason of ownership of stock in any corporation, in any contract” that supplies services to the city.
Jasso’s 2018 lawsuit honed in on the term “willfully violated.” He argued he had not willfully violated the charter, and that he had been unaware of that section of the charter.
Indeed, he had done his due diligence in consulting with the city manager and city attorney prior to purchasing an interest in Santa Anita Recycling, he said.
The city itself admitted that its attorney was not fully aware of the charter’s provisions.
“Apparently, the City Attorney Palacios was unaware of the Charter provision Article XVII, Section 2 prohibiting any councilmember from having any interest in corporation contracting with the City of Edinburg,” the city wrote in a brief seeking the court’s review of the council’s decision to remove Jasso.
Ultimately, the court sided with Jasso.
“The Court after having reviewed the Record, finds that the relief requested by Councilmember Homer Jasso should be granted,” reads the May 14, 2018 order signed by state District Judge Mario F. Ramirez Jr.
Unsatisfied with the result, the city of Edinburg appealed the ruling to the 13th Court of Appeals.
However, the appeal fizzled after Jasso chose not to seek reelection. With him out of the race, the city opted to drop the appeal as a moot point.
Jasso’s most recent lawsuit against Torres’ political ads has yet to see a resolution.
State District Judge Joe Ramirez granted Jasso’s TRO on Wednesday, the same day the lawsuit was filed. However, Torres’ ads could still be seen on local television as of Thursday.
Election Day is Tuesday, when the two sides are set to have their first meeting together in court. But even the date of that hearing has become a matter of contention.
“The decision to get a hearing on Election Day is further evidence that this move by Homer Jasso Jr. is a political move to misdirect the public attention away from the facts about his history,” Ellie Torres stated.
It should be noted that court schedules are decided upon by the judge alone, though many judges often seek input on availability from attorneys.
