CAMERON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION FOLLOWS "WOMEN ONLY" POLICY FOR CANDIDATES AND MEMBERS

Teresa Saldivar, Interim Chairperson of CCDW

This past Saturday Ana told me:  "We're going to a meeting of the Cameron County Democratic Women at Rudy's Bar-B-Q and we're picking up Laura Miniel."

Following Ana and Laura to a back room at the restaurant, I saw local activist Teresa Saldivar and four women I did not know sitting at a long table.

"Laura, will you introduce yourself to the group?" asked Saldivar, who then asked my wife Ana to say a few words.  

While not called upon, I introduced myself anyway.

"I'm Jim Barton, the editor of the Brownsville Observer, covering local politics and government for the last nine years."

It was then that the proverbial excrement hit the fan.

"We don't normally invite men to these meetings," stated one of the members.

"Yes, last month, we had a man show up," added Mrs. Saldivar.  

"I won't give you his name.  He got quite irate when we explained our policy.  He claimed to have been a Treasurer for the local Democratic Party, but I could find nothing about him in the records." (After the meeting, Saldivar told me the banished male was Jeffrey Duvall, who I remembered had been a local Democratic official.)

"In fact, we only support women candidates," continued Saldivar.


That statement got the attention of the youngest member of the five women group, a young Hispanic with two well-behaved children at an adjacent table.

"So what would we do if we had a male candidate who was pro-choice and a female candidate, running for the same office, who was pro-life?" asked the young woman.

"We couldn't support the man," answered Saldivar.

As the meeting broke up, the woman who'd objected to my presence came up to me.

"Please don't take it personal.  I'm actually married to an old white man."

On the ride home we discussed the concept of excluding men from a group promoting women's issues.  Neither Laura nor Ana thought that was a good idea. 

IS THE CITY OF BROWNVILLE FINALLY GETTING THE POINT ON INCLUSION?

Mayor Trey Mendez

My gentle criticism of the $45 per plate "State of the City" event was never a claim that the mayor or anyone else was profiting.  It was about a missed opportunity to include people in such a briefing that aren't now involved.

Yes, there are folks who could easily buy 100 plates for the event, but, for most, the common family groups in our city, the message is clear:  "We don't need you and your family to be a part of this.  Watch it on the live stream if you have a computer."

One local blogger thought he saw obvious "malice" in my criticism, stating that the "State of the City" event "was not for the average Joe."

The kid that initiated the petition to remove Erasmo Castro from the BISD board, Zachary Blevins, went even further:

I for the life of me don't understand why the political discourse in this town is dictated by old irrelevant bloggers. I get it, it's nice to have a following and people to pal around with but on the same note it's kind of sad. As for Jim "balls" Barton maybe he would have a little more bite if he dislodged them from his co-hosts throat.

Interestingly, the City of Brownsville, along with the Chamber of Commerce, have scheduled yet another city update, this time chaired by City Manager Noel Bernal:

The Brownsville Chamber of Commerce and the City of Brownsville welcomes you to join us for the City Manager's Update. As the City Manager, Mr. Noel Bernal reports to the Mayor and City Commission and provides leadership and management to over 1,400 employees and a $147 million operating budget. This informational session is no cost with an RSVP. For more information, contact us at (956) 542-4341 or email us at info@brownsvillechamber.com. So, despite all the back-and-forth rhetoric, somebody got the point. Good going guys!

Judge Noreida Lopez-Singleterry, Candidate for 13th Court of Appeals on "Whine with Cheez" Today at 1:30 PM

Judge Noreida Lopez-Singleterry

BROWNSVILLE SAYS "GOOD BYE" TO GEORGE RAMIREZ AT THE HALF MOON SALOON

Jim & Ana Barton,  Laura Miniel

Jim Barton,  Juan Montoya

Juan Montoya, Jim Barton, Half Moon Saloon Waitress

Emilio Crixell, Laura Miniel, Adrian Foncerrada, Sr., Ana Barton

Robert & Amanda Sanchez, Ana & Jim Barton

The Connectors

Ana Barton, Dr. Asim Zamir, Laura Miniel

Adrian Foncerrada, Sr.  Adrian Foncerrada, Jr., Luis Foncerrada

GEORGE RAMIREZ TRIBUTE TONIGHT AT HALF MOON SALOON

VISIONLESS H.E.B. ABANDONS HISTORIC DOWNTOWN BROWNSVILLE

Yesterday was the last day for H.E.B. in historic downtown Brownsville.  

Closing the store was a heartless, visionless move by corporate execs with no imagination, no facility to think outsider the box of dollars per square foot, no understanding or grasp of the goodwill that could have been generated keeping a vital cog of downtown going while restoration continued. 

Make no mistake.  Most downtown businesses envied the volume of business generated by that little downtown grocery, where most days a parking spot was almost impossible to find, even though much of the business was pedestrian traffic "from across" with small orders quickly cashiered and out the door and back across the bridge.

Yes, the store was unconventional with no backroom, deliveries unloaded outside, only to be whisked inside to refrigeration and shelf space.

With a little imagination H.E.B. could have stayed, even added a second story as some landlocked downtown stores have done in quaint areas with shopping carts going up and down an escalator.

True, the downtown store didn't have every item H.E.B. Plus has, but it had enough, even while maintaining competitive pricing.

Another store, without H.E.B.'s warehousing, will not be able to offer the same pricing and familiarity.  A&V Lopez might come close, but certainly not its dingier competitor with the same family name.

It's a lost opportunity for a hugely profitable corporation that could have been a good neighbor but preferred greed to nostalgia, bottom line to historicity.

Below are some pics from downtown H.E.B.'s last day:

CHARTER SCHOOL TEACHER CHALLENGES FILEMON VELA IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

R to L:  Diego Zavala,  Jim Barton and Erasmo Castro on Whine with Cheez Podcast Oct. 20

Diego Zavala, a 26 year old Idea Charter Schools high school teacher, feels Congressman Filemon Vela has lost touch with the common man.

"70% of Vela's financial support comes from large corporations and about 30% from rich lawyers," Zavala explains.

"Those are the people Vela must satisfy, not ordinary people like us," the challenger continues.

Zavala told the Whine with Cheez audience Sunday that he favors universal health care and free tuition for Texas students at state universities.

"I incurred $170,000 in student debt to get my Masters degree that I will be paying on till I'm 69," Zavala stated.

"Students should not have that burden just to get an education," he continued.

Zavala also favors abolition of the Electoral College to be replaced by rank voting.

TREY MAINTAINS EXCLUSIVITY FOR "STATE OF THE CITY" EVENT

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr~1849

In a community that bemoans its lack of participation by the citizenry, with roughly 10% even bothering to vote, this blog was a consistent critic of former Mayor Tony Martinez' elitist $50 per plate fancy "State of the City" events.  

While likely a mere coincidence, Martinez' final "State of the City" event in 2018, an election year, was actually free, held indoors and out at Market Square.

The October 22, 2019 version of the "State of the City," with Trey Mendez at the helm, still misses the mark of inclusiveness and such an easy opportunity to involve the common man and his family, by merely reducing the ticket price for the Tony Martinez standard of $50 to $45.  This won't be an event attended by Brownsville's hardworking, ordinary folk or their families. 

Of course, large blocks of tickets will likely be bought by corporate and taxpayer funded entities, providing complimentary tickets to city commissioners, fire and police chiefs, judges, etc., while ordinary taxpayers remain priced out of the event. 

What a missed opportunity for inclusiveness and transparency!  What a lack of insight by city leaders!

NOISY DOWNTOWN STREETS BEFORE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE WEDNESDAY

Tom Steyer 2020 Organizers

Californian billionaire Tom Steyer is decidedly a different sort.  When his fortune climbed to excess of $36 billion, he and his wife Catalina decided to commit half their fortune to promoting education and moral values.

His now three year campaign, calling for Donald Trump's impeachment, is also self-funded.

The Tom Steyer 2020 organizers pictured above, six African-Americans, one Hispanic and one Anglo, are part cheerleader, part psychologist, motivating from the podium, then mixing among the supporters with a more personal touch.

The Steyer supporters, numbering about fifty from eight states, all flown and accommodated by the campaign, were split into two shifts in order to promote Steyer on a street corner adjacent to the debate site.

Four street corners were populated by the Steyer, Biden, O'Rourke and Trump campaigns.  A small group representing Elizabeth Warren set up just a  few feet away from the Steyer group.

When the Steyer group started pro-Steyer chants with some power, the much smaller Biden group tried gamely to respond, but were no match for the R&B-sounding Steyer group.

Directly across to our left were two groups representing the President, "Gays for Trump" and the "Army of God," dressed in camouflage, carrying guns.  

When I approached the apparent leader of the "Army of God," he explained that they were true believers in God and Trump, then walked off.

It was a raucous afternoon before the debate with a heavy police presence.  Drones flew overhead, while airplanes towed campaign slogans across the sky.  Motorist honked in appreciation, mostly at the Steyer people.  A large semi-truck with a sign "Truckers for Wang" kept going back and forth, honking.

BLOGGGER BACK IN TOWN AFTER TRIP TO DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Brownsville Observer Editor Jim Barton
Interviews Presidential Candidate Tom Steyer

Ana and I, just married October 12, jumped at the chance to accompany Laura Miniel to Westerville, Ohio, the site of the Democratic Presidential Debate October 15.  We arrived back in Brownsville last night with stories to tell and pictures to verify what will likely be several installments of the Brownsville Observer.

I was granted a 5-minute interview with Presidential Candidate Tom Steyer during which we discussed environmental racism, a point included in his platform, with huge corporations targeting impoverished areas populated by brown and black people desperate for jobs to locate their heavily-polluting fossil fuel businesses.

Steyer listened as I explained how three LNG companies were doing just that at the Port of Brownsville, threatening future tourism and a fragile eco-system, while garnering huge multimillion dollar tax abatements from inept, short-sighted politicos like our County Commissioners.  Steyer shared his contact information.