The New Americans: Hopped-Up City of Palms Readies Its Next Electoral Deguello...It's Cabeza De Vaca, II...Hola, Mexico!...

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
Editor-In-Chief

McALLEN, Texas - By now, it is well-understood that this bright-lights city has embraced war-torn Mexico like a bordello customer embraces its offerings, always warmly, but never with the full investment of serious emotions. Mexico is still Mexico, is how the locals look at the historical relationship, especially now as the other side of the Rio Grande struggles to fend-off a raging drug-fueled war. Things have been changing.

McAllen, the City of Palms, has largely looked the other way when wondering about the killings in neighboring Mexico, choosing to believe that any and all money coming across by way of shoppers and investors is clean money. It isn't, but that's a story for another day. Suffice it to say that McAllen grows by leaps and bounds under Mayor Richard Cortez (shown at right), even as the larger majority of its neighbor communities do battle against high unemployment, lackadaisical government and economic ennui. Life goes on for McAllen's suburbs, like spinning 45-rpm vinyl records grooving a stuck-needle tune. Imagine Harlingen about here.

But now comes the next election season, and races are being framed. Three city commissioners are up for election, and all three are posturing themselves one more time - all of them saying it is their recent service that has propelled McAllen to its current place as the beacon of the Rio Grande Valley. Life is good here, although it comes more and more with a distinct Mexico-taste. A drive around the city quickly throws that image at you, from restaurants with roots in the Mexican bordertown of Reynosa, to subdivisions where the Mexican wealthy have come to settle and separate themselves from the killings across the river.

Jim Darling is one of the commissioners facing opposition. The former city attorney here has a fight against local party boy Jose Cabeza De Vaca, better known as Pepe (shown in photo at left with State Rep. Veronica Gonzales). He publishes a magazine focused on vanity; that is, it is largely a collection of photographs to do with the night life, often pictures of attractive young women with drinks in their hands and come-on action on their faces.

 The 62-year-old Darling, general counsel at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg (shown at right), has been in office since 2007. Among his accomplishments are spearheading the city-county deal to transform part of the Palmer Pavilion property into Curtis Park, and pushing McAllen’s new anti-texting ordinance. Darling represents district six.

Cabeza de Vaca is 37. Aside from publishing Social Life Magazine, he serves as vice chairman of McAllen’s Planning and Zoning Board. Cabeza challenged Darling in 2007 and lost by 115 votes.

Who knows what this particular campaign portends, but Cabeza De Vaca (Spanish for Cowhead) is said to have strong connections in Reynosa, Mexico, the bordertown directly across the river from McAllen. In terms of local involvement, he has much less connection with the city than does Darling. His candidacy is being seen as a looksee of sorts at involvement of a new sort of resident - one who came from Mexico and gained citizenship, unlike the usual candidates that come from lifelong residency.

Some say he may be the future of a region that, like Miami of the late 1950s and 60s, is steadily turning power over to newcomers. In Southern Florida, the Cuban population that fled the Castro Revolution, quickly set down roots in all aspects of social life, eventually gaining political power and winning high office. It has been decades since Miami had a non-Cuban mayor.

The RGV is closer tied to Mexico by way of ethnicity. Where Miami's whites fled north to Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, Valleyites don't have the resources or desire to leave their native lands. That real estate is being sold to cash-ladened Mexicans, especially in McAllen, so the inevitability of involvement is already clear.

What the Mexicans seem to be doing here is creating residential enclaves and their own economy. The Mexican-owned businesses are just the visual part of that reality. Banks grow fat with Mexican deposits, car dealers import foreign cars and high-dollar stores seem to arrive as if on schedule. Not that it's all bad for less-wealthy locals; they at least get a taste of the Mexican highlife, goes the line.

Cabeza De Vaca may or may not ever find acceptance in government politics, but his stab at it definitely has a Mexican flavor to it - much like the initial efforts by Cubans in Miami all those years ago. Will McAllen hand over the reins of leadership to such New Americans?

Everything points to the conclusion that it already has...

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[Editor's Note: This story was originally posted here last February. The elections in the City of Palms mentioned above take place tomorrow...]