The Spoils System, Compadrismo, and Museums...

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

In Brownsville, it is very common to see people who are not qualified holding jobs in several city positions.  This isn’t only a Brownsville issue, and this certainly isn’t only a city government issue.  This is something that has been happening for decades.  In the US Government, this practice was known as the spoils system, or the patronage system.  Its origins can be traced back to Andrew Jackson.  In 1829, President Jackson packed the government with friends and supporters who supported him during his election.  In exchange for support, Jackson packed several government agencies with people who were nowhere near qualified to have those positions.  It wasn’t until the 1880’s when the government passed the Pendleton Act and the Civil Service Act, establishing a Civil Service Commission to administer exams to people wanting government jobs.  Unfortunately, these reforms wouldn’t affect local levels of government, where these practices exist to this day.

In our fair city, this practice of cronyism is commonly referred to as compadrismo, or, la palanca.  It’s no different than the spoils system of the 1800’s.  In its truest form, it boils down to who you know rather than what you know.  If you have a family member, or close family friend, working in a position of authority somewhere, you’re pretty much guaranteed a job at that place.  Even if you fail to meet a few of the job qualifications, HR can usually be persuaded to look the other way and consider you for employment.  This is common practice at several levels of city government, county government, other state and local agencies, and in the private sector. 

Local bloggers frequently weigh in on this issue as well.  They usually focus on compadrismo issues with the local city and county government.  The director of the Brownsville Public Library, who doesn’t even have a degree, let alone a Master’s in Library Science, was promoted over three library administrators who DO have a MLS.  The city engineering department is headed by someone who does not have an engineering degree.  The director of public works had no formal training in anything having to do with civil engineering or urban planning.  Several city departments have administrators who do not have a degree in the departments’ specialty. 

For years, we had a city manager who was elevated to the position after a lengthy career as a Brownsville police officer.  He was first appointed assistant city manager then made city manager.  He ran the city manager’s office for years, with no degree or formal training in anything having to do with public administration. 

I am not saying these people are incompetent, nor am I saying they didn’t eventually perform at a satisfactory job.  However, many of these departments are in need of people who know what they’re already doing, not someone who can pick it up as they go along.  That said, one can make the argument our fair city does not progress at the pace it should because we have so many inexperienced administrators at the helm of all these city departments. 

The school district and city departments aren’t the only place where compadrismo is the order of the day.  Several other institutions do the exact same thing when it comes to their leaders. 

I graduated with a degree in history from the University of Texas at Brownsville.  I was looking for a job as an educator, but I heard many of the local school districts weren’t hiring.  I shopped my resume around town, eventually landing at the Historic Brownsville Museum.  I had read on the museum’s website they were looking for an assistant to the executive director.  The executive director, along with one of the board members, interviewed me.  I mentioned how I was a Brownsville native, how I was fascinated and interested in Brownsville history, and how I had spent the majority of my youth running around downtown where my grandfather had worked for the city.  My experience and enthusiasm made me the logical choice for the job.  I also had clerical experience, and plenty of computer and telephone skills – all things that would make me an obvious choice for an assistant to the executive director of a museum that specialized in local history.  They called me back in a second time.  I was excited.  Even though this job would not be able to match the salary the school district could, I thought I would be happy working at a place where he would hopefully have access to some of Brownsville’s historical artifacts.  I even figured eventually they’d make me the curator, or I could use my social media and computer skills to bring the museum into the digital age.  They brought me in to let me know I was one of the finalists for the position, but they were going to go with someone who just had straight clerical experience.  “Overqualified” was the word that buzzed in my head as I left the museum, never to return.  It would turn out the reason I couldn’t be offered the job is because the executive director did not have a background in history.  She did not have a degree in history.  She did not even have a college degree.

And it seems as if other museums have followed suit.  If you have been around Brownsville over the last decade or so, you’ll notice downtown Brownsville and the surrounding areas are trying very hard to rebrand themselves as a hip, artsy, happening part of town.  An old car wash was torn down and replaced with a bicycle-friendly coffee spot.  There’s a farmer’s market that has been occupying linear park for quite some time.  There are art galleries, hip pizza and wine joints, bars and jazz spots for the music lovers, and poetry readings at another place down Elizabeth Street.  A new performing arts center is on the verge of opening, and Market Square has some new hip eateries including a deli serving the cool art lovers who make their way to Galeria 409.  None of these places are really my scene, but I know they weren’t made for people like me.  Downtown is buzzing with a new life, and it seems the art aficionados are the ones who have taken over.

Which is why it’s surprising the Brownsville Fine Arts Museum has recently been placed under the command of someone who has a background in accounting.  Yes, you read that right.  Accounting.  According to The Brownsville Herald, the interim director studied accounting in Matamoros.  It doesn’t say she received a degree in accounting, merely that she studied accounting and started out at the museum as a bookkeeper there thirteen years ago.  I’m sure she’s a competent accountant, and I’m sure she is a good person.  I am making no judgments on her character.  I am, however questioning the museum board’s judgment on handing over a fine arts museum to someone who does not have a background in fine arts.  Why wouldn’t the museum try to fill the position with someone who has a degree in art, or art history, or some other related field?  Art and accounting aren’t even distant cousins, thrice removed, through marriage. 

I get that none of this is new.  I get that this isn’t a problem exclusive to Brownsville or the Rio Grande Valley.  However, we are doing a big disservice to the city when we tell people to study hard and get an education in something that interests them, when the best they’ll be able to do is become a subordinate to someone who doesn’t have any experience in the job they have.  It is no surprise people leave Brownsville for greener pastures because they’re trying to escape the gravitational pull of cronyism, the spoils system, and compadrismo. 

I know how frustrating it can be when the person you’re competing with for a job has a palanca to pull on when you don’t.  I’m saddened to say Brownsville will not progress if these shady hiring practices continue to be accepted.