Escobar defends decision not to release emails regarding EPPD Chief Allen

County Judge Veronica Escobar said Thursday she does not have to release any email communication regarding her role in the writing of a letter denouncing El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen’s comments about the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Here’s what the law says: if you are using your personal phone, your personal email and you’re not working on county business, you can have conversations via email or text with anybody you want to … those are not open to public scrutiny,” Escobar told ABC-7.

In early July, county leaders held a news conference in the wake of deadly shooting in Dallas that claimed the lives of five law enforcement officers. Allen chose not to speak during the news conference, but when asked afterward he said, “Black Lives Matter, as far as I’m concerned, is a radical hate group and for that purpose alone I think the leadership of this country needs to look a little bit harder at that particular group. The consequences of what we saw in Dallas is due to their efforts.”

Escobar said the police chief’s comments caught her by surprise. “It was pretty shocking. And what transpired after that was many of us were talking on the phone or texting each other,” she said.

Black Lives Matter denounced the actions of the Dallas gunman, Micah Xavier Johnson, who told police negotiators during an hours long standoff he wanted to kill officers and white people because he was infuriated by the deaths of black men at the hands of police.

The day after Chief Allen made the BLM comment, a group of El Paso local leaders wrote a letter denouncing it.

The letter stated, “We were deeply concerned and disappointed with the statement made by the City of El Paso’s Chief of Police, Greg Allen. This statement, in the chief’s official capacity and in uniform, sends exactly the wrong message at a time when good people are working to address a crisis of violence and distrust that disproportionately affects minority communities.”

13 local leaders signed the letter, including Escobar, whose signature was accompanied by the title “County Judge Veronica Escobar.” All elected officials who signed the letter included their official title with their name.

Two bloggers who follow El Paso politics filed an open records request asking Escobar to release any emails regarding Chief Allen. In his blog, Martin Paredes stated the county judge responded, “None of the information in my personal possession pertains to the transaction of official business of the County of El Paso. Any information in my possession was written, collected, assembled, or maintained in my personal political capacity, not in my official capacity as an officer acting on behalf of the County of El Paso.”

Paredes, whose blog entries are consistently critical of Escobar, reacted to the county judge’s comment by writing, “Veronica Escobar is the elected official that has decided that she is the only judge of what is public information or not.”

In an interview with ABC-7 Thursday, Paredes asked, “Who is making that determination? If she’s making it, then that’s a self-interest determination, if the Texas Attorney General is making it, like they normally do, then I have no quarrel with it.”

Escobar told ABC-7 she spoke with County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal prior to communicating with the other local leaders who wrote the letter to make sure everything was done according to the law. “I still have my freedom of speech right to do that and to use my title, that’s the state code,” Escobar said.

“The question was raised, ‘is this going to be county business?'” she said. “My intention was for it never, I was not going to bring it before commissioners court, I was not going to ask that a resolution be passed, I was not going to use county resources … This was me as an independent office holder, who has a very firm belief in social justice issues and civil rights issues, wanting to communicate with another government. That has nothing to do with my county role, but my title goes with me under state code,” said Escobar.

“Ms. Bernal advised Judge Escobar that if the response was to be in her individual capacity and not on behalf of the County of El Paso, the County Judge should not use any County resources (which would include supplies, personnel, equipment, or computer/email systems) in preparing or delivering the response,” stated a letter sent by Asst. County Attorney Holly Lyttle to Paredes explaining why the County said there were no records responsive to his request.

County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal, who also signed the letter denouncing Allen’s comments, sent ABC-7 the following statement: “The public is entitled to information about the affairs of government and the official acts of government officials. However, the Public Information Act does not entitle the public to communication between public officials that do not to amount to official business of government. Both of these requests were immediately submitted to the county attorney office and thoroughly vetted by the county attorney’s office and the county attorney’s office believes the advice given and actions taken are in compliance with the public information act.”

Bernal said if Paredes is not in agreement with the action taken, he can request an enforcement action from the attorney general’s office.

Paredes said he will follow Bernal’s advice. “I would like somebody else to take a look at it. Democracy is about knowing what your government is doing, and if you can’t depend on an elected official to give you the information of how they arrive at public policy, then how can you have any control over your government?”