The races for the City of Brownsville Commission are underway.
After a hugely successful Charro days, Mr. Amigo and SombreroFest, the attention of the electorate is now on the commission elections for three seats now held by incumbents John Villarreal, Debby Portillo (who is not running) and and Rose Gowen.
There are now three races with six candidates. They are William Garza running against Joel Mungia for District District 3, Ben Neece running against John Villarreal for District 4, and At-Large "B" incumbent Rose Gowen running against Head Cheez Erasmo Castro.
As they say in football, it's anyone's game.
In District 3, newcomer Joel Mungia is facing Garza, a perennial candidate who has not been able to win in his last two tries for the city commission. But now, with newcomer Mungia having the support of Mayor Tony Martinez and Ambiotec's (also shadow government architect United Brownsville), the game just got a bit more interesting. Will Garza be able to overcome Mungia's big-money supporters for a chance at the brass ring? As the man said, campaign, campaign, campaign.In the case of District 4, John Villarreal is facing former Chief Municipal Judge Ben Neece. Hanging around Villarreal's neck like an albatrosses?), are his votes on the purchase of the Casa del Nylon from $2.3 million, the proposed sale and move of Lincoln Park to a site across from the sewage treatment plant, the 36 percent hike in utility rates to pay the city's $325 million share of the Tenaska $500 million gas-powered electric plant, and his continued support of city attorney Mark Sossi as a full-time employee.
(The photo above, sent in by one of our three readers, shows Neece riding a horse in the Charro Days parade. If you notice at the left rear of the horse, that's Villarreal standing by the yellow pedestrian sign looking on aghast with arms akimbo as Neece's steed scampers by. Wife Lynette, stands on the right of the sign while Cameron County Pct. 2 Commission and wife's aunt Sofia Benavides look on. Click on graphic to enlarge.)
But there is more trouble for Villarreal. In a case that mirrors the Perfect Storm, he has to live down the mistrust of those who think he may have been in line to move up to Cameron County Treasurer to replace David Betancourt who was set to move to the County Tax Assessor-Collector position held by Tony Yzaguirre. Reports from David's birthday party held on a Thursday indicated that he was announced as the next tax assessor-collector when he was introduced. David would replace Tony and Villarreal would replace David. Pretty neat, hey?
But that little apple cart was overturned when Cameron County Clerk Sylvia Garza-Perez – following the directives of the county commissioners – executed the officeholder bond and administered the oath of office to Yzaguirre the next day, before there was an item posted on the commissioners court agenda.Even if Yzaguirre had not been convicted on the 23 charges filed by Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, he would have had to wait until the next general election to regain his seat if someone else had been appointed.. When Yzaguirre posted the bonds and got sworn in, that little scheme evaporated. Now Villarreal has Yzaguirre (who got 10,000 votes even after he had indicted) and his supporters mad at him and Garza-Perez's followers who found out what had happened. Neece, then, has a built-in support system that will be hard for John to overcome.
In the case of At-Large B incumbent Rose Gowen, challenger Castro has been a busy little bee this past few years building up a following on social media that garnered him 10,901 votes in the BISD's 2016 election, second only to Laura Perez-Reyes with 11,861, with 960 more. Gowen, in her reelection in 2013, got only 2,097. Can Castro woo back one third of the voters who filled in his oval on the ballot and eject Gowen from the city commission breaking up Martinez's majority?The majority of the voters in the city seem to have lost patience with Gowen who has raided the city's treasury (and GBIC and BCIC) to fund her pet projects like the bike and hike trials and to close downtown once or twice a month to have Spandex-clad suburbanites pedal around a ghost downtown. She carries the same albatross that Villarreal does with her support of Da Mayor's priorities. The race, it appears, is Erasmo's to lose.
32 comments:
Again, too-too-too many Mexicans running for office. they have done shit for this city, Mr. Montoya. When will you face that little fact? Report the bad that comes from all these losers!
I don't care how against Gowen anyone is, Castro is the absolute WRONG choice for any elected position. He has a history of foul behavior and being an all around bad person. If we want to end the circus that is the city commission, Castro cannot be elected. He will quickly turn into the commission clown with his lack of decency, respect and qualifications.
Here we go again, campaigning of those in office and those who want to be in office....but the city continues to suffer from the absence of leadership and poor management. Promises of jobs go unfulfilled. Infrastructure deteriorates in front of us.....as was discussed in a letter to the Herald this morning. The leaders of Charro Days and Sombrerofest always seem to organized to make money and make citizens happy...maybe they should run for office. The city commission and city officials don't seem to be able to make anything happen; except waste money.
The pig, Johnny boy and Naked in the road Garza are all losers
I'm one of those Spandex-clad suburbanites and I endorse Gowen. Erasmo caters to the uneducated masses who complain all day and don't take action. The educated people who support Gowen genuinely care about the city.
Erasmo makes fun of Brownsville residents - pregnant women, people on welfare, African-Americans, Mexican nationals, etc... He's a freaking hypocrite. Who in his/her right mind would vote for this ignorant asshole?
If you're Facebook friends with William Garza, you'll see that he likes photos of scantily clad teens and women. Erasmo actually tells them that they're beautiful. Do you trust them around your female relatives?
Damn it, Juan! Why are you endorsing Castro? He's a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and self-hating sack of crap.
I would like to know what Erasmo does to make a living. He has called himself some kind of advocate for cancer patients. Where does his money come from? Also, what is his level of education? Did he even graduate high school ? He claimed to have a BA in some kind of internet "degree" ministry. He sure has a lot of time on his hands to be on facebook all day long. I also noticed that he is constantly asking his readers to take him out to breakfast or lunch all the time. I am highly suspicious of him. I know where Dr.Gowen stands. How about this internet pet detective?
First thing Erasmo would do if elected, get jobs for Linda and the pimp she married.
How does castro manage to run in all these elections living from his home in Austin? The city should investigate his residency which everyone knows he hasn't lived in Brownsville all this time.
I too would enjoy bicycle rides downtown with suburbanites. I endorse Gowen. I guess option 2 would be to block if off for hookers and crackheads.
Complainers will never do anything for the City.. they rather complain and feel they've accomplished something doing that. loosers.
For lent i will stop throwing up after spotting Erasmo anywhere in the City.
I will stop making fun of how he wears his jeans all the way to his neck because he doesn't waist, because he swallowed a tire, because he was hungry, because he didn't have money for food, because he's fucking lazy.
I'm voting for Erasmo Castro, there is too much taxpayers monies wasted on bike trails/bike lines that are hardly used. Even worst, Cyclobias are also taking a huge budget deficit with all the unnecessary overtime pay for city employeees. Useless bike lines are getting to expensive to maintain, hundreds of gallons of paint wasted every other month to maintain them for nothing. Let the bikers utilize existing bike trails and stop the waste this senseless spending. We need Castro to stop this abuse of power, period.
Is time to go for John Villarreal
Erasmo, at least, is approachable. Gowen, on the other hand, is an arrogant know-it-all. I don't mind giving the Cheez a chance in this one. The current City Commission simply rubber-stamps the unethical Tony Martinez.
All incumbents need to be removed,if not its business as usual. The mayor will continue to bluntly violate every rule,policy and law . Unfortunately in the race of the replacement of portillo neither canidate is independent of the mayor. If,I recall correctly William Garza after loosing to Martinez he endorsed him . The other one is believed to have ties to the big boys Martinez,HenanDez and marin. This guy will win because of the money. The mayor needs one vote because Longoria and DeLeon are in bed with the mayor.
We need a real mayor.
We need a real city manager.
We need a real city attorney.
And Commissioner Gowen disrespects the people of Brownsville with her continued support of "special interests" that do nothing for the taxpaying residents of Brownsville.
Commissioner Gowen voted to give away Lincoln Park and in favor of the purchase of Casa de Nylon. How can you defend that? Instead of trashing Erasmo Castro, why don't you list the accomplishments of the commissioner? If you put those stupid bikes, I will scream. That was a joke, yes a joke! What about bus stops, what about working for developing a REAL hike and bike trail as in the abondoned RR line in West Brownsville? That would be something that would benefit Brownsville. Commissioner Gowen cares nothing for Brownsville as has been proven by her lack of action during her time as a city commissioner. It is time for her to step down. We need someone new.
Poor John he knows he's out, look at him....
Here hoping that Erasmus Castrus I wins the election. I am tired of having the same old farts in those positions.
Ben Neece will make the difference, he has my support
We need to elect Erasmo Castro so he can put a stop to all the senseless waste of taxpayers monies on useless bike lines and bike trails. We also need to get rid of Cyclovias which are ill -attended and costing the city a lot on overtime pay. The recently designated bike lines down on 6th and 7th streets also need to removed as hundreds of gallons of paint are wasted every two months, hardly anyone uses them. If bikers need to ride their bikes, the city already has spent millions of dollars on bike trails, miles and miles of them? All this waste of tax payers monies need to be stopped, period. We desperately need Erasmo Castro as City Commissioner, I know he will be the right choice.
There is a reason the cheese has lost every election he ran in. Even his own followers on his Facebook page don't vote for him. I see him as nothing but an internet clown.
Ask him.
A looser is a loser who can't spell "loser".
Gowen has a vision of educating the people of Brownsville about healthy habits and creating access to bike trails like in bigger Texas cities, Erasmo just want to promote obesity and enrichment thru public office. Look at him, he is a joke, if he can't control his hunger for food what makes you think he can control a city? Oh, he may blame his thyroid :(
It would be an embarrassment for the City to have a pig like Erasmo representing it in any out of Brownsville event, that filthy smelly hog, has no manners to sit in a table with decent people, he is constantly picking his nose and looking at his boogers in front of people who are eating GROSS!!!
Then she can do it on her own time, without the people's piggie bank
All these crude and immature comments against Erasmo Castro make me wonder if his opponent or her supporters are beginning to get a little nervous.
Are you sure you are not just looking in the mirror?
BARF, THE DOG ATE THE STASH!
BUT VILLARREAL HAS TO GO!
Post a Comment