PERO ESTAS QUE TE VAS Y TE VAS ...Y NO TE HAS IDO

By Juan Montoya
With retirement looming at the end of nearly four decades of working for Cameron County District Clerk Aurora De la Garza and her employees took off from the office two hours early Thursday to fete the end of her public service.

Throughout the day, district clerk department employees were busy decorating the main jury room wishing their longtime  boss a happy retirement. Cakes lined the tables and photos of Aurorita with personages ranging from former Mexican President Vicente Fox, former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton and a gaggle of lesser luminaries were exhibited along a table in the back.
Everybody was invited to attend starting at 3 p..m. and then call it a day after the festivities where Aurora was to be feted and sent off to a happy retirement.
We don't know if the county commissioners approved the giving away of two hours of county employees time with pay, but hey, it's not every day that a personage of Auro's stature departs from the hallways of public service.
We stopped by the festivities site and inquired whether there were any refreshments to be served, specifically beer or maybe a nice wine. District Clerk-elect Eric Garza recoiled at the word and assured us there were none.

This was the second fiesta celebrating Aurorita's departure. The other, a by-invitation-only affair, was held at the Brownsville Events Center and one could only go there if he or she was given an invitation. We asked, but alas, we were personas non gratas at the shindig.
This one, held in a public facility, was partially funded by attorneys who were buttonholed for a modest donation to pay for the eats and refreshments. Some told us they had not contributed to the party because they thought it inappropriate for a public office holder or her underlings to be soliciting money from the lawyers who use the courts and the office to make their living.
Will there be yet another party down the road for Aurorita?
Jose Alfredo had it right. "Pero estas, wue te vas, y te vas, y te vas y tevas, y te vas y te vas, y no te has ido.."