NO DISRESPECT. RUBEN PERSONALLY ENDORSED NORMA AND ED

 

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Before we get taken to task for posting the photos of our late friend Brownsville attorney Ruben Herrera and his candidates to the Texas Southmost College board of trustees, let us say this outright: Before he left for Spain, we got together and he explained why these two candidates would be the right picks for that board.

Ruben and the publisher of this blog first met when we were working together back in the 1980s to get Lucino Rosenbaum Jr. elected as commissioner to Cameron County Precinct 1. I was a newspaper reporter at the Brownsville Herald and his dad ran a  newspaper in Matamoros and we hit it right off. After that campaign, yours truly was the administrative assistant to Rosenbaum's Road and Bridge Pct. 1 Office, Ruben went on to law school, and later was appointed to the Cameron County Housing Authority representing Pct. 1. I later left to work for newspapers in the Midwest (Michigan and Minnesota) and we hooked up again upon my return in the 1990s.

Before he left for Spain, Ruben had lunch with Lucino and touched upon the subject of the upcoming TSC elections and endorsed Dr. Norma and Edward. He and I later met at the Southwinds Lounge and he recommended them to me. It was to be the last time either Lucino or I saw him. His death stunned all of us, especially board chair Adela Garza, who shared his love of the college and its students and staff.

He saw J.J. De Leon as a petulant, petty, and arrogant prima donna board member who teamed up with trustee Eva Alejandro, who has constantly tried to micromanage the administration and is driving the staff crazy with her overbearing character and demanding manner. Even though Ruben and I both helped to get them elected six years ago, we could see that now they were too caught up in themselves for the board to work together as a team for the betterment of TSC. (A befuddled local blogger misread this part and charged that I meant Adela, who, according to his delusions, is paying me to write this. Still waiting for that check, Jim.)

 Trustee Alejandra Aldrete lately had joined them to form the minority  troika, a constant malicious chisme generator pushing negativity and divisiveness and creating dissent and chaos among the staff.

As friends for almost 40 years and with our shared love for TSC, we supported the Fab Four – Adela, Rene Torres, Trey Mendez and Kiko Rendon – when the UT System, through former UTB-TSC president Julieta Garcia, attempted to abolish the college district and take all its assets, except, of course, for the district's debt, which they wanted the taxpayers to shoulder. Which, of course, made him wonder whether Dr. Hilda Silva, who served under Garcia for the better part of the "partnership," could separate her loyalties to the UT System when differences arose on various issues between it and TSC.

"How can you serve two masters?," he asked. "It would be like having a UT System rep in the board room. I didn't hear her say much when her president was trying to destroy TSC."

During his tenure at the college, the district recovered from its 20-year "partnership" and regained its place as an independent entity, lowered university-level tuition to make it affordable for all students, and cut taxes to lower the burden on district residents. 

With those achievements behind them, Ruben was set to launch the college to fulfill its community college and return it to its mission and vision to become the college it was before the disastrous "partnership" almost destroyed it. The TSC Law Center is a living testament to his dedication to improve opportunities for its students.

I have no qualms or reservations about saying that Dr. Norma and Edward had Ruben's support, and what is more, that it was partly because of his close personal relationship with the Norma's brother Dr. Jose Luis Lopez that he championed his sister's candidacy. We mourn his family's loss – and ours – but will follow his lead and work to elect candidates like Ed and Norma who shared his love of our college and the district's residents.