BOWLING TOPS CITY ATTORNEY CANDIDATES IN EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

Lysia H. Bowling

With respect to the selection of a new City Attorney, some obvious jockeying-for-position is taking place.  

Simply identifying the most qualified candidate is actually easier than matching a candidate with a specific agenda.  If, for example, the mayor and/or city commission want a rubber stamper to pet projects in the position, someone like the terminated Mark "It's Legal" Sossi, it complicates the process.  

If a certain Dallas car dealer,  with a cryptically-named advocacy group and a penchant for throwing money at election losers is making noise, heads can be turned.

The fact that some current and former city attorneys in the upper valley were unaware of Brownsville's search, could mean simply that they don't read the Brownsville Herald or the blogs, or it could mean that the search was not as open and widespread as advertised.

Among the announced three finalists, Gerry Linan, Rene DeCoss and Lysia Bowling, the qualifications gap is huge and obvious.

Gerry Linan, a local lawyer practicing since 1995, has no previous experience as a city attorney or practicing municipal law.

Rene DeCoss, formerly the 445th District Court Judge, now a municipal judge, works cases with respect to traffic and other minor offenses, but has no experience as a city attorney or practicing municipal law.

Lysia H. Bowling simply overwhelms the other two candidates by a wide margin with over two decades in various positions of oversight within municipal government and three terms of service as city attorney.

Bowling, currently the City Attorney of Pensacola, Florida with a metro population of 500,000, has also served as City Attorney for the cities of Harlingen and San Angelo, Texas.  

Other positions on Bowling's resume' include: Assistant State Attorney for Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Assistant City Attorney and Police Legal Advisor for the City of Miami, Florida, Police Legal Advisor and City Prosecutor for Temple, Texas, Chief Prosecutor for Austin, Texas.  

She's also served with several Texas state agencies, including the Attorney General’s Office, the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the General Land Office, and the Department of Insurance.

Bowling's educational background includes 
double majors in political science and Latin American studies from Yale University, as well as a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in both the state of Florida and the state of Texas.

For those about to argue that Bowling, while well qualified, just doesn't "fit" Brownsville and its culture, consider she's already served as City Manager for Harlingen, just 25 miles north and that her degree from Yale in Latin American studies contributes to her comfort level with Hispanic culture.

Expect pushback.  Already a blog commenter, just seeing Bowling's picture posted on this blog, found hints on Google of a "sand depot" blowup and controversy over a trash contract in San Angelo during Bowling's tenure there.