JESSICA TETREAU-KALIFA SQUIRMS UNDER THE GLARE OF PUBLIC ATTENTION

"For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48
By Juan Montoya
We've been threatened with lawsuits over a posting where we reported that City of Brownsville District 2 Commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa had been arrested and charged with assault/family violence.
Apparently, someone didn't think that the "private" life of a public official deserved public attention.
However, as the facts emerge from the altercation that landed Jessica in jail Friday night/Saturday morning, it is becoming clear that the personal relationship between her and her mate is a very public thing.
In fact, the Brownsville Police Department has been called to intervene in the fist-o-fights between the two on several occasions before and after she was elected as a write-in in the last city election over incumbent commission Charlie Atkinson.
And despite the fact what she claims in the short teaser that appeared in today's Brownsville Herald online edition, we are told that the it was more than an "argument" that led police to cuff her, book her, and then escort her the local hoosegow until her attorney got her released on $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
The life of a public official can't by definition be "private" when it involves local law enforcement. In this case, it was she who apparently tried to preempt the charges when she called 911 and reported the assault.
Instead, upon viewing the conditions of the two antagonists, the law decided that she had been the aggressor and arrested her. Some sources report that his face exhibited deep gashes as a result of the fracas.
We remember when former mayor Pat Ahumada was arrested and charged with Driving While Intoxicated. At the time, his pictures were all over the blogosphere, on Facebook, the local newspaper, etc.
In fact, a clip of the arresting officer's taping of the stop and arrest were made available to the local newspaper for posting on their online edition. Later, even a clip from the tape inside the municipal jail was aired on local television stations and the Internet showing the mayor pacing the small cell awiating his release.
These were made available on the next day after the incident. In the case of Ms. Tetreau-Kalifa, it has taken three days before her booking photo was even released to the media, much less the tape of her in the city jail cell.
How about Charlie Atkinson? He was also featured on the Internet. And who can forget the inestimable Carlos Cisneros after he was scratched up in a little scrap he had with his wife over at the Island?
Critics of these flawed characters (aren't we all?) called loudly for their resignation
Jessica is a likeable enough person. We're sure her husband is as well. But there is a responsibility one assumes when he or she curries the trust and favor of the public to be their representative.
We remember that local Facebook social media operatives claimed long and loud that it was they who had carried Ms. Tetreau-Kalifa to victory and talked down some of the former public representatives name above.
Yet, if we scan their cyberpages we will be harp pressed to find the ongoing tragedy of the Tetrau-Kalifa saga narrated on their pages. Why the double standard?