By Juan Montoya
Call it a tempest in a teapot, and rather large one at that, but the fur is flying after Erasmo Castro (the Head Cheez) was prevented from campaigning in front of the Central Public Library.
He immediately blamed his "opponents" for what he called police harassment, a charge that all three of them deny. Castro is running for Place 5 now held by incumbent Caty Presas-Garcia. Other candidates in that race are Laura Perez-Reyes and Laura Castro.
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But whatever the source was that spurred the suspicious police action, many are saying that the cops and police chief Orlando Rodriguez may have been guilty of overkill.
Not only did Castro get cited for blocking the sidewalk (later changed to a warning), but other candidates for the school board like Kent Whittemore and others were also told to move across Central Boulevard.
"We had to go and stand across the street," said Whittemore, a first-time candidate. "I've never run for office before so it was a new thing for me."
Castro, however, saw a hidden hand behind the police action.
"Ten police officers, eight police vehicles, and one police chief to give me a citation (which they then changed to a warning)" were sent out to remove us," Castro texted in social media and said he would no longer hold up signs so his friends and family would not be harassed.
Presas-Garcia – who was attending a training course in McAllen – said she played no role in the police action against candidates and their supporters.
"I'm too busy with my work to do anything like that," she said in a phone call. "It might be a case of Erasmo making himself out to be a victim. It definitely was not me and I wish he's stop lumping me with his 'opponents'."
In previous elections, as was the case when Brownsville Tony Martinez was running for mayor, police allowed him and his supporters to line the sidewalk and virtually camp out on the grassy space between the entrance and exit driveways. Some think that there was a call to the cops from a high city official to elicit such a response.
"It had to come from higher up in the city for this sort of thing to happen," said a candidate's supporter holding a sing on Central. "The cops just don't show up like this on their own. What a waste of time and police manpower."
Call it a tempest in a teapot, and rather large one at that, but the fur is flying after Erasmo Castro (the Head Cheez) was prevented from campaigning in front of the Central Public Library.
He immediately blamed his "opponents" for what he called police harassment, a charge that all three of them deny. Castro is running for Place 5 now held by incumbent Caty Presas-Garcia. Other candidates in that race are Laura Perez-Reyes and Laura Castro.
But whatever the source was that spurred the suspicious police action, many are saying that the cops and police chief Orlando Rodriguez may have been guilty of overkill.
Not only did Castro get cited for blocking the sidewalk (later changed to a warning), but other candidates for the school board like Kent Whittemore and others were also told to move across Central Boulevard.
"We had to go and stand across the street," said Whittemore, a first-time candidate. "I've never run for office before so it was a new thing for me."
Castro, however, saw a hidden hand behind the police action.
"Ten police officers, eight police vehicles, and one police chief to give me a citation (which they then changed to a warning)" were sent out to remove us," Castro texted in social media and said he would no longer hold up signs so his friends and family would not be harassed.
Presas-Garcia – who was attending a training course in McAllen – said she played no role in the police action against candidates and their supporters.
"I'm too busy with my work to do anything like that," she said in a phone call. "It might be a case of Erasmo making himself out to be a victim. It definitely was not me and I wish he's stop lumping me with his 'opponents'."
In previous elections, as was the case when Brownsville Tony Martinez was running for mayor, police allowed him and his supporters to line the sidewalk and virtually camp out on the grassy space between the entrance and exit driveways. Some think that there was a call to the cops from a high city official to elicit such a response.
"It had to come from higher up in the city for this sort of thing to happen," said a candidate's supporter holding a sing on Central. "The cops just don't show up like this on their own. What a waste of time and police manpower."