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July 26, 2007
Border Issues,
Political and Otherwise
By
Jack D. McNamara
Life
on the border has been richly dramatized lately.
Lou Dobbs of CNN, who calls himself an “advocacy journalist,” is
crusading in defense of two Border Patrol agents convicted in federal
court for shooting a narcotics trafficker and then trying to cover it
up. The shooting occurred near Fabens in 2005. The agents are Ignacio
Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. They are both serving sentences of more
than 10 years.
The cause reached the level of a U.S. Senate hearing July 17 last week.
The prosecution is strenuously defended by the U.S. Attorney for the
Western District, Johnny Sutton. All of this of course is broadcast on
C-Span and repeated throughout the weekend.
On Saturday we were watching the re-broadcast of the July 17 hearing.
Sutton was giving a general answer about the thousands of prosecutions
he oversees in more than a half dozen courts from El Paso to San
Antonio. He rattled off the numbers, e.g., 31 prosecutors in El Paso,
etc.
Then Sutton said he had a courthouse in Pecos, but “I can’t get anybody
to live in Pecos … prosecutors drive 105 miles from Alpine” to try
cases there in Pecos.
Pecos, of course, includes the largest prison west of the Mississippi
and a $20 million courthouse barely 10 years old. Famous for
cantaloupes and a rodeo, well-compensated lawyers will not live there.
What was once a thriving community is becoming a ghost town since the
Fifties.
Republican
Sightings Confirmed
We observed a couple weeks ago that there were hints of Republican
competitors for the U.S. House of Representatives District 23 on the
horizon. We heard immediately by email from Monica Quiroga, the former
Brewster County Republican chair, assuring us that Francisco “Quico”
Canseco is indeed a candidate.
A lengthy story by Greg Jefferson, “Republican jumps headfirst into the
race for District 23” appeared in the San Antonio Express-News online
of July 20, 2007. An earlier story on July 16, 2007 reported that
Canseco had loaned his campaign more than $500,000 in the second
quarter of this year. Canseco is advertising heavily in the San Antonio
radio market.
Another possible Republican candidate is Bexar County Commissioner Lyle
Larson. Currently Larson represents the north side of San Antonio and
is in his third term. Larson was also a city council representative
from the same area.
The theory seems to be that the north precincts of San Antonio are rich
in reliable Republican voters who “sat out” the December runoff in
which Ciro Rodriguez unseated Henry Bonilla; but they will return to
vote in a presidential year.
Ciro Rodriguez will be in Alpine on July 28 for breakfast at the Bread
and Breakfast in Alpine. We will certainly attend. With real Republican
candidates in the race we simply must chronicle the political maneuvers
of the large Anglo-Republican faction here. We know the Democrats and we know a few Republicans; but we are always intrigued
by the line- crossers who are either Republican or
Democrat depending upon which party is in power.
La Entrada
Last
week’s Big Bend Sentinel published a press release from Austin, “La
Entrada analyzing trade corridor: team examining potential impacts on
existing highway network.”
We learn that we now have a “Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)” which
represents local and regional interests.
Who appointed them?
The rest of the press release is what we call “boilerplate,” a litany
of platitudes, blather and argle-bargle. One can imagine the
perpetrators of such language finishing their work and proclaiming
“Let’s put some lipstick on this pig!”
Rest assured, it means nothing except the game goes on.
More to the point, an external audit of the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDoT) reported last week that more toll roads are
needed and higher tolls. The audits are part of the “sunset” review
process underway and to be completed for the legislative session in
2009.
The sunset review and legislation which will be up in 2009 constitute
the big picture. Our La Entrada process is just marking time. If
Governor Rick (39%) Perry can get his way the roads in Texas will be
sold or rented to the best connected (not the highest) bidder.
We will still pay taxes because the taxes once imposed never go away.
But we will also pay fees per mile to the cronies of whichever faction
is in office. The governor calls this “innovative financing.”
For “innovative” read “privatizing.” There is a fire sale ongoing in
Texas. The George W. Bush Administration has driven the U.S. into $8
trillion dollars in debt and some day the Chinese will demand their
money. Start deciding now what you want to sell — roads, sewers, water
systems, gas companies?
Alpinitis
This brings us to another of our messy Alpine problems which also
affects Marfa and Ft. Davis. That would be the natural gas company. You
read all about it in last week’s Sentinel, “Raun, Clouse butt heads
over gas company interlocal agreement” by Richard Grabman — a fair,
balanced and accurate story.
Marfa plans a public meeting on July 26 so there is no need to rehash
the political bluster from Alpine in this column. The controversy has
been going on since Mayor Mickey Clouse and her cronies decided to sell
the nonprofit corporation owned by both Alpine and Marfa. She has
consistently undermined and obstructed the operation of the board and
the company.
A succession of board members, including several from Marfa, has
responsibly kept the company going. As of this date, the gas company is
in the best shape it has been in years.
Isn’t that odd? Maybe we will be sold before we become a ghost town. •
(Also
published by the Big Bend Sentinel of Marfa, Texas July 26, 2007.)
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