CITY OF BROWNSVILLE ELECTION DAY SURPRISES

 

Bryan Martinez, City Commissioner-Elect, District 1

For me, the Election Day surprises were, first of all, the Bryan Martinez' victory in District 1, but, secondly, the extremely poor showing for City Commissioner Jessica Tetreau in the mayor's race.

In conversation with Bryan and his obvious mentor/manager City Commissioner Roy De los Santos, at his pachanga in Southmost, De los Santos informed me that his suggestion had been for Martinez to allow Nurith Galonsky to complete her 12 year term as limited by the City Charter and then run for District 1 City Commissioner, but Martinez indicated he wanted to run "now."

Since, in my view, Galonsky has actually done real work for the district, her loss had to be connected to her longtime service on the P.U.B. Board and that board's coverup of the fact that they'd continued to charge substantially increased rates to build a power plant they knew was no longer feasible and would not be built.

Galonsky may have missed an opportunity to stand out from that board and level with her constituents, but that's difficult to do while maintaining a working relationship with John Bruciak and the other dishonest P.U.B. administrators.

City Commissioner Jessica Tetreau, who did have a record of 12 years of service, polled a mere 22% in the mayor's race.  If her supporters in District 2, who've voted for her in the past were also behind her in the mayoral race, she received almost no support from the rest of the city.

But, as much as Tetreau relished being a city commissioner, one wonders if she was just as responsive to the needs of her district as that's what voters remember.