𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗥?

 

Like Jesus Christ of two thousand years ago, he came riding into town down Historic Hwy 77, dodging pot holes, humbly riding an animal hard-to-direct, a donkey as called by some, by others an ass, but by most on the border, a burro, riding not into Jerusalem, but the border town of Brownsville.

Then, after a photo shoot, the great man dismounted the animal, slipping into a Mercedes-Benz with dark, tinted windows and AC on "high." 

Oh, there were "signs in the heavens," if only you knew the meaning of the cryptic language on billboards at strategic spots of the city; 

𝗢𝗣 𝟭𝟬.𝟯𝟯 𝗪𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗝𝗢𝗕𝗦. . . . 𝗡𝗢𝗪!  𝗢𝗣𝟭𝟬𝟯𝟯.𝗖𝗢𝗠

Soon, we would meet the man so dramatically entering our city limits on what he might hope would someday be the Mike Hernandez III Memorial Highway. 

Mike Hernandez III

But, the first order of business of this Savior, was to take a bowlegged stance on the sacred ruins of downtown's Hotel El Jardin, an eight story relic, towering over a downtown of flat-roofed buildings of one or two stories.  

The concrete floors had dangerous, gaping holes in each bathroom where the ceramic commodes had been.  A room on the uppermost floor had the words "air conditioned" painted on the door window from a time such amenities weren't common.

Mike surveyed the damage from years of neglect, committed himself to the project, then decommitted.  Brownsville sighed an "oh, well" sigh.

New to town, Mike III assumed the role of philanthropist, quickly mentioning $2M for United Brownsville, an odd entity that mirrored or mimicked city operations, talking the talk, but not walking the walk. 

United Brownsville was led by IBC Bank President Fred Rusteberg, who gladly would have set another plate at the weekly United Brownsville buffet on the second floor of IBC Bank had Mike III pulled out a checkbook.

Also promised were $1M gifts for BISD and Guadalupe Middle School respectively.

Hernandez next learned a $140,000 lesson as he squandered that much dough on six TSC/Navigation District races, losing 0-6, a record that will get you into the Toilet Bowl, but not the Cotton Bowl.

Oh, BTW, one of his sponsored losers was his secretary, Beatriz Hockaday.  Talk about awkwardness around the water cooler!

Oh, the cryptic message: OP 1033?

Out of Poverty by October 2033 was the plan.

Mike III never elaborated on his methodology for bringing our city out of poverty so neither will I.

What Hernandez did do was purchase or rent the building that had housed a Kawasaki dealership and converted it to a work training center run by his cousin, the personable Rita Hernandez.

Rita gave me a personal tour of the facility and introduced me to a class of young women studying to be nurse's aides.

The OP~1033 training facility has now closed and Mike III rents a tiny cubicle adjacent to McCarthy's Irish Pub, so, on St. Paddy's Day, order a green beer and check to see if that door is locked as I think it will be.

Obviously, the OP~1033 Training Center and TSC will be ongoing stories.