First Mass Mailing, January 4, 2008

Note: The following letter is the first mass mailing that went out yesterday countywide to voters on the best voter list. Readers of my website will be the first to see these mailings as they come out. Please download this and pass it around to your family and friends and workmates. There will be other mailings to follow.

January 4, 2008

Dear fellow El Pasoan,

I write to you because you are one of the few faithful. You are a dedicated voter who takes the time to inform yourself, go to the polls, and cast your ballot over and over again in the hope for good government. In order for you to make the best choice based on the best information possible, I am writing you this letter. Once you get to know who I am and what I stand for, I hope you’ll see that I represent the good government we all desire and indeed deserve.

My name is Theresa Caballero. I am running for the office of District Attorney of the 34th Judicial District of Texas as a Democrat in the upcoming primary on March 4, 2008.

This is a critical race. The District Attorney exercises tremendous power. Our own 34th Judicial District comprises three entire counties—El Paso, Culberson, and Hudspeth—and spans two time zones. The DA’s decisions can affect, for better or worse, the lives of every citizen throughout this broad district. Even if you are law-abiding, the criminal justice system still affects you. Imagine you’re a victim of crime. You want the real perpetrator punished. On the other hand, if you or a family member has been arrested, you want to know the DA will act according to the constitution. As a taxpayer whose payments fund the courts and the DA’s office, you want your money spent on a system that works. Ask yourself in light of the FBI investigation and what you know to be true in your own hearts: have you been getting your money’s worth? You want to know that if corruption arises, the DA will prosecute those engaged. The DA does nothing short of insure the basic values we all take for granted—that fair play, the rule of law, adherence to the constitution, and equal justice blind to power and position, will prevail. Our future depends on electing a DA who actually fulfills the duties of this office. Our future depends on electing a DA who is honest, afraid of no one, who owes no favors, and who loves the people of this community. I hope you will see that I am that person.

Our El Paso has witnessed an ongoing federal investigation and intervention into local public corruption. But it needn’t have been so. While local politicians are selling their votes at our expense, and while our property taxes have skyrocketed to fund those very influence-peddling sales (El Pasoans pay the third highest property taxes in Texas), where has local law enforcement been? Where is our elected DA? Why has corruption been allowed to flourish openly for years? Why do outsiders view us as a haven for inside deal-making among a privileged, power-elite? Our legal system is broken and it needs to be fixed. A diligent, uncompromised District Attorney would notice the rampant corruption we as citizens have known about for years. A competent District Attorney would do the job that needs to be done and not wait for the Feds to do it for us. We can clean our own house and manage our own affairs. We can locally prosecute the corrupt. We can preserve our own limited resources you as a tax payer provide. We can spare our community the embarrassment of failing to prosecute political corruption and having to call in others to do it for us. The time has long passed for us to rectify our problems by applying the law equally to all. I pledge to undertake that mission. I represent the urgent change we need. I am seeking to be your next DA to end the corrosive atmosphere that has plagued us for too long, and I am well qualified for that task for many reasons.

First and foremost, I have fought publicly against corruption throughout my career. As a private citizen, and as an independent attorney in solo practice, I have devoted all my resources and energies to bring an end to the malfeasance we see in our courts and in the district attorney’s office, in the arrest process, in the misappropriation of public funds on a city and county level, in rapacious taxes, and in dishonest public officials.

In 2004, I initiated a Court of Inquiry, a criminal investigation into local politicians. As a private citizen, I did what law enforcement officials failed to do themselves as our elected representatives. I have appeared before city council, commissioner’s court, the public service board (the water utility), and before at least two state bodies, including the Texas Task Force On Appraisal Reform where I argued for taxpayer relief and reform of the property tax system. I have been part of the national congressional legislative process. I have tried many jury trials as a prosecutor representing the State of Texas. As a defense attorney, I have represented citizens just like you in justice of the peace courts, municipal courts, military courts, federal courts, and state and county courts. I have extensive experience on both sides of the Bar, which has given me a full, unbiased view of our justice system and how it works, but more importantly, how it doesn’t work, and how it should.

My success also speaks for itself. As a defense attorney since 1998, with the exception of one jury trial, I have prevailed against my opponent’s office in all other jury trials. I have never shied from taking cases championing those in our community who have been wronged by corruption. I have taken on cases even when they were unpopular. I did this because I believe in our system. I believe in our values. I cherish the rule of law. But principles are one thing, and practice another. I have put my beliefs into practice my entire life. I have stood steadfastly by those unjustly accused, and I have unstintingly stood against those who actually committed crimes, no matter how powerful they might have been. I have stood by us, as a community, even in the face of unrelenting opposition. I will do the same as District Attorney.

My experience and education have prepared me for this moment. I have had the great privilege of enjoying the finest education. I attended one year at Burges High School and graduated from Loretto Academy High School. I received my bachelor degree in Latin American Studies from Barnard College, part of Columbia University in New York City. I was also fortunate to have studied Mexican history at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. I received my law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. I clerked for the highest criminal court in the state, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. I went on to work as a Democratic Texas congressional staffer in Washington, DC. I have also taught English and travelled extensively in Asia. This diverse cultural, educational, and professional experience I now offer to the voters of El Paso who finally have an alternative choice for District Attorney after sixteen stagnant years.

I have a simple message: good government and strong democratic values, where justice prevails under the watchful eye of an honest District Attorney. I dream of one El Paso, not two. I dream of one community with one set of constitutionally dictated laws, applied equally to all.

I will be addressing you in future letters over the next few weeks before the March 4 primary. I also look forward to meeting you in person when I visit your neighborhood as the campaign unfolds. I will talk to you in greater detail about the issues I’ve discussed here, and you can also investigate further on my website at TC4DA.com.

I began by talking about the best information available. As a dedicated citizen, I know you want that information. I know you wish to make your own choices, based on facts, and not based on the editorial spins others would have you mistake as facts.

My next letter will discuss why Dionicio Flores, editor at the El Paso Times, has failed to inform you of my platform and the importance of my message. As we all know, the El Paso Times dropped the ball years ago. Additionally, the management at that paper has developed a pattern of picking its candidates and the reasons for their selections are not always clear to the uncritical reader. Mr. Flores has decided and in fact has already told you in a November 2007 editorial that he plans to run a smear campaign against me. He said this when he wrote that I would be “grist” for future editorials. Ask yourself: why this vendetta? Why would a man who has never met me, never seen me in the courtroom, who knows I have fought against corruption, against unwarranted higher taxes, and for the rule of law, a man who exercises monopolistic control over our single printed news outlet, be so emotional and vitriolic toward me? Why would he seek to attack a candidate who has done nothing but fight for decent government? I will send you information regarding what goes on at the Times, Mr. Flores, some of his writers, and my opponent's office in connection to the newspaper in a future mailing.

Trust your own sense of things. Read critically. Do what you have always done. Exercise your franchise by voting for the candidate who best represents your values, your beliefs, and your ideals. Vote for the candidate who, like you, wants to live in my home without fear I will have to abandon it because of excessive property taxes; property taxes which subsidize ongoing corruption that should have been prosecuted long ago. Vote for me, Theresa Caballero, on March 4, 2008 in the Democratic primary. Vote for a better El Paso.

Sincerely,


Theresa Caballero TC4DA.com
300 East Main Street, Suite 1136 thcaballero@hotmail.com
El Paso, Texas 79901
915-241-8418