Letty Perez-Garzoria Declares for City Commission, Place 4 Against John Villarreal

Letty Perez-Garzoria, Mean Mister Brownsville

Letty Perez-Garzoria, longtime nurse and Brownsville resident, has declared her candidacy for City Commissioner, District 4 against incumbent John Villarreal.

Bobby Wightman-Cervantes, who pens the blog the BROWNSVILLE VOICE, is not that impressed with Letty Perez-Garzoria based on an interchange he pulled off Facebook.

"When she speaks people will realize just how misinformed and poorly educated she really is," is Bobby's knee-jerk reaction to the Brownsville native.  Bobby's hasty conclusion, based on such a small sample size likely has roots in his infatuation with Commissioner Melissa Zamora with whom Perez-Garzoria has the exchange.

My personal appraisal of Ms. Perez-Garzoria's skill level, based likely on a larger sample size than Bobby's is that she is easily more articulate, thoughtful than anyone currently on the City Commission including Mayor Martinez.   In several appearances before the City Commission, disrespectfully not included in the meeting's broadcast due to the cowardliness of the commission and City Attorney Mark Sossi, Perez-Garzoria always seems to bring something extremely rare on first and third Tuesdays; ideas.  She is, first of all, a community advocate.

Her gentle nudges to the commission frequently include the phrase "We can do better than this."  She has also encouraged the commission to "live within our means."

In a telephone conversation with the candidate this evening, she stated that while she has not prepared a platform at this stage, she sees a need to "shake the bushes for more industry." The District 4 resident, which includes downtown, does not envision a magic restoration for that area, but views the downtown as an opportunity for tourism.  

John Villarreal

Perez-Garzoria stops short of criticizing her young opponent, John Villarreal, saying that is simply not her style, but indicates a vote for Villarreal is a vote for Ernie Hernandez.  John Villarreal has long held close ties to the Hernandez's with Erin Hernandez initially his campaign treasurer in his last campaign until that was found to be a violation of campaign rules.  Last summer, at EarthFest, Villarreal went ballistic when he recognized someone who has opposed Ernie Hernandez, handing out voter registration materials.  Villarreal even threatened to cut off future funds for EarthFest.  

Former lawyer Bobby Wightman-Cervantes feels this will be an easy campaign for Villarreal:   

"If John loses he needs to move into a cave and live out his life in shame. She will not be able to raise money. When she speaks people will realize just how misinformed and poorly educated she really is."

Bobby may be correct about the monetary aspect, but he may also underestimate how disenchanted many are with such a weak city commission so easily bulldozed by Tony Martinez.  John himself weakly gave up his first board appointment to Tony which cost District 4 their representation.  

Brownsville may very well warm up to the idea of a mature, experienced person on the city commission, without the "deer in the headlights" we've noticed from several of our newer commissioners.