OUR TSC CHOICES AND THE REASONS WHY WE MADE THEM

 

By Juan Montoya
Early voting in the Brownsville Navigation District and the Texas Southmost College boards' elections start at 8 a.m. Monday.
Although we usually aren't in the habit of endorsing candidates we feel that these two boards are critical to the economic and educational development of this city and region that we will take the unprecedented step of endorsing candidates in both races.
The candidates for TSC positions are (the bold ones are our picks) :

Place 3: (Ed Rivera's old seat)

Evelyn Cantu

J.J. de Leon

Tony Juarez

Tony Zavaletta

Pick: It is with no small degree of sadness that we must part ways with our dear old friend Dr. Zavaleta in his bid for this position. Tony and I go way back to my days with the Brownsville Herald when he was a college instructor. He has since reached greater heights and as an anthropology major he has made great contributions to the knowledge of local history, culture and medicinal plants through numerous publications.

However, the reason we pick Dr. Juarez is based on his specific set of skills, namely his being a Certified Public Accountant, a skills set that the board desperately needs at this reconstruction juncture. Another, and perhaps more important reason is because as a high-ranking administrator in the Julieta Garcia administration of the UTB-TSC "partnership," he was privy to her plan to abolish the community college and turn over all of the assets (from bank accounts, buildings and real estate) to the oil-and-gas wealthy University of Texas System...and said and did nothing.
It is now, we feel, disingenuous for him to seek a position on the board of a community college that he was willing to see abolished. For that, most of all, we have to go with Juarez.

Cantu is being pushed by the likes of Mary Rose Cardenas (the main sponsor of the "partnership" which funneled millions – some say more than $1 billion over 22 years) to the UT System. She is also receiving bucks from United Brownsville and Ambiotec's Carlos Marin and wife Dr. Elena Marin, of Su Clinica Familiar. She may be great at chaperoning the Municipal Ambassador students of the BISD to the places of power, but she has had little or no policy-making experience. The need now is for the college to rebuild itself and provide more accessible and affordable education to its students. Cantu has little or no experience in those affairs. At this time, On the Job Training cannot be an option. We do, however, think her pretty campaign sings are catchy. It's too bad that attractiveness and good presentation is but a small factor in running a community college.
De Leon is also lacking in independent policy-making experience. For years he has been a receptionist and gofer for various high-ranking BISD administrators. Although that may swing a small number of votes, what the board doesn't need now is another "yes man" as it did when Garcia was president of the "partnership." TSC can do without him at this critical juncture of its new existence.

Place 4: (Held by Trey Mendez)

Beatriz M.  Hockaday

Trey Mendez

Pick: We really have nothing against Hockaday, we have noted in the past that she was a staff member of the OP 10.33 when its CEO Michael Hernandez III urged young people in the headquarters to take an active part in local politics through voting, registering voters, or being candidates. Bea took this to heart and filed for the position held by Mendez. Horrified, Hernandez and Marin (in charge of job development with OP 10.33) rushed to contribute cash to Mendez's campaign as a sign of contrition. We usually part ways with Marin and Hernandez, but in this case, they know a winner when they see one and rushed to be on the winning side.

Place 5: (Kiko Rendon's seat)

Ruben Herrera

Daniel Pizaña

Pick: All we know about Dan Pizaña is that he is young, an attorney on the make, and that his association with TSC board member Art Rendon (of BISD fame when he sued in federal court and won) as his son's law career mentor probably pushed him to run. Art Rendon (another dear friend) has been a disappointment to many on the board of TSC. He has resisted pulling the plug on the annual $25,000 "membership" to United Brownsville, and has generally swung in the direction of the prevailing wind. At BISD, he has been shuffled from here to there by an administration and a board who are reluctant to mess with a TSC trustee with which the district must, of necessity, must work very closely. We admire his loyalty and gratitude to Pizaña for allowing Rendon's law-school son to "shadow" him for a summer. But the future of this college cannot be based on a personal relationship. Herrera, on the other hand, has ample experience serving on various boards and is adept in the nuances of policy making which are going to be critical in TSC's formative years as a community college born anew. We have to go with Dr. Anthony Knopp on this one. He is Herrera's treasurer, and if anyone loves TSC and knows its critical importance to the development of our city and region, it is him. We're with you on Ruben, Dr. Tony.