Editor-In-Chief
HARLINGEN, Texas - In local political circles, some saw it as a coup of sorts to see pressed-shirt Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos walk in to debate a lackluster opponent he faces in next month's election. As reported, the crowd that gathered at the city's downtown library numbered in the 130-range, with many of those departing believing Republican Cascos had won his debate with Democratic Party candidate John Wood.
But in the days following the Tuesday afternoon debate, nothing in the form of promise or action has come to this struggling community. Not that two politicians would ever solve the town's many problems, but some could dream.
As things stand, Harlingen needs jobs, perhaps more than any other city of its size in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. It also needs business to re-energize sales tax revenues. It needs its community elected officials to step up and at the very least say things will get better sometime soon. But it's not happening. The people who want change arrived at the debate and listened. They heard County Judge Cascos speak glowingly of things in the county, and they heard candidate Wood say much more needs to be done.
But nothing is glowing and nothing is being done.
This town's sole hope for survival lies in the promise of a hunting & fishing retail outlet many say is just not going to get the job done. Confidence has never had a worse home. There is no confidence in Harlingen. Residents are still marching to the local employment and welfare offices (see photo above) out of sheer desperation. Politicians can come in and beg for votes in an air-conditioned venue, but at what point do they turn around and help those in need? What can Carlos Cascos do for Harlingen residents? He should be held accountable; he should be asked to produce.
Communities can turn out for these political events and play their part, yet they rarely get any substantial help in return. Cascos and Wood presumably left the debate thinking they had won the parrying contest. But what goals do they have to do something for the people who put them in office, where they draw good paychecks and get fantastic benefits?
The hard times being endured by Harlingen are broad and diverse. Perhaps Cascos and Wood cannot solve all of the problems. Yet, it strikes us that something is wrong when these candidates get what they want, but do not necessarily feel the need to help those who put them in those cushy jobs.
In the Valley, politicians feel the love. They get the votes and the positions and everything that comes with it. But the last part of the equation - exactly what the community gets - is always missing. Harlingen played the part of audience for Cascos and Wood, yet it likely will get nothing from these two public servants.
That's the bitch in local politics - it's all for them...
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1 comment:
The county like the city of harlingen, have nothing going. Cameron county is ugly, dirty, one of the lowest under paid county. It sucks, I agree with your editorial. This two jokers want to get chushy jobs, and let the rest of the population go to hell. So what else is new. The poorest in the nation.
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