In Brownsville, A Swearing-In Of The Old County Judge...Even As His Opponent Blows It Off...

By BOB VERACRUZ
Special to The Tribune

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Flinty John Wood never did concede defeat, but Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos is expected to enjoy his swearing-in ceremony here late Monday afternoon, Jan. 3rd. The Republican Cascos will take the oath of office recalling a certain congratulatory telephone call he received from Democrat Wood shortly after the Nov. 2nd election, a telephone call Wood soon labeled premature and later took back.

It seemingly will be the end of a contentious race that began early in the year, went through the long, hot summer of campaigning and then waited on the goofiest vote count in local history. That's when the race turned into a would-be Manos Arriba! political heist, with both men claiming victory and with discombobulated County Elections Administrator Roger Ortiz (shown in photo below) first handing the post to incumbent Cascos, then to Wood, and finally back to Cascos. In there roiled hours during which both political camps charged someone was messing with the vote count, Cascos parked his vehicle in front of the Ortiz home for who knows what reasons, and Wood (shown in photo above right) began making calls to people he thought might fit-in nicely in his administration.

It'll be Cascos loyalists at the courthouse tomorrow, all signing-on once more for another term.

Wood never did say why he would not concede, even after he vaguely said he wouldn't be challenging the final count in court. His critics charged, perhaps facetiously, that Wood's last hope was the immediate, untimely death of Cascos - a hope that also died with each passing day.

Cascos arrives with much to do. Cameron County lags behind its neighbor to the west in jobs, growth and promise. Faith, say many here, has brought them this far; now they need Cascos, or someone in his capacity, to do something, anything. A drive around the county, spanning this town, the county seat, and Harlingen up the highway, yields photographs more suited to Mexico than the U.S.

"There are abandoned buildings and cars everywhere up and down the highway," said one resident. "People over in Hidalgo County to the west think we live like hicks. Cascos may be in, but he won't do squat. Come back in two-three years and ask me again. Cameron County is just North Matamoros, man - a friggin' cesspool. All these unemployed people. Sheeeeeee-it, you kidding me about feeling good, or what?"

Wood, meanwhile, leaves his county commission seat on the same day, perhaps believing he is the Valley's Al Gore and insisting that something happened and he lost an election that would have made him county judge - the eternal aspiration of every commissioner.

Will he surface at some point down the road?

Most around here say they hope not. Cameron County, like Hollywood, does not easily overcome a bad taste in the mouth. In this town and county, sequels work only in adultery, goes the line in the streets...

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