Staff Writer
HARLINGEN, Texas - It wasn't that long ago that Brownsville downrange from here wore the crown that said it was the wildest, craziest falling town in the Rio Grande Valley. These days, things have settled down in Brownsville. No longer is the Cameron County community of 120,000 forward-looking souls held hostage by wanton crime, obscene Blogging and horrible politics.
Now, as in novels painting today's India, it is another town - Harlingen - claiming the top ranking among Valley communities struggling with political disarray, lack of vision, bizarre crime, and End-Is-Nigh Blogging. This town is now Number 1 in the RGV, Numero Uno atop that hated list of places to ignore, not bother with, openly disdain. No community is happier than is Brownsville, for decades the whipping boy of Valley residents who saw it as the poor side of town, the last refuge of scoundrels, the destination for every low-flying, corrupt politician, the pits. Brownsville has taken flight in search of higher altitude.
"We're looking for cleaner air to breathe," said one Brownsville resident recently. "Our city leaders have quieted down, Harlingen is taking all the headlines and our dreaded Blog - El Rocinante - has been sent who knows where. It is a new day around here!"
Harlingen, meanwhile, can't wait for the next day's sun to rise. People here are ready for a fight. Too much and nothing is going on. The city is taking a public relations beating, now being seen as the lowest in a region of lows. Crime is particularly hot. The dizzied police department battles rumor and innuendo related to its operation, which is not good for the denizens, and, now, motorists are being blown-away downtown - in the exact same manner that people are gunned down in the ungovernable Mexican bordertown of Reynosa.
As comedian George Carlin might say about here: "Eeeeeh, que pasa?"
How Harlingen came to lose its way is an interesting tale of love, hate and disgust.
The town loves itself; about that there is no question. But it hates its political climate, so much so that Mayor Chris Boswell has taken to staying away from City Hall for, it is said, fear of being egged. The disgust comes from a clear feeling among residents that it'll be a long, damned time before Harlingen gets its act together - if ever again. Already, U-Haul is stocking up on cross-country moving trailers.
"Life went wrong for us somewhere," said a Harlingen resident waiting for the doors of a popular disco to open one recent night. "I'm gonna drink tonight, and, brother, that's all I know."
On the Blogging front, both MyHarlingenNews.com and MyLeadersNews.com, now the ceaseless watchdogs of action in the bars, the streets, City Hall, the ballpark, the airport, the schools, the HPD and all area malls, continue to claw at the drapery of transparency, both hunting for news like two harrier falcons winging from one side of town to the other in search of the latest juicy morsel.
In Brownsville, today's worry is the high humidity...
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5 comments:
I Heard that the deadly Salvadoran / Califas street gang/ Mafia " LOS MARASALVATRUCHA " are moving into Harlingen ... I said welcome to THE RANCHO GRANDE VALLEY - FEDERAL INDIAN RESERVATION AND OUCASTS REFUGE "!!!
I concur with your editorial, the talk at las cazuelas rest. is that until our worthless mayor leaves office things won't change. I agree nothing but jobs in restaurants, nada mas.no
JEFFIFER:...Well, that's a new name for us. Jeffifer? Alrightee. Haven't been to Las Cazuelas in Harlingen. Is it better than El Rancho, where the prices are spectacularly low? As for Mayor Chris Boswell, well, there are stil a few years left on his current term, no? There must be something the citizenry can do in that town? Put thought to it, Jeffifer... - Editor
The food is okay, about the same prices. Bunch of police officers drink coffee there plus many retirees, they are the ones that speak about all the stuff that happens in the city.
Chief Dan Castillo, has a new name, chief on the run, and I hear through the grapevine, that they might be looking into peoples e-mails because they think there is a mole.
Gabe Gonzalez and some dept. heads need to leave the city, starting with Paul M. the director of Planning and Zoning. Nobody knows his work schedule, goes in late to work and leaves early. Sorrya about the name, it is Jennifer.
ANON/Jennifer:...Hmmm, Las Cazuelas sounds like our kind of breakfast joint. Chief-On-The-Run, eh? Cute. Too cute, but we'll smile, sure. Our bet would be on City Mgr. Gabe Gonzalez moving on, which would mean a few department heads would follow suit, perhaps even this Paul M. We had a free-lance writer offer to do a story about how Harlingen should change its name to Fallujah. Guns and fights and drunks and bad politics equals Iraq, he insisted. We said, "No, thanks, but what about a story that says Harlingen will soon import thousands of Black & Asian families and re-make itself into a sort of San Francisco of the border." The guy looked at me, made a weird face, and left... - Editor
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