by Jim Barton on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 7:30pm
Sometimes a good idea becomes distorted, perverted or grossly misused. The gentle, insightful 600 word Sermon on the Mount bears no correlation to the ghastly, inhumane slaughter of human life called "The Crusades" perpetrated by men claiming to live by that sermon. Neither does the excruciating torture inflicted on so-called "heretics" in the inquisition resemble Jesus' sayings. Adding the holoquast to our discussion more than makes the point.
Roughly in the fall of 2009, three Facebook pages were formed in Brownsville, TX: Brownsville Living, an upbeat city-promoting site, published by Realtor Craig Grove, attempting to advertise everything happening in Brownsville. Some have said that the page Brownsville Raza was started by Melissa Castro to give an hispanic flavor to Brownsville's promotion. Admittedly, sibling rivalry prompted Erasmo Castro, Melissa's older brother to initiate the Brownsville Cheezmeh page. All three served a purpose.
Actually, the administrator of Brownsville Cheezmeh was a well-kept secret for some time. Linda Castro Dragustinovis was the face of the group, texting with reminders of events, forums and meetings, but she didn't seem to be the one articulating the occasional commentary. The unknown page administrator filled the page with anecdotes, pictures and humor gleaned off the internet. Almost all comments were acknowledged with a "like" and response till far into the night. Eventually, the page's members swelled to the Facebook limit of 5,000.
(Eeilffee Garcia, pictured above top right indicates he is no longer part of Cheezmeh) The first serious issue that became a topic for discussion was the dissolution of Texas Southmost College, relinquishing over $200,000,000 of assets to the University of Texas system, while Brownsville and Cameron County taxpayers were still on the hook for the bond debt for another 20 years. Early members like Maggie Ozuna, Mimi Mapache Rodriguez, Mary Helen, Mary S. Rey and Linda Dragustinovis attended hearings at UTB/TSC wearing "Save TSC" t-shirts and carrying signs. Quickly those shirts were replaced with the familiar black with white lettering Brownsville Cheezmeh shirts. Four courageous TSC trustees; Francisco Rendon, Adela Garza, Trey Mendez and Rene' Torres resisting enormous political pressure, voted against an election for so-called "unification", which would have effectively dissolved TSC. The activist group associated with the social network page Brownsville Cheezmeh participated in and shared in that victory.
Also springing from discussions on the page was opposition to a startup airline known as Fly Frontera. A group of us actually went to the city commission to argue against the proposal. The discussion, planning and events surrounding the Fly Frontera fiasco are detailed here: http://meanmisterbrownsville.blogspot.com/2011/11/fly-frontera-somewhat-revisited.html
Sometime during or after Fly Frontera the identity of the administrator of the Brownsville Cheezmeh page was finally revealed as Linda's brother Erasmo Castro Dragustinovis. The defeat of Fly Frontera led into working for the defeat of one of its leading proponents Charlie Atkinson. First Zeke Silva, and then Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa were supported in an effort to supplant the buffoonish Atkinson. Several chapters could be written with the up and down, stop and go nature of this effort, but the final result was a landslide victory by a write-in candidate with a difficult name.
While stopping Atkinson seemed to be a no-brainer, group members were divided on other candidates. It was even suggested by several that the group preserve its neutrality and avoid endorsing any candidates, but, of course that ship had sailed. One of the first departures from the group involved Craig Grove. Grove, of course, had his own non-political group, Brownsville Living, but he enjoyed the give and take of political discussion on Brownsville Cheezmeh, while keeping his own page politics free. He had also been instrumental in the Fly Frontera blockage. While working on the Tetreau campaign, Grove sort of switched gears, shifting to putting his efforts behind Tony Martinez for mayor. He began putting pro-Martinez comments on the Brownsville Cheezmeh page. These promptly were removed as were several subsequent submissions. Most Cheezmeh members at the time viewed Brownsville Cheezmeh as their page. They had been told repeatedly in cultlike fashion "You are Brownsville Cheezmeh," so they felt some ownership in the page. Grove may have believed the hype, but when he confronted the page administrator, Erasmo denied removing any posts to the page, even issuing a statement to that effect. Erasmo blamed the possible deletions on a 'computer glitch," but Grove knew better and left the group.(Later on, Laura Miniel and Mary Helen posted on the Cheezmeh site involving a draft for Hector Uribe for Congress. These posts were removed. It became clear that only posts approved by Erasmo could remain. Others had a similar experience.)
After the May 14 election, two commissioners seats were involved in a runoff. The upper or controlling echelon of Brownsville Cheezmeh decided that the four candidates would be interviewed by a panel from the group. Of the two at large candidates, Estela Chavez-Vasquez didn't return our calls. Robert Lopez submitted to an interview in the lobby of the motel where the Cheezmeh were partying. He was very forthright and personable, but the longer he talked, the more convoluted his situation became. He had some issues with the winterization program. He might have some issues with the state of Texas. Ben Medina had something against him. He was not a candidate we could risk supporting. A few days later John Villarreal was grilled at The Vermillion. Viro Cardenas, who was a fringe player at Cheezmeh, particularly grilled John about his association with the Hernandezes. John kept repeating himself. They were family friends he had known all his life. He would not disavow them. He had been approached by politiqueras but had told them he had no interest in their services. After review Brownsville Cheezmeh decided to support John Villarreal, although several members like Laura Miniel, Mary Helen and Maggie Ozuna decided they could not participate due to their longtime opposition to the abuses of the Hernandez family. Cheezmeh opted to stay out of the At-Large election.
John Villarreal finished behind Tony Zavaleta in District 4 in the general election, but had forced a runoff. Nena and I were well received blockwalking in several territories as were other Cheezmeh. John won the runoff easily. The work of politiqueras usually shows up most noticeably in write-in votes. Although John won the runoff handily, he trailed in write-in votes to Zavaleta 97-10. That is something Nena and I are most proud of.
After the election, Cheezmeh began focusing on the performance of the new commission and mayor. As the principal writer for Cheezmeh, I critiqued the mayor and commission. Several of the commissioners seemed intimidated by Mayor Tony Martinez, not that he was more experienced in city government, which he wasn't, but just based on his chronological age perhaps. John, for one, relinquished his vote representing his district, allowing Tony to simply reappoint a nonperformer back to an important board. Chronyism and a loss for the city! The reappointment of corrupt dumbasses to two important boards enraged Erasmo Dragustinovis. He formulated a plan: To recall one of the commissioners. The terms of Rose McGowen and Melissa Zamora made them the most likely candidates. Erasmo settled on Zamora indicating she would be the "easiest".
Erasmos called for a Cheezmeh meeting which Linda set up at Denny's. The effective nucleus of Cheezmeh had grown to about 50 strong, many professionals in the community: Sergio Zarate, Viro Cardenas, Oso de Bourbon, Wally Cisneros, Manny, Laura Miniel, Michael and Judith Robinson, Luisa Martinez, Rico Bocanegra, Dino X. Chavez, Alex Guerrero, Mia Rocha and others I'm forgetting. At the Denny's meeting Erasmo gave a stump speech detailing Cheezmeh's accomplishments so far. He mentioned the disappointment of the city commission reappointing the same old corruption-enabling members. He layed out a plan to recall one commissioner, Melissa Zamora, and then begin recalling all of the commissioners "one by one, until they start to listen to us."
My wife Nena was particularly upset after the Denny's meeting with the plan to recall the entire city commissiion "one by one until they listen to us", viewing the plan as heavyhanded. In my conversations with Erasmo Dragustinovis I kept asking for more specifics on the abuses by Melissa Zamora to justify the recall. The most damning observations I heard were "dining with vendors" and "not listening to us." On August 3 Nena and I talked all night about the pros and cons of recalling Melissa Zamora. By morning we had decided that it was something we were not comfortable with. We messaged Erasmo with our decision on the morning of August 4. Within minutes he deleted us as friends on Facebook and made a statement on Brownsville Cheezmeh that he was shutting down the group. During the next few hours Erasmo received the outpouring of support he wanted and changed his mind about shutting down the page, but Nena and I were effectively out of the group.
What I've said so far is accurate. I was in the group. In the next paragraph or two, the observations will be based on what I've observed as an outsider. The reader can determine if the thoughts conveyed seem plausible.
After we left the group, Linda Dragustinovis organized a bowling tournament at Galazy Bowling Center to benefit Bringing Brownsville Change, the recently registered political action committee or PAC of Brownsville Cheezmeh. Bowlers paid for the privilege of being on teams competing for trophies and other prizes. Carlos Masso, a district attorney candidate and Erin H. Garcia, Ernie Hernandez' daughter and candidate for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2-2 were publicly thanked for their support. Their political ads appeared jointly on the Brownsville Cheezmeh site for the next month or so. Erasmo now says no monies were received from candidates.
Since that time a campaign manager for a candidate for congress and a sheriff's candidate have both told me that Brownsville Cheezmeh approached them for money to support them in their campaigns.
That would be sad. It would mean that an organization once known as a political watchdog fighting political corruption and politiqueras had now switched to the other side.
Roughly in the fall of 2009, three Facebook pages were formed in Brownsville, TX: Brownsville Living, an upbeat city-promoting site, published by Realtor Craig Grove, attempting to advertise everything happening in Brownsville. Some have said that the page Brownsville Raza was started by Melissa Castro to give an hispanic flavor to Brownsville's promotion. Admittedly, sibling rivalry prompted Erasmo Castro, Melissa's older brother to initiate the Brownsville Cheezmeh page. All three served a purpose.
Actually, the administrator of Brownsville Cheezmeh was a well-kept secret for some time. Linda Castro Dragustinovis was the face of the group, texting with reminders of events, forums and meetings, but she didn't seem to be the one articulating the occasional commentary. The unknown page administrator filled the page with anecdotes, pictures and humor gleaned off the internet. Almost all comments were acknowledged with a "like" and response till far into the night. Eventually, the page's members swelled to the Facebook limit of 5,000.
(Eeilffee Garcia, pictured above top right indicates he is no longer part of Cheezmeh) The first serious issue that became a topic for discussion was the dissolution of Texas Southmost College, relinquishing over $200,000,000 of assets to the University of Texas system, while Brownsville and Cameron County taxpayers were still on the hook for the bond debt for another 20 years. Early members like Maggie Ozuna, Mimi Mapache Rodriguez, Mary Helen, Mary S. Rey and Linda Dragustinovis attended hearings at UTB/TSC wearing "Save TSC" t-shirts and carrying signs. Quickly those shirts were replaced with the familiar black with white lettering Brownsville Cheezmeh shirts. Four courageous TSC trustees; Francisco Rendon, Adela Garza, Trey Mendez and Rene' Torres resisting enormous political pressure, voted against an election for so-called "unification", which would have effectively dissolved TSC. The activist group associated with the social network page Brownsville Cheezmeh participated in and shared in that victory.
Also springing from discussions on the page was opposition to a startup airline known as Fly Frontera. A group of us actually went to the city commission to argue against the proposal. The discussion, planning and events surrounding the Fly Frontera fiasco are detailed here: http://meanmisterbrownsville.blogspot.com/2011/11/fly-frontera-somewhat-revisited.html
Sometime during or after Fly Frontera the identity of the administrator of the Brownsville Cheezmeh page was finally revealed as Linda's brother Erasmo Castro Dragustinovis. The defeat of Fly Frontera led into working for the defeat of one of its leading proponents Charlie Atkinson. First Zeke Silva, and then Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa were supported in an effort to supplant the buffoonish Atkinson. Several chapters could be written with the up and down, stop and go nature of this effort, but the final result was a landslide victory by a write-in candidate with a difficult name.
While stopping Atkinson seemed to be a no-brainer, group members were divided on other candidates. It was even suggested by several that the group preserve its neutrality and avoid endorsing any candidates, but, of course that ship had sailed. One of the first departures from the group involved Craig Grove. Grove, of course, had his own non-political group, Brownsville Living, but he enjoyed the give and take of political discussion on Brownsville Cheezmeh, while keeping his own page politics free. He had also been instrumental in the Fly Frontera blockage. While working on the Tetreau campaign, Grove sort of switched gears, shifting to putting his efforts behind Tony Martinez for mayor. He began putting pro-Martinez comments on the Brownsville Cheezmeh page. These promptly were removed as were several subsequent submissions. Most Cheezmeh members at the time viewed Brownsville Cheezmeh as their page. They had been told repeatedly in cultlike fashion "You are Brownsville Cheezmeh," so they felt some ownership in the page. Grove may have believed the hype, but when he confronted the page administrator, Erasmo denied removing any posts to the page, even issuing a statement to that effect. Erasmo blamed the possible deletions on a 'computer glitch," but Grove knew better and left the group.(Later on, Laura Miniel and Mary Helen posted on the Cheezmeh site involving a draft for Hector Uribe for Congress. These posts were removed. It became clear that only posts approved by Erasmo could remain. Others had a similar experience.)
After the May 14 election, two commissioners seats were involved in a runoff. The upper or controlling echelon of Brownsville Cheezmeh decided that the four candidates would be interviewed by a panel from the group. Of the two at large candidates, Estela Chavez-Vasquez didn't return our calls. Robert Lopez submitted to an interview in the lobby of the motel where the Cheezmeh were partying. He was very forthright and personable, but the longer he talked, the more convoluted his situation became. He had some issues with the winterization program. He might have some issues with the state of Texas. Ben Medina had something against him. He was not a candidate we could risk supporting. A few days later John Villarreal was grilled at The Vermillion. Viro Cardenas, who was a fringe player at Cheezmeh, particularly grilled John about his association with the Hernandezes. John kept repeating himself. They were family friends he had known all his life. He would not disavow them. He had been approached by politiqueras but had told them he had no interest in their services. After review Brownsville Cheezmeh decided to support John Villarreal, although several members like Laura Miniel, Mary Helen and Maggie Ozuna decided they could not participate due to their longtime opposition to the abuses of the Hernandez family. Cheezmeh opted to stay out of the At-Large election.
John Villarreal finished behind Tony Zavaleta in District 4 in the general election, but had forced a runoff. Nena and I were well received blockwalking in several territories as were other Cheezmeh. John won the runoff easily. The work of politiqueras usually shows up most noticeably in write-in votes. Although John won the runoff handily, he trailed in write-in votes to Zavaleta 97-10. That is something Nena and I are most proud of.
After the election, Cheezmeh began focusing on the performance of the new commission and mayor. As the principal writer for Cheezmeh, I critiqued the mayor and commission. Several of the commissioners seemed intimidated by Mayor Tony Martinez, not that he was more experienced in city government, which he wasn't, but just based on his chronological age perhaps. John, for one, relinquished his vote representing his district, allowing Tony to simply reappoint a nonperformer back to an important board. Chronyism and a loss for the city! The reappointment of corrupt dumbasses to two important boards enraged Erasmo Dragustinovis. He formulated a plan: To recall one of the commissioners. The terms of Rose McGowen and Melissa Zamora made them the most likely candidates. Erasmo settled on Zamora indicating she would be the "easiest".
Erasmos called for a Cheezmeh meeting which Linda set up at Denny's. The effective nucleus of Cheezmeh had grown to about 50 strong, many professionals in the community: Sergio Zarate, Viro Cardenas, Oso de Bourbon, Wally Cisneros, Manny, Laura Miniel, Michael and Judith Robinson, Luisa Martinez, Rico Bocanegra, Dino X. Chavez, Alex Guerrero, Mia Rocha and others I'm forgetting. At the Denny's meeting Erasmo gave a stump speech detailing Cheezmeh's accomplishments so far. He mentioned the disappointment of the city commission reappointing the same old corruption-enabling members. He layed out a plan to recall one commissioner, Melissa Zamora, and then begin recalling all of the commissioners "one by one, until they start to listen to us."
My wife Nena was particularly upset after the Denny's meeting with the plan to recall the entire city commissiion "one by one until they listen to us", viewing the plan as heavyhanded. In my conversations with Erasmo Dragustinovis I kept asking for more specifics on the abuses by Melissa Zamora to justify the recall. The most damning observations I heard were "dining with vendors" and "not listening to us." On August 3 Nena and I talked all night about the pros and cons of recalling Melissa Zamora. By morning we had decided that it was something we were not comfortable with. We messaged Erasmo with our decision on the morning of August 4. Within minutes he deleted us as friends on Facebook and made a statement on Brownsville Cheezmeh that he was shutting down the group. During the next few hours Erasmo received the outpouring of support he wanted and changed his mind about shutting down the page, but Nena and I were effectively out of the group.
What I've said so far is accurate. I was in the group. In the next paragraph or two, the observations will be based on what I've observed as an outsider. The reader can determine if the thoughts conveyed seem plausible.
After we left the group, Linda Dragustinovis organized a bowling tournament at Galazy Bowling Center to benefit Bringing Brownsville Change, the recently registered political action committee or PAC of Brownsville Cheezmeh. Bowlers paid for the privilege of being on teams competing for trophies and other prizes. Carlos Masso, a district attorney candidate and Erin H. Garcia, Ernie Hernandez' daughter and candidate for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2-2 were publicly thanked for their support. Their political ads appeared jointly on the Brownsville Cheezmeh site for the next month or so. Erasmo now says no monies were received from candidates.
Since that time a campaign manager for a candidate for congress and a sheriff's candidate have both told me that Brownsville Cheezmeh approached them for money to support them in their campaigns.
That would be sad. It would mean that an organization once known as a political watchdog fighting political corruption and politiqueras had now switched to the other side.
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Brownsville Cheezmeh lost all the support from they articulated people. They have done after you left. Watch who they back for the election, they people you talk about. It does not take much of a "master mind" to degrade and attack women, and its pretty sad that several political candidates have to suffer from a low life's that cannot even vote because of they have felony records.
ReplyDeleteI
Erasmo thinks he is very smart, but, he's only digging himself more into a pile of shit.
ReplyDeletePlease show us where there is journalistic integrity in any of the local blogs. Most have an agenda and rely on rumors and opinions. The only one who does credible research is Brownsville Voice.
ReplyDelete(Please show us where there is journalistic integrity in any of the local blogs. Most have an agenda and rely on rumors and opinions. The only one who does credible research is Brownsville Voice.)
ReplyDeleteYour standardbearer is a disbarred lawyer?
(Since that time a campaign manager for a candidate for congress and a sheriff's candidate have both told me that Brownsville Cheezmeh approached them for money to support them in their campaigns.)
ReplyDeleteWho are they so we can support them? They are heroes for their revalations about Cheezmeh.
I dont have a facebook page, I read the newspaper, watch ABC news,read local newspapers plus newspapers from other parts of the country. Locally, I do watch channel 5, read the Herald and all local newspapers, read two or three different blogs and at the end I MAKE MY OWN conclusions. ALL bloggers have their own personal opinions and favorite personal agendas. An example of this is Jerry McHale who despises the Hernandez family and Juliet Garcia, but takes care of his job by not saying anything about certain people in the BISD administration. It all boils down to the same things for the same people.
ReplyDeleteCraig looks HOTT!
ReplyDelete"All bloggers have their personal agendas"
ReplyDeleteJim Barton does NOT. He is friends with Juan Montoya and Jerry McHale, and half of Brownsville, but that does not stop him from being objective, and calling it like it is.
Where's your messiah now, see?
ReplyDeleteIt appears to me that the cheezmeh group has no core conviction values, no moral standards. What do they really stand for. Their support for Jessica T. kinda backfire and lost legitimacy in my book.
ReplyDeleteJuan Montoya hates Jim Barton for taking that fucking picture of him at the Begum fundraiser. And if you don't believe me, go ask Juan. He'll tell ya. (It may cost you a beer though.) Go ask Erasmo, it may cost you a chick plate. Come to think of it, ask anyone, and it may cost you something.
ReplyDelete"Since that time, a campaign manager for a candidate for congress, and a sheriff candidate have both told me Brownsville Chezzmeh approached them for money to support them in their campaigns"
ReplyDeleteSad!! Very sad!!
Where's your messiah now, see?
ReplyDeleteSure as fuck ain't in Dallas, or from Dallas, either!
(Where's your messiah now, see?
ReplyDeleteSure as fuck ain't in Dallas, or from Dallas, either!)
Could he be living in Austin?
Ha ha ha ha !!
ReplyDeleteBrownsville loves you Jim!
And yes, your meessiah is NOT in Dallas, nor from Dallas either!!!
Brownsville Cheezmeh is awesome
ReplyDeleteI wonder why is BC not responding to Jim, on this issue???
ReplyDeleteTo the Jan 8, @9:17 PM
ReplyDeleteThis is Brownsville dude...Every one is for sale here.
"This is Brownsville dude...Every one is for sale here."
ReplyDeleteIncluding Jim? Say it ain't so, Jim.
slander and libel
ReplyDeleteMost of the good people left....Wish things were different, unfortunatelly the reallity is things are exactly the way Jim described it.
ReplyDeleteslander and liber, it's coming
ReplyDeleteit really is coming
ReplyDeleteWhat does "liber" means?
ReplyDeletewait and see
ReplyDeleteStill no one responded what "liber" meant
ReplyDeleteThe Brownsville Chezzmeh group changed when it started including outsiders with their own agendas. One of these was the entry into the group of Judith Robinson. Some may know her as Judith Allen. Her main focus is self-serving as can be seen from some of her antics in this group and others. The www.BrownsvilleLoving.com site is just another front for her many websites for counseling. Why, one wonders, does she need that many fronts for her business? Not respectable and borders on the unethical; many clients gave her unethical ratings. The facebook Brownsville Loving that she set up is self serving as it hooks back to the site mentioned above. There was no need to put up a competing site as Craig's and the former Brownsville Chezzmeh were sufficient. It's all about the money to Judith and you can bet your last dime that she's making money off this and some good people of our town are being harmed in more ways than monetary.
ReplyDelete