On a typical morning in the El Paso County Courthouse, you will notice typical goings-on: lawyers in expensive suits with pricey briefcases speaking guardedly to one another near the entrance; people on their way to conduct county business in queue to pass through the security checkpoint; and county employees gathering together while waiting for the too-slow elevators to take them to their respective departments.

When news broke of the FBI executing a search warrant in county offices and in the homes of county officials, and when information came to light about former county aide John Travis Ketner pleading guilty to his role in alleged public corruption schemes, leaders and opinion-makers throughout the city began to speculate on who might also be involved and to what extent the investigation and its findings could have on El Paso.

Precinct 2 County Commissioner Veronica Escobar said Ketner’s guilty plea would show politicians “there are consequences for those who use their office for personal enrichment. Rep. Steve Ortega stated that the investigation and any subsequent convictions would have a “cleansing effect on the El Paso Community.” And recently, in his State of the City address, Mayor John Cook referred to the ongoing investigation as “cloudy days,” days that hung over El Paso.

Those were strong statements.

Anyone working for or doing business with the County would find it difficult not to have worked with or even know any of the 17 individuals and organizations Ketner claimed were involved in the schemes. It would be easy for an employee or vendor to assume that the county was indeed filled with crooked politicos and greedy businessmen.

But the scandal exploded onto the El Paso political scene three weeks ago. And the atmosphere inside the glass courthouse tower looks as it did three months ago, long before there was any public knowledge of an investigation or corruption.

Employees appear to be going about their daily tasks. People seem to be conducting their business as they did before details of the scandal were made public. Lawyers continue speaking quietly to each other about their cases.

Any fear or worries or tensions are not obvious.

Working Through It

One county department that is under particular scrutiny is the District Clerk’s office.

Though District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez is not directly named in Ketner’s plea, it has been widely speculated that he is John CC3, one the alleged co-conspirators. Sanchez has previously admitted that the way John CC3 is described in the document makes it reasonable to assume that that person is him. “The way it read, yes, it is,” Sanchez said in an interview on June 14.

Several District Clerk employees, who remained anonymous, said they first noticed tensions among the staff immediately after the alleged corruption became known.
The staffers said they saw one employee visibly upset after he returned from speaking to the FBI agents who were individually interviewing District Clerk employees about their department.

The staffers also stated that business in the District Clerk’s office is still “running smoothly.” They said if anything the office only seems to be quieter.

They stated that District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez has sent out emails concerning the employees’ rights in speaking with FBI agents and telling employees that the office will continue to operate as it has before.

But one of the employees said that Sanchez has not out-right discussed the allegations with the office. “In my opinion he’s tried to shy away from it,” he said.

“I feel bad for Gilbert,” the employee said of his boss and his current situation. He also said he does not believe Sanchez had any part in the alleged wrong-doing. “If it’s true, it’ll definitely shock me,” he added.

“Nothing’s Really Changed”

Sanchez stated that “nothing’s really changed” because of the allegations, speculations and investigation. “My staff continues to do their job the way they should, we haven’t changed procedures,” he said. “We make it a point not to change anything because we don’t want to make it appear that there’s anything wrong, there hasn’t been, and therefore I think everything’s been working normally.”

Sanchez said he has not received any complaints about the operations of his department from people doing business with it, not even from lawyers, who are often in the office filing documents for their court cases. “I think the first ones who would have complained or questioned it would have been the attorneys, and they have not done so.”

Though he said his staff was “naturally nervous and apprehensive” when they learned of the allegations, Sanchez stated that things are now different. “It’s now upbeat,” Sanchez said of the attitude of his employees.

He also added that his employees are “very upset that their integrity is being questioned in the matter that has been stated in the press.”

Out of a staff of 93 people, Sanchez said about 20 of them have been interviewed by the FBI.

Business as Usual

In spending the morning walking the halls and riding the elevators of the courthouse, it is not easy to know that the massive investigation into alleged public corruption and fraud is taking place.

People were still filing documents for marriage licenses and business operations. Lawyers continued to meet with their clients and represent them in the courtrooms. Men even continued to get their shoes shined in the courthouse lobby.

There is a veneer of business-as-usual, as it had been before the mentioning of a scandal, and as it will be until further details of the investigation and those involved are released.

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Rene Leon can be contacted at rene@newspapertree.com, or at 915.351.0605.