Stop Electing Old People...Just Because You Like Them...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | That one above is the absolute best photo of Eva Alejandro we could find, and we looked and looked and looked. We go to "looks" if for no other healthy reason than that it is the vogue in politics. Suddenly, it's not how you feel; it's how you "look".

Miss Alejandro is a member of the Texas Southmost College's Board of Trustees. She's been there since being elected in 2018 - pre-covid19.

And, well, she's in her 70s - like, 74, according to info we found online.

Her term expires next November. We've seen nothing official from her camp about a reelection effort. TSC trustees serve 6-year terms. Eva Alejandro would be about 80 years old upon completion of the next round.

Is she too old?

We think so, but, then again, we hold hard to a rolling philosophy that says the crop needs to be turned-over every so often. And it's just not us saying it these days. 

This from 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina: "We’ve got to stop electing people because we like them and they’ve been there a long time.":

Agree. Democrat Joe Biden at 80 is too old to seek another term as president. Republican Donald J. Trump, the oft-indicted candidate, is too old at 77.

Young blood is the future. The past has come and gone. Experience is often over-rated, especially in the ever-troubled Rio Grande Valley.

How old is TSC Trustee Tony Zavaleta? Upper-70s? How old is TSC Chairman Adela Garza? Almost 70?

Much-younger TSC Trustee Alejandra Alderete is the future. Let the young educate and lead the young. There is no dishonor in stepping aside.

But for all we know, Eva Alejandro will pass on seeking another six-year term.

That would be the wise move.

Age is playing in today's politics, Baby. No question about it. The country is getting older and older and so are its politicians. You simply cannot have a president born in 1943, a year the Big Band Glenn Miller Orchestra provided the most popular music of the time - 20 years before The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. 

Let's be frank...for once...

-30-

[EDITOR'S NOTE:...McAllen voters saw their longtime mayor Jim Darling retire from local politics and then elected younger Javier Villalobos. Harlingen swept oldie Chris Boswell out of the mayor's post and elected younger Norma Sepulveda...]