As the May 6 municipal election in Brownsville approaches, two UTRGV political science professors said it might be difficult to find information about the propositions on the ballot.
Early voting for the May 6 General Election begins today and will run until May 2. Eligible voters will cast ballots for a new mayor, three commissioners and six amendments to the city charter, three of which are regarding the Brownsville Public Utilities Board.
Candidates for mayor are Erasmo Castro, a former member of the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees; Jessica Tetreau, the current District 2 city commissioner; John Cowen Jr., the current city commissioner At-Large “A”; and business owner Jennifer Stanton.
In the Commissioner At-Large “A” race, Susan Ruvalcaba, owner of Nurses at Mesquite Home Health; William A. Garza, a hotel night auditor; and Tino Villarreal, athletic director and head football coach at Saint Joseph Academy, are vying to be elected.
Incumbent District 1 City Commissioner Nurith Galonsky Pizaña is being challenged by Bryan Martinez, chief of staff for District 3 City Commissioner Roy De los Santos.
Running for District 2 City Commissioner is U.S. Army veteran Ernesto Lopez; Realtor Caty Presas-Garcia, and Linda Macias, a licensed professional counselor.
Charter Amendment Proposition A proposes the mayor’s annual pay to be set at the rate of $40,000 and city commissioners annual pay to be set at the rate of $25,000. Currently, each member of the commission and the mayor receives $10 per hour when they attend a meeting.
Charter Amendment Proposition B proposes to increase the city manager’s maximum contract length from two to three years.
Charter Amendment Proposition C proposes the appointment of a city attorney to define the duties and powers of the office of the city attorney by adding section 21-A to Article V.
Charter Amendment Proposition D would allow a two-thirds supermajority of the city commission to appoint members to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, having each city commissioner make a nomination to appoint to the board when a vacancy exists by virtue of a term-limit, resignation, death or other incapacity, according to the ballot.
Charter Amendment Proposition E proposes allowing a two-thirds supermajority of the city commission to remove three board members of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board in any 12-month period.
Alvaro Corral, an assistant professor of political science at UTRGV, said he is curious why Proposition E seeks to remove three members of the BPUB board.
“Why three?” Corral said. “… That’s close to being almost half of the board, so that’s a way to kind of really reshape the composition of the board in a particular way.”
Charter Amendment Proposition F proposes to declare a Brownsville Public Utilities Board member’s position, other than the mayor, who serves as a voting member of the board, vacant after continuously being absent four times from any regular meeting in a calendar year.
Mark Kaswan, an associate professor of political science at UTRGV, said the task of trying to find further information on the Brownsville charter amendments was impossible, which will most likely result in low voter turnout.
Kaswan said there are videos of the city commission debating and deciding proposed charter amendments.
“I mean, the city, the Charter Review Commission, videos alone are like 10 hours of videos,” he said. “I don’t have time to watch that. I don’t think the average voter has time to watch that. So it’s very, very frustrating in other places, cities and counties and states that do this kind of thing.”
Kaswan said the State of Texas produces “thorough and detailed analysis of constitutional amendment proposals along with arguments in favor and against and information about their fiscal impact.”
“But the city doesn’t do that,” he said. “… [The] government [is] just not providing information, basic information, to voters about what they’re voting on.”
He said it is the responsibility of the state to give voters the basic information they need to make good decisions.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation out there, as there seems to be in every election, so be cautious about who you get your information from, and that it is coming from an unbiased source,” he said.
Corral said he recommends people to get informed by watching mayoral candidate forums.
Early voting locations will be available throughout the City of Brownsville from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today until Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 1 and 2.
–Rider Spanish Editor Fatima Gamez Lopez contributed to this report.
