Posted: 6:23 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011

Former FBI boss: El Paso corruption an 'epidemic'

He and current county judge respond to KFOX-14 viewer concerns about scandal



By Jacob Rascon

EL PASO, Texas —

After hundreds of KFOX-14 viewers took to our website and Facebook to vent about the public corruption scandal, we brought their comments to the current El Paso County judge and a former special agent in charge of the FBI's El Paso Office. They shared viewers concerns and suggested the everyday concerned citizen could buck the trend with more political participation.

"There will always be a little corruption. You can't get away from that," retired FBI director and El Pasoan Dick Schwien said. "But here it's been, it's like an epidemic."

"People have an absolute right to be outraged at what was going on," County Judge Veronica Escobar said.

"It's sad, it's all just very sad."

Jessica Rivera wrote on the KFOX-14 Facebook page: "Geesh! Is everyone in El Paso politics corrupt? How sad for our city." Adrian Cisneros wrote, "Seriously!!! How the heck are we supposed to trust our (local leaders) with this kind of garbage!!!"

"It makes all of us lose confidence in our own county government," Schwein said. But later, he added, "We don't vote! What, 10 percent? 15 percent of the electorate goes out?"

"Apparently, people here just accept," he said. "If you don't vote then you have yourself to blame for some of this."

Escobar agreed that along with vigilant law enforcement, the everyday member of the Borderland community will be the key to change.

"You don't give up on your town, you fight for it," she said. "(People) should be outraged. But they need to turn that outrage into action and civic engagement."

"It should give people hope ... that they have an active, engaged arm of law enforcement; that they have a county government taking action and they have a media that says, 'Let's figure out what's going on?'

Now the (people) have to say, "what's my role?"

Schwein predicted the corruption scandal will "go on and on" and added that compared with other cities where he worked as an FBI agent, "crooks in El Paso have sold their souls -- and their office -- for nickels and dimes."

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/form...pidemic/nF7QD/