U CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER, BUT TRY TO MAKE HIM VOTE

By Juan Montoya
Well, the votes are in, and if the first-day results of balloting are any indication, the voters are staying away from early voting in droves.
After the first full-day of early voting in the City of Brownsville City Commission elections, the total votes cast at the five early voting sites was an underwhelming 726.
This despite the fact that aside from the fact that a voting site was open in the Soutmost Public Library (124 votes) and at La Sala at the University of Texas at Brownsville Student Union (22) and a spanking new site at the Brownsville Community Health Center (55). Apparently, the sick people are more civic minded than are the apathetic students at the UTB.
This despite the fact that there are 15 candidates running for mayor and three commission positions. Incumbent mayor Tony Martinez has often waxed poetically on the future-looking students in Brownsville gazing out whimsically at the future washing up on the waves at Boca Chica where SpaceX will take them to a glorious and soaring future.
"What do you see out there," he asserts that Elon Musk was asked.
"I see apathy," could very well have been the answer of Remi Garza, Cameron County's interim Elections Administrator who is overseeing the voting for the city.
The mayor's race has been dominated by the ABT (Anyone But Tony) Movement with a dissatisfied electorate disillusioned with disbelieve in his cavalier manner of spending their money and handing out the lot to his bods. Everything now points to a runoff between Martinez and one of the other four candidates that includes former mayor Pat Ahumada, newcomer Millennium Brenda Joyas, Cheezmeh Guru Erasmo Castro, feisty Robert “Captain Bob” Sanchez, and former city commission and Three Amigo William A. Garza.
At the Commissioner at Large "A," the apparent front-runner to replace Estela Chavez-Vasquez who resigned abruptly after it was discovered she really lived in Los Fresons, has to be local attorney Cesar de Leon. David Belleperche, who has made a run for the city commission once before, is taking another stab at it, while maquiladora promoter (and United Brownsville plant) Gerardo Martinez, is counting on his Southmost upbringing and MIT engineering degree to amaze the peasants. Gadfly Roberto Uresti, a U..S. Army vet who has let it slip out he was in an intelligence unit he can't talk about, is a familiar face running from his Galaxia space colony out toward Las Prietas.
The dog fight at Southmost is a toss-up between incumbent commissioner for District 1 incumbent Ricardo Longoria, who has recently taken to speak benignly of "my people" when referring to the residents of Southmost. That claim, however, is wearing thin since he has voted to do away with a hurricane dome shelter there and also voted to increase electric rates by 36 percent at the behest of Da Mayor to promote the $325 million PUB-Tenaska debacle. LOngoria's chicken plate campaign at the Southmost Library to many is an indication that he is feeling the footsteps behind him.
Biting hard on his heels is Roman Perez who came in only 140 votes behind Longoria in the last election go-round. And everyone is looking hard to see whether Southmost raised attorney Michael Gonzalez, a new face who has questioned the incumbents heart and his competence to lead.
The tit-for-tat for District 2 between incumbent social-calendar girl (and UCF potential pugilist)  Jessica Tetreau and Sergio Zarate has turned out to be a donnybrook with the feisty commish being assisted by perro chato blogger Robert Wightman to attack Zarate, whom the rabid Wightman asserts is Satan incarnate. Hide the women and the children!
With all these interesting characters vying for the voters consideration, it's hard to understand why more voters aren't flocking to the polls.