El Paso county tax assessor election: Candidate Siria Rocha accuses incumbent Ruben Gonzalez of unethical leadership

The El Paso County tax assessor position is up for grabs. A runoff election will be held between incumbent Ruben Gonzalez and former Chief Deputy Tax Assessor-Collector Siria Rocha May 24.

Rocha is accusing Gonzalez of unethical leadership. On Mar.1, Rocha saw Gonzalez’s chief deputy campaigning. Suspicious, she snapped a picture and filed a public information request, asking for his time card that day

“He was paid for that day like he had been in the office,” Rocha said.

The time sheet Rocha received says Chief Deputy Arturo Pastrana, who makes around $80,000 per year with benefits, worked 8 hours. But Rocha says it should reflect he was either on vacation or was using person leave to campaign.

“I believe, in my opinion, that he was caught,” Rocha said. “There wasn’t any leave available for him to take so he decided the taxpayers money would pay for that one day of campaigning.”

“I think she’s incorrect in her interpretation,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says his deputy is salaried, meaning he’s on the clock 24-7 and classified as an exempt employee.

“His time was his own time on that particular day and he can do anything he wants to do on his own time,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he keeps track of his employees hours. If they work over 40 hours in a week, he’ll track the additional hours, and let them take it off at a later time. Gonzalez says Pastrana was doing on Mar. 1.

“You are not allowed to campaign during regular working hours, unless you do take a very specific type of leave,” Rocha said.

She points to the Texas Ethics Commission Code which says “Do not use state time or state equipment to work on an individual’s political campaign (Gov’t Code 556.004).”

“She knows what the rules are, she being an exempt employee should know better, that this is a 24-7 position,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he also checked with the county’s HR department which cleared his decision. ABC-7 wanted to confirm that but a heard a different story, Edward Dion, the county auditor, writing, “This matter was not discussed with this office prior to the… Approval, nor does this office routinely provide such approval or clearance.”

However, ABC-7 requested the hours worked by Pastrana for the month of February and records show he worked more than 12 extra hours, so he was able to take a day off without short-changing taxpayers.