Last Taxi To TSC...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | Ben Neece, perhaps the city's true Jack-of-all-Trades, wants in on the Texas Southmost College board politics? He's a well-known downtown musician, but that school gig, we say, would be Ben as The Lost Chord - the one musicians spend a lifetime seeking.

This city of way too many badly-placed people has seen him as a steady-hand municipal judge, as a fighting city commissioner, as a travelled coffee trader, as a singing nightclub troubadour, as a...you name it!

According to Jerry McHale, the city's indefatigable "All We Are Saying" blogger, Neece (shown in photo above) is seriously considering a run against incumbent J.J. De Leon, one of the least-known TSC trustees. Why Neece would do such a thing is still unknown, as he himself has not said a word about launching or running a campaign.

As the song says, "...the kids are alright," so we do wonder what exactly Neece would bring to local junior college education. These are the first two, formative years in college. Does Neece know about the best policies required for their success, or will he merely rubber-stamp the words and desires of Old Line Trustees Tony Zavaleta and Adela Garza?

It's not as if TSC is a bastion of major secondary education. It's a small school with a small student enrollment. And it exists in the big, wide shadow of larger, four-year UT-Rio Grande Valley. It does make you wonder. Local residents pay annual property taxes and part of their dues go to TSC.

One would think that students unable to compete at UT-RGV would be a signal to the local school district that their graduates are not cutting it in the real world. Remedial classes, they call it. Get your first two years at cheaper, easier TSC and then transfer those credits to UT-RGV.

Sounds too bureaucratic, the world of higher-ed smoke & mirrors, of departmental mumbo-jumbo.

The 67-year-old Ben Neece in that world?

The guy is a world sightseer with eclectic interests and ideas! He needs TSC like he needs a six-string guitar with a crooked neck (fretboard, frets, headstock). Put that tuneless idea back in the case, Ben. It's a loser.

Times are tough for all colleges. No one person has all the answers. Thankless politics on campus are no different than thankless politics at City Hall. The clock is much slower and the call to action rare. Look at Trustee Alejandra Alderete. What has she done since being initially elected during the last election? Few know even who she is! The TSC Trustee term is for six long, often boring years.

So, they lower tuition, as is the Board's main crowing. It affects such a small group of locals that the rest of the city's population can be excused for yawning in unison.

That's not for Ben Neece...

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