Being a heart surgeon, he needs no charts or props. He knows just how to make the heartbeat of businessmen and community leaders fibrillate by bringing up the bogeyman of "double your property taxers" and "set education back 50 years in South Texas" suavely and adroitly with his practiced bedside manner.
But, alas, the gruel is getting thin.
His latest audience was the Port Isabel City Commission where he railed against the majority of Texas Southmost College trustees for rejecting the overtures of the UT System with its proposal to "invigorate" the partnership and take it to a bright new future of academic nirvana by simply handing over all the assets of the 75-year-old community college (real estate and bank deposits), and remove the pesky trustees from having any decision-making power over policy.
In short, they could just manage the ad-valorem duties and hand over to the system $15 million annually. To be fair, the trustees would not be totally out of the loop. That could assume a supine (and benign) position and "advise" the UTB President Juliet Garcia on matters relating to the day-to-day operations of the college.
Now, people are asking, just what does Robles get out of riding interference for Juliet's extortive plan to install her kingdom on the banks of the Rio Grande?
For years, Garcia has played him like a Stradivarius. She knows his desire to uplift the masses of the barrios from whence he came to the glorious heights of a Mozart opera. She knows he wants to be recognized not as a pedestrian wielder of the scalpel and cleaver, but as a patron of arts that will find the next Michelangelo painting pictures off an alleyway in the Southmost area.
She has nurtured his desires to be a collector of fine art, to guide the funding and construction of a fine arts center and to push for local taxpayers to foot the bill to realize these illusions of grandeur.
For those reasons he came to her defense when others in the community rejected Garcia's expenditures of $640,000 for a Mexican artist to make a mural depicting the uplifting effects of a fine education. And he has been her steadfast defender after the community has learned of the arrogant and unmeasured abuses that she has perpetrated upon the local community. All for a good cause, he argues.
He was willing to overturn the mandate of the electorate this past November by trying (along with fellow doctor Robert Lozano) to oust TSC chairman Kiko Rendon. Joined by Garcia lapdog David Oliveira who apparently had joined with TSC counsel Dan Rentfro and his cousin in the Texas Legislature to push Garcia's brave new world of academia upon the revolting peasants, they tried to remove Rendon as chairman of the board.
Foiled, yet undeterred, Robles has now taken to the hustings to drum up support for Garcia's rejected overture to the representatives of the people on the TSC board.
But in Port Isabel he found a skeptical audience.
He chose to ignore that these are not your average ignorant yokels who will cringe at the mere claim that rejecting Garcia's partnership claim will "double you taxes" or relegate us to ignorance. Those in his audience were the hardy descendants of pirates and smugglers, of Cajuns and half-breeds that have the stubborn streak of Missouri teamsters and who want you to "show me" instead of believing every red herring thrown their way.
These are folks who have weathered many a storm, withstood wave and gale, and hardend their resolve before the elements without throwing their mates overboard and didn't go for the bait.
Robles did not walk away from this bunch with a resolution for his queen. Rather, he left behind a skeptical audience who happens to be savvy and knows the players in the TSC-UTB drama quite well. After all, Kiko garnered widespread support there to get on the board.
We can hardly wait to see where Robles takes his dog-and-pony show next.
Can we suggest the Laureles Citizens Council of Fine Arts? Or perhaps the Olmito Fine Arts Coalition? Or maybe the Las Prietas Accordion and Bajo Ensemble Society? We understand they meet every fortnight under the mesquite tree on Garden Street.
But then again, in Las Prietas and Port Isabel they are probably more concerned about their kids getting enough of an education to get a good job and feed their families rather than to lean back on their hammocks to savor the glittering passages and webs of figurations in a Claude Debussy piano composition.
"Danos jale, Robe. No nos jambes el calich, ese."
8 comments:
Dr. Robles is carry the water for Queen Scorpiana and seems to have stepped up the rhetoric to convince the public that he supports turning over tax dollars going to TSC to by managed by UT System, to turn over the millions of dollars in facilities that belong to this community to be owned by UT System and to give up local control to UT System. Dr. Robles is a puppet of Juliet and while he may be a well respected cardiologist....he is a little rat following the pied piper. Robles has no respect for the citizens of Brownsville. He is an elitist, just like Juliet. He is just another pawn doing the dirty work for his Queen and promoting the Kardenas Klan strategy to steal money from citizens. His local presentations are likely orchestrated by Juliet Garcia and her "staff".
El Robles no vale verga. He needs to tell people the truth and stop being Julieta's pendejo. Pobre vato. He may have millions, but he will always be barrio trash.
Although you are,dare I say it, "in bed with" the worst kind of ilk within the BISD landscape and therefore difficult to respect....you are are SPOT ON with this !! Especially as it relates to the true educational needs of this community.
Now that Juliet no longer has her "hand picked" trustees at TSC, she has turned against the TSC board and has her minions out doing her dirty work...to try to turn the public against their elected officials. Robles, David Oliviera, Chester Gonzalez and Dr. Lozano are trustees hand picked by Juliet and now they are on the streets to do Juliet's dirty work. As ususal, she has her henchmen while lingers in the shadows. But, Juliet, we see you. We see that you have killed TSC; we see that you are willing to give up this communities facilities and tax dollars to UT System; we see that you want no local control of yourself or TSC. Juliet, you have become the new Mary Rose Kardenas and need to be put out to pasture with Mary Rose. Robles and the others are worms, who don't deserve public trust.
Roberto Robles thinks that everybody is stupid, and that everybody listens to him. No, we are not your patients, nor are we, the nurses that you so much disrespect...IDIOT
You can take this guy out of the barrio, but you will never take the barrio out of this guy.
(y que me perdonen mis cuates de aqui del barrio) yo soy del barrio, pero no soy MIERDA!!!
Thanks to Anony, Dr Robrto Robles is an asshole with all the male and female nurses at the local hospitals..he thinks his shiiit does not stink, and that he is above everyone else...he shiits the same way I do, and when the time comes he's gonna go go to the same hole I would... well...no, at least I will be cremated!!!
...unfair to the very large world of the arts; there is a place for the UTB/TSC music program, and the Patron Of the Arts, as well as all the other music mentioned ....
Paz Pan Salud
This man has lost his mind. Watching him last night at the Arts Center tell his story as if it is the gospel is scary. He needs to step down and allow somebody else that is more rational than he is, make the serious decisions these trustees are faced with. I do not envy them one bit. We have to support our 75 year institution and try to do all that is possible to conserve it. The ideal situation would be Brownsville with UTB stand alone and TSC Junior College. Why can't we have it all? We are a proud community that believes in Education. Let's rally our troops and get on board instead of going in so many directions.
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