TONY LEAVES WITH A WHIMPER, ANA'S ARRIVAL ON HOLD

Graphic by Diego Lee Rot

Years ago, with a small group of us around a water cooler in Arkansas, my friend Leroy referred to one of our outgoing presidents as a "lame dick," bringing some immediate laughter.

"What did you call him?" said someone.

"The phrase is 'lame duck.' "

Yes, lame duck.  That's what our mayor is right now, riding out the last weeks of his tenure before being replaced by Trey Mendez or Charlie Cabler.

Martinez could handle these last days in office two distinct ways.  He could put on a brave face, fulfilling his duties with dignity until the very end, proving that his "belief in Brownsville" was and is legit, not dependent on the trappings of power, OR he could simply go AWOL, not show up for city commission meetings or critical sessions of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, etc.

Martinez chose the later, going AWOL, that is absent without leave.  He's missed the last two MPO meetings and left an empty chair at the City Commission twice in a row.(It's devastating for an incumbent to lose, let alone finish last.)

Last night's ultra brief Special Meeting at City Hall was sparsely attended.  Even the man of the hour, Mike Hernandez III was absent as the Hernandez Foundation was given tentative approval to pocket the city's hotel occupancy tax up to $6 million over 20 years to build a 4-story 138 room hotel(Hyatt?) at an unspecified location, plus a UT-RGV teaching facility.  

Ana Adiong yesterday

Some have asked when my fiancée, Ana Adiong, will make it here from the Philippines.

Honestly, I don't know when or if.  It's out of our hands.  Our I-129f petition, sent to a lockbox in Mesquite, Texas, then to the USCIS office in California, was next transferred to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire where processing is said to take "30-60 days." After processing, the petition is mailed to the U.S. embassy in Manila where a medical exam and interview takes place.

Whether approved or denied, we will be together.  As a longtime friend tells me; "There's always an option."