1ST OF FOUR TAX-MAN WRITE-IN CANDIDATE FORUMS HELD

By Jim Barton
www.brownsvilleobserver.blogspot.com/
Tad Hasse carefully explained one more time why he's launching four candidate forums for write-in candidates for tax assessor. The first forum was held Thursday night in a meeting room at the Brownsville Public Library.

"We're just tired of these appointments being made time and again without voter input," Hasse stated.

As Hasse has repeatedly explained, If indicted incumbent Tony Yzaguirre gets the most votes, then is convicted, the Cameron County Commissioner's Court selects a replacement.

"Then, you appoint someone for two years and they now become the incumbent in the next election with at least a 10 percent advantage."

In other words, the cronyism keeps perpetuating itself.

Three out of the four declared write-in candidates for tax assessor showed up, Jessica Puente-Bradshaw, Leo Lopez and Randy Garza.

Possibly, throwing a monkey wrench into the plan, Erasmo Castro of the Brownsville Cheezmeh Facebook page was a no show. A quipster remarked that Erasmo was "the elephant not in the room." Castro may feel his popularity on Facebook affords him the opportunity to go it alone. He certainly has the right.

But, Hasse emphasized that, for the plan to work, the candidates must be willing to support the candidate the forums reveal to be the strongest. He estimates that the write-in will need about 14,000 votes to win. The indicted incumbent, Tony Yzaguirre, received 11,528 votes in the primary, an embarrassment, revealing the lack of information possessed by Cameron County voters.

Hasse asked the candidates two questions: "Why are you the most qualified candidate?"

The second question was: "Why do you feel you can pull more votes than the other candidates?"
 I don't feel the candidates really understood or addressed the second question, as they went back to reiterating their qualifications, which has little to do with garnering votes.
Jessica Puente-Bradshaw, for example, has the distinct advantage of being an Hispanic woman, proven time and again to be an asset in local elections.
She has name recognition, with at least a couple county wide races behind her and a run for Congress.

Leo Lopez has administrator experience at BISD, the Health Department as well as involvement in numerous non-profits.

Randy Gonzalez can point to his 9-1/2 years in the military, his management of a local nursing home and relative youth.