The Carpetbagger: Former Donna Mayor Rick Morales...Mayor Of Harlingen?...Get Real...

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
Editor-In-Chief

HARLINGEN, Texas - It isn't part of the local history or flavor of the Rio Grande Vallley, but maybe it is nothing more than a silly aberration, a quirk in local politics, the idle thinking of a former mayor looking for new ground to shovel.

Perhaps that's why former Donna Mayor Ricardo "Rick" Morales wants to be mayor of Harlingen. In a part of the state where even the most-stable things often tend to go sideways, it is an intriguing stab by Morales. The 41-year-old self-described commercial lender doesn't really have a record of outstanding leadership, mainly because the city he once helped governed is no great shakes.

Morales hasn't come out and said he's interested in the local office, but word in the streets and blogosphere has him in robes and ambling toward the ring. Should he do it and somehow win, Morales will become the Valley's first carpetbagging public servant. The idea has a history of sorts in national politics. Robert F. Kennedy left his native Massachusetts to run for - and win - a U.S. Senate seat in New York. George W. Bush left his birthplace in Connecticut to run for - and win - the governorship of Texas.

So, who knows about a Morales-for-mayor-Harlingen campaign?

There are some bad signs, however, for those residents who would back him while seeking to overturn the so-called Old Guard dominance in city politics. The Old Guard is described as a collection of ultra-conservative old codgers interested in maintaining the status quo, defined here as being the Anglos interested in ruling over the city's Hispanic population with all the propriety of a coonhound. Many in the Old Guard membership support the harsh Republican politics of Texas Governor Rick Perry and its two Republican senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson - none a friend of Hispanics.

Oddly enough, so apparently does Morales.

In May 2008, Morales said this about Republican Cornyn: "The people of Donna have been extremely well served by Senator Cornyn. He shares the same values with South Texans and I am honored to endorse his re-election."

Really? But, then, Morales also endorsed Republican Texas Gov. Perry in 2006 and 2010.

Interestingly, Cornyn that year was also endorsed by former Harlingen Mayor Connie De La Garza and current Mayor Chris Boswell. Boswell is listed as being on the side of the Old Guard here. He does not quarrel with that assignation.

Morales may not exactly be the right-skin conservative sought by the extremist fringe of the Tea Party, but his endorsements do mean something. Is he the "change" politician for Harlingen? Doesn't look like it. He is more like a used tire being bolted onto a, yes, tired vehicle, but one needing perhaps "new" wheels.

That same summer of 2008, when touting Donna's growth in population from a dusty 6,000 during the 1970s to the 18,000 he governed, Morales said: "We believe that Donna, in the next 10 years, will double and maybe triple in size. The future is extremely bright."

So, what happened? What drove Morales out and into the mood of looking at Harlingen?

In June of that same year, incumbent Morales was swamped by David Simmons,a  first-time candidate for elected office who worked as tax assessor-collector for the Donna school district. Simmons grabbed 57 percent of the vote, ending Morales's six year-run as mayor and two as city commissioner.

What he's been doing since then is anybody's guess. Nothing written or posted about him to date indicates any sort of worthwhile endeavor or contribution, whether financial, supportive or voluntary in nature. If he now resides in Harlingen, what is he doing in town? Is he merely herding support for that eventual contest? If so, who is he meeting with, and where exacly is his expected suport coming from? Certainly, it cannot simply be the shrilly voice of an obscure blogger spurring him into thinking he is needed or can win.

Harlingen is in trouble. Of that, there is no question. All economic and social indicators point to a steady decline when compared to its neighboring communities. The joke here is that San Benito, once the punching bag of Harlingen, is considering a proposal to annex Harlingen.

Rick Morales invested almost a decade in public service to presumably help the residents of little Donna. Unless he explodes with some hellacious novel ideas that would quickly aid Harlingen, well, Harlingen needs to look elsewhere for its city hall leader. What's his educational background, and how does he explain his crushing defeat to a political novice?

Rick Morales is not the answer, because, alas, he doesn't even know the question...

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[EDITOR'S NOTE:...This article was originally published here last month. Our feelings related to this gentleman's bid for mayor of Harlingen remain as they were when we wrote this story...]