(Ed.'s Note: There are four candidates for the District 1 position held by 16-year incumbent Ricardo Longoria, at left with crossed arms trying his best to act indifferent as his challenger Nurith Galonsky makes her pitch at a recent candidates' debate. The really bored guy in the middle is former city commissioner William Garza. Missing from the photo is the fourth candidate Michael Rodriguez.
The core constituency in the district is the Southmost area, a sprawling barrio community in the city's southeast reaches extending east toward the Port of Brownsville and south along the Rio Grande. That area's is notorious for low voter turnout,. Can anyone of the candidates light a fire under the electorate this year? The challengers are counting on it, and Longoria hopes it doesn't happen.
Meanwhile, we are getting reports that after years of asking the city to clean their weed-overgrown, litter-filled alleys, city crews have suddenly appeared in District 1 alleyways as the election nears.
City commissioners are infamous for pulling out all the stops right before the election to impress the people that they are actually doing something. Will it work for Longoria again? Or has he gone to that well too often and despite all his machinations is it a case of too little, too late?
