Can Brownsville Afford to Wait for John Villarreal to Grow Into His Role As Commissioner?

John Villarreal

Legendary University of Texas coach Darrell Royal was noted for playing talented freshman on his football team.  "If a dog's gonna bite, he'll bite as a pup," he was once quoted.

Many of us hoped three years ago that John Villarreal, filling out the remainder of Edward Camarillo's term as commissioner in District 4, would learn to bite.

It was disappointing to say the least when John, in his first city commission meeting, so timidly relinquished one of the few bones thrown a commissioner's way, appointing someone from their district to an influential city board.  He allowed the bigger dog, Mayor Tony Martinez to snatch the appointment right out of his mouth without so much as a whimper.

We quickly learned John simply had no bite.  Again and again Martinez walked over him and the other youthful, naive commissioners, increasing the city's tax obligations, buying speculative real estate downtown to the tune of 3.5 million dollars, shutting down the broadcast of public comment.

Respect for one's elders is not necessarily a bad thing.  John still lives at home at 30, works hard under his father at La Milpa Tortilleria on St. Charles St., producing some of the best Sunday barbacoa in Brownsville.  John delivers tortillas around the city and to customers on South Padre Island.  I'm somewhat envious of good father-son relationships, something I didn't enjoy, leaving home at 16.

John's single burst of emotion was at Earthfest last summer.  He totally saw red when he noticed Mary Helen Flores passing out voting information from a booth.  He saw Flores, not as a citizen or as a constituent, but as a supporter of his opponent in the May 2010 runoffs, Tony Zavaleta.  He also knew of Mary Helen's tireless opposition to the election stealing practiced by Ernie, Norma and Erin Hernandez, John's closest family friends.  The uncharacteristic temper tantrum John threw that day, threatening even to defund  Earthfest for the coming year, shocked many.  The local blogs had a field day chastising John for his juvenile behavior.

Letty Perez-Garzoria

Retired nurse Letty Perez-Garzoria, John's opponent in the District 4 Commissioner race, approaches things very differently from John Villarreal.  Unlike John, Ms. Garzoria is not afraid to speak up as those who attend city commission and BISD board meetings can attest.  She is full of ideas to control spending and create revenue.  She frequently admonishes that the city "must live within its means."  Garzoria, in a respectful, mannerly way takes issue with the current one-man control of Brownsville by Mayor Tony Martinez.