Fence debate turns ‘disrespectful'

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Young onlookers get eye-opener as they wait through outbursts, mother says
July 2, 2008 - 10:02PM
By Kevin Sieff, The Brownsville Herald
During Tuesday night's marathon City Commission meeting, the Tigers Little Miss Kickball team sat on the sidelines waiting to receive a proclamation.

It took more than four hours before the team of 12 girls was invited to accept their plaque and pose for a photo with the Commission for winning the Tip-o-Tex Little Miss Kickball Championship. In that time, they got front-row seats to one of Brownsville's most heated political exchanges during a forum on the border fence's construction on municipal land.

The meeting, the girls say, started off interesting, but it devolved into a display none of them expected to see at City Hall.

After a long public comment session, the City Commission prepared to vote on a measure that would allow the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to construct a removable fence on municipal property. After Commissioner Anthony Troiani made a motion to table the issue, the conversation quickly degenerated into a barrage of personal attacks and interjections.

Mayor Pat M. Ahumada turned his attention away from the motion on the floor, and instead broached the Texas Border Coalition lawsuit.

Commissioner Leo Garza then made a futile attempt to remove Ahumada from the meeting. Commissioner Charlie Atkinson accused the city attorney, Jim Goza, of shirking his responsibilities.

All the while, the Tigers Little Miss Kickball team looked on.

"I thought they would just be talking peacefully," said Yvonne Renee Garcia, 13, one of the team members. "I didn't think they would get that mad."

City records now show that the Commission voted 5-1 to table the issue and continue negotiating with DHS. But the vote was so overwhelmed by commotion that even Troiani had to check to make sure it had officially taken place.

At Tuesday's meeting, all six city commissioners made it clear they opposed the fence. But each admitted that the proposed compromise with DHS - which would ostensibly remove the temporary barrier once the city's levees are reinforced - might be a practical solution.

Ahumada disagreed.

"I don't think we're qualified to be negotiating with sharks," he said at a Wednesday press conference.

With the issue now tabled, DHS could file a land condemnation lawsuit against the city at any time. A 10-acre swath of the city's land is currently included among the 370 miles of fencing DHS has been mandated to build before the end of 2008.

With that deadline looming, the Commission acknowledged just how critical their decision was needed. But the tenor of the discussion at the meeting changed once the prospect of a vote was broached. The substance of the meeting was then overwhelmed by infighting, largely between the mayor and the commissioners.

"It was a real eye opener," said Julia Garcia, Yvonne Renee's mother. "They really shouldn't make those outbursts. It wasn't something I wanted the girls to see."

Yvonne Renee, a rising freshman at Hanna High School, has considered running for elected office one day, but after last night, she's not so sure.

"I don't know if it's for me," she said. "I'm not that disrespectful."



ksieff@brownsvilleherald.com