After a few weeks of spotty attendance and rumors about his plans, El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos was front and center at Monday's county commission meeting.
Last week, NPT reported that Jaime Perez, Cobos' chief of staff, had requested a legal opinion on the procedure for resigning and appointing a new county judge. [link]
The next day, Cobos was quoted in an El Paso print publication as saying he has no plans to resign. There were no items on the agenda Monday pertaining to a resignation. [link]
At public comment Monday morning, a speaker told El Paso County Commissioners Miguel Teran and Luis Sarinana, both of whom give up their seats at the end of the month, that he would miss them -- specifically, that he would miss criticizing them.
"Don't worry. I'll be here," Cobos said.
Why Cobos might consider quitting a $98,000 job is unclear, but he is a known target in the FBI's public corruption investigation that has seen nine guilty pleas and four indictments in the past 19 months.
In related news, NPT also previously had reported that Cobos had gone to Washington, D.C. and had met with U.S. Reps. Silvestre Reyes and Ciro Rodriguez. [link]
Cobos, in various reports, including one in an El Paso print publication, said he was lobbying on county business. One of the county's federal lobbyists, Isaac Reyes, who accompanied Cobos for parts of his trip last week and helped set up the itinerary for this week's visit by Cobos, said that that Cobos discussed county business when the two were together.
Reyes, no relation to El Paso's congressman, said that he was not in the room during the meeting with U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, but was in the room at the meeting with U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, whose San Antonio district includes a small portion of Far East El Paso County. At the latter, only county business was discussed, Isaac Reyes said.
