IS THE DISTRICT 2 CITY COMMISSION RACE REALLY MIKE HERNANDEZ III VS REALTOR CRAIG GROVE?

Realtor Craig Grove with City Commissioner, District 2, Candidate Caty Presas-Garcia

Local politicos may be well served to stay on the good side of Realtor Craig Grove.

At an April 5, 2011 City Commission Public Hearing considering a contract with Fly Frontera Airlines, buffoonish Commissioner Charlie Atkinson interrupted Grove's public comment to bring up a two decades old police incident when Grove was 17.  Grove was not pleased with Atkinson's revelation nor constant interruptions from Mayor Pat Ahumada.

"Your time is up," the mayor told Grove.

"My time wouldn't have been up if you hadn't kept interrupting me," Grove responded while negotiating for a few more minutes to finish his statement.

That same spring, Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa was sworn in to replace Atkinson as commissioner in an historic write-in vote, orchestrated and initially managed by Grove.

Grove and Tetreau-Kalifa have since parted ways, with Grove now fulfilling a similar role with former BISD Trustee, Caty Presas-Garcia, now one of two running against Tetreau-Kalifa.

Choosing his words carefully on Friday's Brownsville Live podcast, Grove implied that two or more city commissioners, one recently departing, coming under the spell of goofy, millionaire car leaser, Mike Hernandez III, had been involved in blocking a $500,000,000 real estate development that could have helped close the gap with respect to Brownsville's current, critical need for affordable housing.

"I can't afford to get dragged into court over this," Grove stated, as he tempered his words about the behind-the-scenes developments.

Grove's fear is real.  Two longtime local bloggers, Jerry McHale and Juan Montoya, once both mockingly critical of Hernandez III have morphed into virtual propagandists for the car dealer, because of litigation or the threat of it.

A third blogger, Bobby Wightman-Cervantes, seemingly relishes the opportunity to tussle with the Hernandez legal team over venue as some sort of a lawsuit drags on.

Lawsuits aside, the District 2 race has a distinct real estate connection with both challengers in the field.  Caty Presas-Garcia, a local realtor, recently joined the Grove Realty Team.  Her new employer, Craig Grove, is also her campaign manager.  

Former Mayor Pat Ahumada is a longtime real estate appraiser, while his manager, Rey Montanaro, is a realtor and real estate investor.

Admittedly, both of these opposition candidates and their managers, likely lost money on the blocked real estate deal.

Brownsville may be the ultimate loser as unelected power players continue to manipulate and control the city's progress to their own benefit.