Alice’s politics truly going ‘to the dogs’ By Ellie Tamez |
 Ellie Tamez Staff Reporter thesouthtexan@yahoo.com |
It may seem funny to hear that the mayor of Alice, Grace Saenz-Lopez, has left office over a Shitzu dog named “Puddles,” or “Panchito” as she calls him, but it is no longer even a bad joke. The Alice Echo-News Journal published the first news of the incident on Nov. 6, 2007, which read, “The Shitzu hits the fan.”
The mayor reported her neighbor‘s dog dead, but instead kept him and renamed him “Panchito.” The reappearance of the dog led to national news and the resignation of Seanz-Lopez , who has been indicted on a variety of charges, last week.
Rudy Gutierrez, original owner of Puddles, asked her to take care of the dog over a weekend in July because they were going on vacation. Reportedly,the dog became ill soon after and needed medication. When Gutierrez called to check on the dog Saenz-Lopez said the dog had died.
On Oct.31, 2007, Sylvia Trevino,the woman who sold the dog to Gutierrez said she saw the mayor drop off the dog at Linda’s Grooming. Gutierrez then called Saenz-Lopez to ask why she had lied, but the mayor did not answer his phone calls nor call him back.
I know that people who are elected into office are human and do make mistakes, but lying to your neighbors and their kids about the dog and keeping it for yourself is mean, deceitful and just plain wrong. As mayor of her hometown, Saenz-Lopez had the trust of her constituents. She has lost it and, at last, she has submitted her resignation.
Had she returned the dog and said she was sorry, perhaps it would have been a different story. Instead, she insisted on keeping the dog. Saenz-Lopez said she decided to keep the dog because her neighbors did not take care of the dog and are cruel and abusive. At one point, she offered the Gutierrez’s money and/or another dog. If in fact the Gutierrez’s are cruel to their animals, then why offer to buy them another dog?
You would think that would be the end of the drama but it is nowhere close to being the end. The grooming shop released the dog to the mayor after two weeks and Puddles was later reported missing.
Corpus Christi’s KZTV-10 had been keeping track of the story and passed by Saenz-Lopez’s twin sister Gracy Garcia’s house in Ben Bolt and found the dog on the front porch.
According to Saenz-Lopez and her sister, an unknown woman dropped off the dog at Garcia’s house. They finally confessed and turned themselves in and were indicted on charges of concealing and tampering with evidence and lying to authorities in an attempt to conceal the dog.
As if the town of Alice wasn’t embarrassed enough the story was picked up nationally and both parties appeared on FOX’s “The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet.”
The mayor had planned on running for the town’s Tax Assessor Collector but said she will no longer run due to “health reasons”, saying, it had nothing to do with the controversy over “Panchito.”
I think it might really be because Zulema Chapa, sister of Gutierrez said in a city council meeting that she was escorted out of for yelling questions at the mayor said, “If you can steal a dog, you can steal our taxes.”
Mayor, it seems Puddles or “Panchito” has left you in a puddle of trouble. This is ridiculous, just give the dog back and say you’re sorry.