Conversations In and Beyond the Crescent Moon Cantina

The Crescent Moon Cantina at 722 E. 11th Street is one of the most comfortable venues in town for serious conversation. The always thoughtful Leticia Perez-Garzoria and I sat down for a lengthy conversation touching on the local political scene. Ms. Perez-Garzoria supports Yolanda Begum for Justice of the Peace, District 2-2.

Ms. Perez-Garzoria is nothing, if not direct. "What do you think Commissioner Zamora meant with her comment on Facebook?"

I located Ms. Zamora's statement before commenting, finding it on Facebook:

"Happy that there's a push to support Downtown Brownsville -- I love all the new establishments, I've helped with events in downtown, and I've joined friends in the Healthstoric walk, but what does that have to do with a Justice of the Peace race and running a courtroom that affects families? I love the outside-of-the-box fundraisers -- very creative -- but tell me how you're most qualified and what experience you have in running a courtroom?"

"Well, of course, Letty", I started. "Zamora likely supports Erin Hernandez-Garcia for the Justice of the Peace position whose claim to fame, so to speak, is that she did pass the bar. It's not clear how effective or active her law practice is, but all of that is irrelevant. That's a red herring. The Hernandez are anxious to find something distinguishing their daughter from Yolanda Begum and other candidates. But the JP position requires one to be 18 years old, a Texas resident for 12 months and in the district for 6 months. There is no requirement to be a registered voter, nothing at all about being a lawyer. This JP format provides a less formal, common sense approach dealing with Class C misdemeanors punishable by fine only and small claim civil matters. The position requires more compassion than legalese."

The above requirements may explain why fewer than 5% of the JP's in the country are lawyers.

"Yes, Jim. Locally, we've had Tony Torres, Linda Salazar, Oscar Tullos, Ed Sarabia and others who, as non-lawyers served as Justices of the Peace and the Hernandez' folks said nothing. They just raise this issue now that daughter Erin is running for JP."

The above is just a small sample of an enjoyable conversation at the Crescent Moon. Later in the week, while blockwalking, Nena and I ran into Joseph O'Bell, a longtime local Democrat. After giving us a few linguistic and intellectual challenges, O'Bell had this to say about Begum:

"She comes across as that rare candidate who actually wants to serve the community. I like that. So many of our officials simply serve themselves."

Mr. O'Bell than went on to describe a program he was involved with, giving troubled teenagers interaction with the Whitewings, a semi-pro baseball team in Harlingen and some other ideas he thought might coincide with what Ms. Begum has in mind to deal with truancy and the challenge of helping children stay in school and catch up with curriculum they missed during an absence.