Of Male & Female Politics, A Strange Police Drama and El Corrido De Harlingen...

By ELIOT ELCOMEDOR
Staff Writer

HARLINGEN, Texas - They say a town's sophistication rests in the hands of its leaders. The world of "right" versus "wrong" is something that has to be established early-on in the life of a community. Fail to do it and you have the mess that is Brownsville.

Here, the long week ends with the story of a high-ranking policewoman and her husband, a karate instructor accused of playing games with children, or, as they say in TV law & order dramas, the cat is alleged to have gone full-sexual on local kiddoes. And still, even after being indicted weeks ago, someone named Carlos Anderson walks freely.

"One would think," said a woman at a coffee shop here, "...that the chief of police would wring that woman's neck and get her to tell him where the Hell her husband is hiding." The officer's name is Myriam Anderson. She is a lieutenant on the under-achieving force and reportedly a very good ally of Chief Danny Castillo.

As the sun will set here today, the word in the streets will be that the good people of Harlingen are not taking this well. They openly wonder why the chief doesn't act on the indictment, why he doesn't grab Ms. Anderson by the ear and force her to lead him to her husband. Yet, no high-ranking city official - not Mayor Chris Boswell or any of the city commissioners - has called for an explanation.

The local BlogWorld has of late focused its energies - pro and con - on City Commissioner Kori Marra, her critics blasting her at every turn and her backers firing back in kind. This, said another resident, would be the perfect time for Ms. Marra to go public with her desire to clean up this one-horse town.

"If she straps her six-gun on and goes after the chief, she'll make a million points in Harlingen," said a woman shopping for vegetables at a grocery store. "She can do it. She can scold the chief into doing something. That man has to be humiliated to do anything."

In a part of the world where women haven't always been handed the reins to the political stagecoach, Ms. Marra may be feeling the pressure that comes when issues-of-the-day go from creating a mere senior citizens board to upbraiding a recalcitrant chief of police. Not that she's alone. Commissioner Robert Leftwich, a pretender to the mayoral throne, has remained mum. Our take is that it is Ms. Marra or Mr. Leftwich who must stand up to the chief. They are the acknowledged future of city politics and both must bite the bullet and take a shot a resolving a sticky situation. And they must act quickly.

Already, the rest of the Rio Grande Valley wonders what the Hell is up with Harlingen.

"It threatens to become a freakin' corrido," said a resident of McAllen. "They write those kinds of songs for the drug dealers. It wouldn't surprise me if someone didn't write El Corrido de Harlingen..."

- 30 -