𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡

 Candidates for May 3 City Commission Election

At-Large B

Nurith Galonsky Pizana

Roy De Los Santos

Alejandro Garcia

Jason Edward Moody

District 3

Yvonne Barraza

Gustavo De Leon

Denise Granado Chavez

District 4

Daisy Zamora

Mike Rodriguez

Louie Tijerina

Pedro Eduardo Cardenas                                                           

 

Above are the candidates running for the City Commission in the May 3, 2025 election.   

After observing the Brownsville City Commission for a number of years, let's deal with the role of a city commissioner and the necessary, requisite skillset, needed to be effective.  I'm not reading this from a textbook, just sharing what I've observed.

The role of a City Commissioner:  A City Commissioner must represent the best interests of the constituents in their district or, if serving At Large, the entire city.

On the Friday before the City Commission meetings held the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month, each commissioner will receive an agenda with background information on each agenda point.

That agenda has to be carefully studied, but then an effective commissioner will seek out the opinions of his or her constituents.  No commissioner should think about attending a City Commission meeting without an understanding of how to best represent their constituency on EACH agenda point as the City Commission is a representative democracy.

Please don't come to a City Commission meeting flat-footed.  Come prepared to participate and create consensus.

Also, if you're so busy in your life or business that you will be frequently or even minimally absent from City Commission meetings, please don't run for this office.  Brownsville voters deserve the full attention of everyone on the City Commission.

Beware of snake oil salesman:  The city commission can be an easy target for slick con men selling a master plan, surveys, a comprehensive plan.  Over the years, Brownsville forked over $900,000 for a comprehensive plan, than $454,000 for something similar for the industrial corridor.  The same snake oil salesman, sensing a gullible customer, next asked for $180,000 to "fine tune" the plan, about the same to "implement" it, etc.  It never ends.

Some years later, after being approached by a clever shyster, the City Commission forked over $154,000 in taxpayer dollars for "rebranding," mainly a new city logo which I'm pretty certain was never used.  

Just be careful, guys and gals on the City Commission.  These are hard-earned sales tax dollars being spent.

Listen to the citizens you claim to represent:  A few years ago, someone proposed a name change for the historic East Fronton Street in downtown Brownsville, renaming the street after a factory owner who'd profited handsomely from Brownsville workers paid very low wages.

The residents of East Fronton testified before the City Commission that they DID NOT want their street name changed, all wearing t-shirts with the name FRONTON on the front.  Could it be any clearer for the appropriate action in a representative democracy?  Dammit if the doofuses on that City Commission didn't overrule the citizenry and rename the city street after the factor owner!  What a dark day that was in Brownsville history!

Creating a consensus: If you've submitted an agenda item or believe its passage will benefit your constituents, you still need four votes.  Being able to create a consensus, convincing others of an item's efficacy is crucial.  Years ago, we had a mayor who brazenly described himself as the city's "quarterback," calling the commissioners his "blocking lineman."  He had some great ideas for the city, but could never create a consensus.  I think you understand why.

Tomorrow, I'll add an article with some honest observations about the candidates I'm familiar with in the City Commission race.