Rodriguez said he tells employees who decide to run for office that they can’t campaign on county time or use county resources — from storing files on their work computer to printing documents with county equipment.

“I feel strongly that people have the right to run for public office, and as long as they observe the rules, they should be encouraged to do so,” Rodriguez said.

Here’s the line up of assistant county attorney candidates:

-- Jesus Herrera won his race for judge of County Court-at-Law 4 and faces no Republican in November.

-- Yahara Lisa Gutierrez is in the runoff challenging 65th District Court Judge Alfredo Chavez.

--Anna Perez will face Precinct 1 County Commissioner Luis Sarinana on April 8.

-- Naomi Gonzalez is one of four candidates in the May 10 election for the District 3 city representative seat to finish the term of Alexandro Lozano, who resigned to run for county commission. The other candidates are former city sanitation department director Emma Acosta, Fabiola Ruiz-Arras, John Burch and consultant Joseph Villescas.

Gonzalez said any campaigning she does during the work day will come from the little leave time she has accrued, she said, and once that’s used up, her time off will be unpaid leave.

“The way I have it worked out is that after I get off is when I am going to campaign, and on weekends,” Gonzalez said.

Acosta recently said she was not aware that Gonzalez is a public employee.

“I’m sure Jose Rodriguez is running a very tight ship and that he knows what his employees can and cannot do,” Acosta said. “They are attorneys, and they understand the law.

“So, do I have a problem with that? No. I’m just wondering who’s taking care of his office.”

West Central city Rep. Susie Byrd, a close friend of Rodriguez’s who worked on his last re-election campaign, said she sees a big difference between him and political brokers who put candidates up, provide their campaigns with financial help and strategic advice and then call in favors if they’re elected.

“Jose’s not trying to groom people to run,” Byrd said. “That’s not his deal. That’s not what he does. He just wants people to be engaged and enthusiastic about their government, and he gives them an avenue into politics.”

Others who successfully ran for office while working for Rodriguez include Probate Judge Yvonne Rodriguez and 120th District Court Judge Maria Salas-Mendoza, both of whom won election in 2006.

District Attorney Jaime Esparza has also had lawyers in his office run for office, including Jose Castillo who lost his race for judge of Criminal Court No. 1 on March 4, and Joseph Moody, who will face Dee Margo in the general election for state representative District 78.

David Crowder can be reached at dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or at 351-0605