2-PAC in Harlingen: Dance of The Old & The New...Who Will Answer...A Town Uninterested In Promises, Disdaining The Past...

By PATRICK ALCATRAZ
Editor

HARLINGEN, Texas - The fight is the same one waged here for the past three decades, pitting those who like things as they are and those who want something better. And, recently, it has been the birth of two political action committees garnering the more-excitable press coverage. One comes with a name reeking of heavyweight fight and the other taking the cliche approach to saying something, but saying nothing.

The former is HEAT, acronym for Harlingen Empowered Advocacy Team; the latter is HCLC, or the Harlingen Citizens Leadership Council. That's nice-sounding gobbledygook for the press. HEAT is really a no-holds-barred group of angry residents wishing nothing but a complete takeover of city government and control of the town's future. The HCLC squad fields a litany of old codgers often referred to as the Old Guard whose desire it is that everybody who wants change stick it up the wazoo. Both sides may distance themselves from our assessment, but perhaps not privately. We stand by our analysis.

In any case, that's the battle that has emerged in this city of almost 70,000 denizens, most of them suffering the pains of unemployment, low wages and a general business malaise that they say has lingered beyond the point of human belief. Those residents openly and loudly blame the Old Guard for the city's fall from grace.

Enter HEAT, led by former Harlingen Police Department Lt. Joe Rubio and former mayoral candidate Kenneth Benton, shown in photo above wearing a blue suit. Rubio, now a private detective, also has failed at getting the mayorship, but has quickly earned a reputation in town as a sort of government bureaucratic sleuth. He's the one to ask about quirky things at the local airport and about city entities he believes have under-performed either because of incompetence or horrible leadership coming from City Hall.

HCLC is led by a covey of well-known, well-heeled businessmen and former city leaders. In that air-conditioned tent is local car dealer and political powerbroker Frank Boggus, sugar mogul Tudor Uhlhorn and a few other lesser notables. According to HEAT, HCLC may also count Mayor Chris Boswell and City Commisioner Kori Marra as members of its old school cabal.

On its face, the political mano-a-mano portends good things for Harlingen. The Good vs. The Bad always plays well in the press and in the neighborhoods. It is the impending brawling between these two groups that will contribute The Ugly. Good luck, Harlingen.

But, really, what dance is this?

Harlingen always has been divided along these same lines, and Harlingen always has managed to maintain the status quo that has those backing HCLC in power. We are forced to ask: What will HEAT do that others have not done, and exactly how does it expect to waylay moneybags HCLC?

Rubio is known to take things to the mat, to be aggressive in voice and action. That may or many not help. Benton, 58, claims to have "a talent for writing," so perhaps both can point and explain the way to victory. Mayor Boswell is not up for election until 2013, but HEAT is likely looking at the District 3 seat currently held by up & down City Commissioner Marra. Lately, references have been made about her district counting a large number of Hispanic voters, although Ms. Marra has said she had their support last go-around.

Would HEAT play the race card? Rubio is Hispanic and Benton is African-American. HCLC counts several Hispanic-surnamed members, although their critics giddily refer to them as being "coconuts;" that is, that they are non-whites acting as if they are whites. No one disputes the idea that HCLC is led by Anglos. Whether that eventually plays out remains to be seen. Harlingen is at a certain economical crossroads, and there are those who say that the time for standing on the sidelines has come and gone.

When he battled Benton for the mayorship in 2007, Mayor Boswell said this on commentator Ron Whitlock's Newsline show: "Harlingen has all the ingredients to be the premier city in South Texas."

Sadly, it isn't. It has slowly, but surely gone from bad to worse.

And that's what HEAT may be counting on. Whatever happens, it is true that a good brawl in the down & dirty political mud can only be good for the community. Well, we say that because, really, how long can a city keep being the punching bag of its smaller, more successful surrounding towns?

Not much longer, says this observer...

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