Is Cata Presas-Garcia the New Charlie Atkinson?

In Cameron County we do not throw out our self-serving politicians at the first sign of rot or mold, but instead wait for obvious signs of rancidity, maggot infestation and unbearable stench.  Our super-tolerant community initially brushes off all criticisms with "Ah, that's just Ernie being Ernie, Conrado being Conrado or Armando being Armando", until that proverbial tipping point is reached with the realization  that those are OUR tax dollars being squandered by calabaza and nepotism, OUR judicial system ruined by bribery or OUR law enforcement being compromised by sheriff-assisted drug dealing. 

Sorry Charlie

Occasionally, a bum gets tossed before being hit with and indictment or arrest.  In 2011, Charlie Atkinson, the brutish city commissioner of District 2, finally reached unelectability with his identification with the huge sports park overruns, his bully approach to city government and his late night bombast at local watering holes.  As a citizen living a block away from Atkinson at the time stated:  "I would vote for a mesquite tree living in District 2 before I would vote for Atkinson."

Pat Ahumada

Former Mayor Pat Ahumada also wore out his welcome in the city, although do-nothing Tony Martinez has made some long for the charismatic shrimper.  Ahumada has seemingly disappeared, which might be appropriate for an incumbent mayor garnering only 9% of the vote.  When fewer than 1 in 10 vote for a two term incumbent, the image is beyond tarnished.  In Pat's case, it wasn't just the $26,000 check from a vendor made out to the city that he deposited in his personal account.  Also contributing to his political demise, were his long-winded arguments waged far into the night on Facebook where he showed the flexibility of the Great Wall and his poorly staged town hall meeting about the Fly Frontera "airline" where he came off as a total buffoon.

Presas-Garcia

Quickly plunging into Atkinson-Ahumada style oblivion may be Cadillac Cata Presas-Garcia, the bull-in-a-china-closet BISD trustee, former board president, who seems joined at the hip with convicted RICO felon, con artist/philanthropist Carlos Quintanilla.   Although trustees Christina Saavedra and Lucy Longoria  are obviously Quintanilla "girls", it was Presas-Garcia, along with fake doctor Escobedo who implemented the dictates of the Dallas con man at BISD.  The crowning achievement for the majority 4 is still the dismissal of the $14,300,000 lawsuit against Healthsmart, orchestrated by Quintanilla, much to the delight and enrichment of his boss man and benefactor Ted Parker and much to the harm of the children of BISD who could use an extra 14 mil for art supplies, hand sanitizer, paper towels and book replacement.  

Brownsville seems to be catching up to all this con artistry and skullduggery, judging by the persistently negative comments about Cata on the blogs this week.  Among the 60 comments in the previous article on MMB was this harsh statement referring to Cata as "La Rata":  "Did you see the campaign ad for La Rata in the Brownsville Herald? What an ugly, self righteous, egostical shrew she is, not to mention delusional. Anyone who has anything on her, get it out there; make it public! She needs a tar and feathering or to be burned at the stake."

I don't fully understand this comment, but it also seems aimed at Presas-Garcia: "So what else is new? Tell what honest person in Brownsville Likes Catalina Presas-Garcia? NONE? Even the Bad people HATE Catalina Presas-Garcia. How Bad does that tell us Catalina Presas-Garcia is! She appears to be as bad as Satan himself. She will sell out her own MOTHER to get what she wants. Now that IS BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPOKEY!"

Here's another cut of Cata from an anonymous poster:  "How can the voters of Brownsville elect a Board member like Cata to manage a half billion dollars when she can not even manage her own household money and has to file for Bankruptcy? How sad is that?"

As noted from the other examples, a negative perception is slow in coming sometimes in Brownsville, Cameron County.  Once the negatives hit, though, things tend to snowball.  Cata Presas-Garcia artfully dodged facing Mary S. Rey in the BISD trustee elections, but will she be able to dodge the growing negativity in the community about her performance as a BISD trustee?