In The Spotlight: Norma Sepulveda – Current Mayor -Harlingen Texas Star Rating: 5.0
- Cris Cory
- May 1, 2023
- 4 min read
The context of today’s review is how we choose to “frame” Norma Sepulveda’s mayoral win on May 7, 2022. As you all know, we are “Foodies” not Political Pundits.
So, let us start our full-course meal with a tantalizing Appetizer:
We willingly moved to Harlingen in late 2010, and though we’re not RGV natives, we think it’s important to share our point of view with the people we have embraced as our neighbors, and the town we chose to call home.
Using a piece of art as an analogy, and suggesting that painters paint the picture first and then worry about the frame – is commonplace for most artists. But, in persuasive communications, you need to do the opposite: choose the frame first and then paint your word picture. If you manage the frame, you manage the message.
People have long known, and psychologists have recently confirmed, that changing perspective can change conclusions drawn and the choices made. In one disturbing example, even physicians were more apt to recommend a procedure with a 90% survival rate than one with a 10% mortality rate. How we look at something has a significant - often decisive - effect on the final decision. Expert persuaders pay as much attention to the frame as they do to the objective facts.
Moving on to the Main Dish – Gazpacho, made of organic, raw Facts: served cold, gazpacho is a meal that feels healthy and refreshing like a salad, but it has a heartier feel, making it particularly well-suited for dinner on hot summer nights.
Fact #1: We did not vote for her. We voted for incumbent mayor Chris Boswell who served as mayor since 2007. It just so happened that when we arrived here, my family was actively involved in serving his administration in bettering the lives of “all” the people of Harlingen. And, whether you maintain that all the progress that could have been achieved – was or wasn’t – and whether just a select few benefitted from that progress, is a matter of how you frame the analysis and interpret the data.
From a Foodie’s non-partisan perspective, here is some legit food for thought:
- A growing influx of educated professionals from the Republic of India.
- A Growing influx of educated professionals from the Philippines.
- A growing influx of educated professionals from the Middle East.
- An ever-growing influx of aerospace engineers and technicians from all over the U.S. is being recruited to work for Space X in the Brownsville/Boca Chica area.
So, whose administration is responsible for holding back the overall progress of Harlingen since it was incorporated on April 15, 1910 - when the population totaled 1,126 persons and the local economy was almost entirely agricultural?
Whose administration is solely responsible for holding back the progress of what the “outside” world considers the fastest growing tertiary market in the US because (Mc Allen, Brownsville, Harlingen, and all the smaller towns in between) still plan and govern themselves as separate municipalities – instead of an organized and united Rio Grande Valley, that should offer opportunities to natives and outsiders alike?
Lastly, whose administration is wholly responsible for the fact that it took Harlingen roughly 112 years to elect its first female mayor?
I reckon with that said, we can wrap up the leftovers of our main dish and wait for the last course while sipping on a cup of frothy cappuccino to digest a quote from Pieter Geyl, a Dutch historian - “History is an argument without end.”
Finally, the last course in today’s meal - serving our featured Dessert:
The admirable and exemplary mayor that Harlingen was waiting and craving for - Norma Sepulveda - honoring her with our “spotlight” during Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. Celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women from all around the world, reaffirming women be recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political.
A native of the Rio Grande Valley; Norma earned her degrees at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Thurgood Marshall School of Law. She is a member of the Texas State Bar. She champions the cause of immigrant rights as a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). And, if that weren’t enough on her plate, she serves as Harlingen’s mayor – while balancing time for her husband and two boys.
Yes, this is the beginning of a new era, where her leadership can influence, inspire, and determine the possibilities for the future of Harlingen, and the entire Rio Grande Valley. Whether she succeeds at reaching her political goals or not – what it took to get here is living proof that the American dream is alive and well. Imagine, all the personal rendered sacrifices endured by her and her family to achieve what few can claim. Insignificant to the ignorant and uninformed, but historical and monumental to those who understand what transpired on that day when she won the election to become, the first female mayor of Harlingen, Texas.
Mayor, you have our complete support and our heartfelt prayers to succeed beyond everyone’s most ambitious dreams!
A note of gratitude and a nod of respect to all the previous administrations and the people who did their best to serve Harlingen as Public Servants. Thank you.
Con todo corazón – gracias!
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