SAN ANTONIO — The race for San Antonio's District 7 city council seat is getting personal.
Two candidates are at odds over allegations of a stolen campaign sign.
One candidate is now taking that claim to the Texas Ethics Commission. She says she witnessed the alleged theft firsthand.
"We see a man come out here and he picks up my sign and he tosses it in the bed of his truck," said Sandragrace Martinez, candidate for San Antonio City Council District 7.
Martinez says the incident happened Tuesday at the corner of Broadview and Bandera on the northwest side. When she spotted the man taking her sign, she said, she confronted him and recorded the interaction.
Martinez posted the video on social media, where members of the public began to recognize the man caught on camera. He's Joe Alderete, Jr., the father of Martinez's opponent, Marina Alderete Gavito.
"I placed it on Facebook and they said that is the father of your opponent! That man sits on ACCD board of trustees," said Martinez. "That man is an ex-city council[man] who stepped down because of some issues that were happening."
Martinez said when she confronted Alderete Tuesday, he said he was told to take the sign down.
"They told me to take it down. 'Who's they?'" Martinez recalled. "Then he said, 'Jay'. Then he changed his story saying no it was the lady at the taqueria. We said, 'Well let's go over there because she gave us permission because this is her side of the lease'. He said, 'Well, I don't know!' Then kind of flails his hands."
Martinez assures both business owners on the property gave her permission to put up her sign. The taqueria has her campaign sign on display in the front window.
"All these things derail us just a little bit, but it also gives us a lot more initiative to keep going," she added. "This is Holy Week! I want to forgive. I want to move on. We have a race in District 7 that's important."
Gavito insists this whole ordeal was due to miscommunication.
She says as soon as she heard about what happened, she called Martinez to explain.
"My dad was volunteering for the campaign," said Gavito. "There was a misunderstanding on the property location. We had permission from the property owner to put up the sign. They had permission from somebody who leases that property to put up their signs."
Gavito says her campaign policy is to never touch another candidnate's sign.
"I think what we're seeing is there's a lot of he said, she said. That's just so messy," said Gavito. "That's just negative energy and we should be focusing on what District 7 residents care about."
In a statement sent to KENS 5 Wednesday evening after our story aired, Joe Alderete Jr. explained his perspective. He said, “Yesterday there was a misunderstanding on who was allowed to put campaign signs up on a property at the intersection of Bandera and Broadview. My understanding was that the property owner gave Marina’s Campaign exclusive rights for that corner, but a business leasing a portion of the property was allowing another campaign to put up a sign. I believe we have worked through the confusion and now signs for both campaigns are now located there. I will continue to act ethically and support my daughter’s campaign with integrity.”
Now, both candidates' signs are displayed at the corner of Bandera and Broadview.
We asked both candidates why they should be elected to represent District 7.
Martinez said, "I think the time is now to understand that any leader in a position of influence, especially when it comes to the needs of District 7, that person needs to have ethics. That individual has to have a tribe of people behind them that also have ethics because that's what you're bringing to the dice. If you can't get that straight befoer an election, then we've got problems."
Gavito said, "I bring a lot of great business experience and also community leadership experience. I'm ready to use that experience to serve the residents of District 7."
Five people are running for San Antonio's District 7 council seat: Jacob B. Chapa, Marina Alderete Gavito, Andrew "AJ" Luck, Sandragrace Martinez and Dan Rossiter.
Early voting begins Monday, April 24.