Monday marks the first day of early voting for the general election runoff as candidates for city commissioner District 4 get ready to campaign even harder to convince Brownsville citizens to vote for them.
Election Day is June 19 and District 4 residents have the option to decide between political newcomer Pedro Cardenas and incumbent Ben Neece.
Cardenas believes his inexperience in politics is what makes him the better candidate because he doesn’t care about the game of it all, just about doing what’s best for Brownsville. Cardenas, who is a businessman, has served on the Mr. Amigo and Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation boards.
Neece, who has been commissioner for one term, said his experience with public service is what makes him the best choice because he knows how to get things done. Neece, an attorney, is a former municipal judge and currently serves on the boards of BCIC, GBIC and Main Street and is the chairman of the Ozanam Center.
Cardenas and Neece went into a runoff because during the general election no one received at least 50% of the vote plus one. Neece received 34.79% of the vote with 588 ballots cast for him while Cardenas received 40.06% with 677 voters choosing him, a difference of only 89 votes.
“I believe the citizens of Brownsville deserve a voice; they deserve a voice who has not been in politics. Who does not know the game and doesn’t care about the game of politics,” Cardenas said during an interview.
“We care about getting Brownsville stronger, uniting Brownsville, being able to work our county, our state, our city, together. I believe I’m the best option for that.”
If elected, Cardenas said his priorities will include the permitting department so that it is easier to open a business in Brownsville, improving communication between commissioners and the public and also listening to the issues of District 4 and addressing them in a timely manner.
Cardenas said he decided to run because he believes the citizens of District 4 don’t have a voice and that it was very hard for several business owners, including himself, to get hold of the commission to know what the next steps were early during the pandemic when businesses were forced to shut down. He said if elected, he will make himself available to listen to the constituents.
“The most important thing is communication. We need to be able to get ahold of our city commissioners. … I think it is very important for our voice to be heard in the city commission and if the city commission does not know the problems of our city, there is no way for them to fix it,” he said.
“My opponent has been there, he is there right now and we couldn’t find him when we needed him. It’s important for us to understand that when we are there, we are there for the voters, and we owe it to the voters. I’m the change that Brownsville needs in District 4 and I will work very hard for it.”
Neece said during the past four years, he dedicated his time as a city commissioner to focus on systemic issues such as making it easier to start a business by revising and revoking the codes to get new ones that are more uniform and easier to read. He added that he also focused a lot on the downtown area and that it is obvious with all the businesses opening in the area.
If reelected, Neece said he will focus more on the “new space” concept where the city becomes a space entrepot. He said the city is already an entrepot because it has air, trains, land, water, sea and now is including space.
“We have a lot of interest that people are showing. That’s why I wanted to run because I want to keep the momentum going. You can see how nice it is in the downtown area and I think I really made a lot of effort to make our town better and I want to keep trying,” he said.
“… I went to every forum, I go to all my meetings, I research what I need to, I make informed decisions and I have the experience in public service. I have the experience, the expertise, the knowledge and the efforts. My opponent didn’t, he was on GBIC and he didn’t go to the meetings. And if people say, ‘It’s time for change,’ what is your plan? What is it that you’re going to change? Because if you compared what I’ve done, how are you going to change the momentum of downtown? The administration? The systemic problems we had? That was change; I caused change.”
Early voting dates are this Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and next Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Election Day is June 19.
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