SHERIFF'S RACE

Marshall Law, The McHale Report's expert on all matters police, had no problem finding an empty booth after the lunch rush at The Vermillion. The Vermillion, Brownsville's most popular watering hole for almost a century, has been taking a beating like all restaurant/bars during the pandemic. Justo Leyes, the blog's legal expert, joined him. They ordered nachos with the works and a bucket of beers.

Law: I'm going to give Sheriff Lucio a mulligan on this one because he has always been a straight shooter in the past.

Leyes: What are you talking about, partner?"

Law: Lucio lost fair and square to Eric Garza in the Democratic Primary. Democrats spoke loudly and clearly that they wanted a change even though I endorsed the sheriff because I felt he had done a solid job for more than two decades. Regardless, he got his ass kicked, but rather than accept his defeat with class, he is endorsing the Republican John Chambers. This is unacceptable to all Democrats in these times of Trump. Garza may be a rookie, but he's clean. If you search Chambers' name on Google, it isn't a pretty picture. The man has been charged with more felonies than Carlos Elizondo and he couldn't run his little hole-in-wall town, Indian Lake, without a spate of personnel problems. A vote for a Republican is an abject display of homage for Trump. I don't think Lucio realizes that we are in the middle of a Democratic/Republican Civil War and we Democrats are not tolerating any defections.

Leyes: Everybody says the reason Lucio lost was because his two chief deputies--Gus and Javier Reyna--had turned the public against their boss with their attitudes. The brothers won't have jobs under a Garza administration. As a result, according to the talk on the streets, is that Lucio is giving Chambers his support in exchange for employing Gus and Javier.

Law: I've heard the same story from The Toddle Inn to Ricardo's when I've gone for my huevos rancheros. I'm a Democrat. From Joe Biden to Laura Perez-Reyes, I'm voting the palanca because Republicans have fallen into the abyss and there is no rescuing them. They have sold their souls to Trump and they are more committed to a cult than they are to our country. I am so disappointed that Lucio has chosen to betray his fellow Democrats.

Leyes: You vociferously argued for months that Garza didn't have the experience and there are many who agree because he has never worked in law enforcement. Why aren't you giving Lucio the benefit of the doubt and accepting that Lucio has reached the same conclusion in the general election that you were promoting in the runoff?

Law: It's a fair question. Garza is a successful bureaucrat as his many years as the Cameron County District Clerk proved. He managed a competent office with little controversy. The sheriff's department is a huge administrative challenge. He will streamline the operations while he turns the cop side over to Robert Gracia, well-respected by his peers based on his vast experience. I'm confident they can do the job. Garza handles the money and Gracia handles the men. Democrats in overwhelming numbers decided they wanted change and they have entrusted this change to Garza. While I might have differed in the runoff, I know that we need change from Washington D.C. to Brownsville. I'm confident that Garza and Gracia will be a competent one-two punch. Chambers is a good ol' boy at best who is mired in the status quo. He is a hick-town police chief right out of Mayberry's Barney Fife's tradition.

Leyes: I don't like Lucio's traitorous act because it's just plain sour grapes in my estimation. We need Democrats in office more than at any time in our nation's history. I agree that Garza and Gracia make a good team and I can tell you this: Andy Griffith was a good friend of mine and John Chambers is no Andy Griffith.