Thoughts on Last Night's NMC Live Stream, Thoughts on Blevins Candidacy
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
Frank Mar is the administrator of a Facebook page called Nomorecheezmeh Official. He has a weekly live stream where he discusses topics of local interest. Frank has been gracious enough to invite me on as a guest on his show more than once. He now refers to me as his co-host.
This is a task I do not take lightly. I am honored someone would think to have me on to provide political analysis and to discuss the local goings on in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley.
The live stream usually happens on Tuesday evenings around 8:30.
Last night, Frank and I were joined by Michael Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a small business owner and a Southmost resident. He ran for the District 1 commissioner seat during the last election cycle. He lost the election to Nurith Galonsky Pizaña. Rodriguez says he's currently considering running for office next year. We discussed some of his ideas for District 1 and Brownsville as a whole. One of his platform planks centers around public safety. He believes District 1, which is comprised of the Southmost area of town, is in need of an additional fire station/EMS station. Southmost has grown considerably over the years, and the one fire station that is behind the Southmost HEB isn't good enough for decent response times should a resident in District 1 need a first responder.
We also discussed other topics on last night's show, including the Willacy County Sheriff's race, the current events surrounding certain members of the BISD board of trustees, and the topic of voter apathy.
Towards the end of the show we were joined by Zachary Blevins. Blevins recently announced his candidacy, and his intention to seek a seat on the BISD board of trustees. He has not announced what seat he will be seeking, but he has assured us all the pieces are in place and he fully plans to move forward with his campaign.
Yesterday was the first time I ever spoke to Zachary in person. During our interview, he alluded to the perception some people have of Blevins and his supposed combative personality. He is primarily known as one of the people behind the legal proceedings to remove Erasmo Castro from the school board. It is no secret that there is no love lost between Blevins and Castro.
People often times refer to the BISD board meeting where he engaged in a back and forth with board members and when he was threatened with removal by BISD security. With that one incident, having absolutely no other background information, people have created a false narrative about Blevins and his explosive nature.
In this blogger's opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.
During his interview, he spoke in a calm tone, and he never once raised his voice or interrupted any of the other people on the live stream. He was articulate, well-spoken, and got his point across without too many theatrics or hyperbole. When asked if he would be able to work with Erasmo Castro, should both of them end up being on the board at the same time, he said he would not allow his personal feelings towards Castro interfere with working together for the betterment of the district, the students, and the staff.
The point I tried to make last night was simple. Personal feelings notwithstanding, the question that has to be asked of any politician's tenure is: Did they leave the office they held in a better condition than they originally found it? Did the city, or the county, or the school board, show forward progress with them in office, or was their tenure a distraction and mired in scandal? If the answer is yes, then that politician deserves to be reelected. If the answer is no, then someone else deserves to have a chance at bettering the community.
I am just smart enough to know the city, or the county, or the school district, can't be run by one person. One politician can't enact everything they want to do. Smart people need to surround themselves with other smart people, and they need to be open-minded enough to listen to new ideas. Just because you don't come up with something doesn't mean it isn't a good idea worth looking into.
Whether we want to admit it or not, it is clear that some of the members of the current school board (and city commission, for that matter) have been nothing but a distraction to the institution they serve. They have not left the institution in a better position than it was in when they were first elected. It is for this reason the voters of Brownsville need to strongly consider listening to what new candidates have to say and what they have to offer.
We don't have time to patiently wait and see if these recycled politicians can turn things around. Our city, our county, and our school district are in desperate need of candidates who have Brownsville's best interests at heart and seek office because they want to leave Brownsville in a better position than it currently finds itself in. The time for change is now. We need forward thinking people who are going to establish bold new visions and goals to move Brownsville in the right direction. Brownsvillians can no longer afford to listen to people who make empty promises, use catchy buzzwords; and who don't deliver.
The winds of change are gaining strength, and perhaps it is time to listen to new voices and hear from a different group of people who want to try and serve the community.
Frank Mar is the administrator of a Facebook page called Nomorecheezmeh Official. He has a weekly live stream where he discusses topics of local interest. Frank has been gracious enough to invite me on as a guest on his show more than once. He now refers to me as his co-host.
This is a task I do not take lightly. I am honored someone would think to have me on to provide political analysis and to discuss the local goings on in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley.
The live stream usually happens on Tuesday evenings around 8:30.
Last night, Frank and I were joined by Michael Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a small business owner and a Southmost resident. He ran for the District 1 commissioner seat during the last election cycle. He lost the election to Nurith Galonsky Pizaña. Rodriguez says he's currently considering running for office next year. We discussed some of his ideas for District 1 and Brownsville as a whole. One of his platform planks centers around public safety. He believes District 1, which is comprised of the Southmost area of town, is in need of an additional fire station/EMS station. Southmost has grown considerably over the years, and the one fire station that is behind the Southmost HEB isn't good enough for decent response times should a resident in District 1 need a first responder.
We also discussed other topics on last night's show, including the Willacy County Sheriff's race, the current events surrounding certain members of the BISD board of trustees, and the topic of voter apathy.
Towards the end of the show we were joined by Zachary Blevins. Blevins recently announced his candidacy, and his intention to seek a seat on the BISD board of trustees. He has not announced what seat he will be seeking, but he has assured us all the pieces are in place and he fully plans to move forward with his campaign.
Yesterday was the first time I ever spoke to Zachary in person. During our interview, he alluded to the perception some people have of Blevins and his supposed combative personality. He is primarily known as one of the people behind the legal proceedings to remove Erasmo Castro from the school board. It is no secret that there is no love lost between Blevins and Castro.
People often times refer to the BISD board meeting where he engaged in a back and forth with board members and when he was threatened with removal by BISD security. With that one incident, having absolutely no other background information, people have created a false narrative about Blevins and his explosive nature.
In this blogger's opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.
During his interview, he spoke in a calm tone, and he never once raised his voice or interrupted any of the other people on the live stream. He was articulate, well-spoken, and got his point across without too many theatrics or hyperbole. When asked if he would be able to work with Erasmo Castro, should both of them end up being on the board at the same time, he said he would not allow his personal feelings towards Castro interfere with working together for the betterment of the district, the students, and the staff.
The point I tried to make last night was simple. Personal feelings notwithstanding, the question that has to be asked of any politician's tenure is: Did they leave the office they held in a better condition than they originally found it? Did the city, or the county, or the school board, show forward progress with them in office, or was their tenure a distraction and mired in scandal? If the answer is yes, then that politician deserves to be reelected. If the answer is no, then someone else deserves to have a chance at bettering the community.
I am just smart enough to know the city, or the county, or the school district, can't be run by one person. One politician can't enact everything they want to do. Smart people need to surround themselves with other smart people, and they need to be open-minded enough to listen to new ideas. Just because you don't come up with something doesn't mean it isn't a good idea worth looking into.
Whether we want to admit it or not, it is clear that some of the members of the current school board (and city commission, for that matter) have been nothing but a distraction to the institution they serve. They have not left the institution in a better position than it was in when they were first elected. It is for this reason the voters of Brownsville need to strongly consider listening to what new candidates have to say and what they have to offer.
We don't have time to patiently wait and see if these recycled politicians can turn things around. Our city, our county, and our school district are in desperate need of candidates who have Brownsville's best interests at heart and seek office because they want to leave Brownsville in a better position than it currently finds itself in. The time for change is now. We need forward thinking people who are going to establish bold new visions and goals to move Brownsville in the right direction. Brownsvillians can no longer afford to listen to people who make empty promises, use catchy buzzwords; and who don't deliver.
The winds of change are gaining strength, and perhaps it is time to listen to new voices and hear from a different group of people who want to try and serve the community.
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