Opportunity knocking for District 8?

June 10, 2007

MySA.com: Metro | State

Cibrian — a Corpus Christi native and public affairs consultant whose former clients include Moores Cafeteria Services and STC Construction

A public affairs consultant? You know what that is, don’t you? That’s someone who helps businesses compete for government contracts. I don’t know what she has done for STC Construction lately given that they appear to be based in California, the place Cibrian left 15 or so years ago. Moores Cafeteria Services seems to be popping up locally in places like SAC and NISD. So maybe Cibrian does know where to cut spending seeing as how her specialty has been helping private companies feed at the “public trough.”

Does that just make her a hypocrite or an opportunist? Hey, the government has to pay someone to do the work so it may as well be her clients. I think she falls into the opportunist category.

On the same day I received her latest flier, Saturday, I also got an automated phone call from Ted Trakas, president of Vance Jackson Neighborhood Inc. criticizing Cibrain for using his name in her campaign without his permission. Trakas is the one who wrote the letter to the editor complaining about Stribling’s actions on the zoning commission which Cibrian has used in several of her fliers. In the phone call he said that after talking to Stribling during one of the candidate’s functions, he believes that Stribling is someone he could work with. He also states that he is supporting neither Stribling or Cibrian and encouraged everyone to vote.

Given that Trakas had his letter published in the paper, no one really has to get permission to use the letter as a quote. But obviously, he doesn’t like how Cibrian is using his letter as implied support for Cibrian.

This is my basic problem with Cibrian–she’s an opportunist. I suspect she doesn’t hold any principle as sincere or worth fighting for. Her latest flier is full of examples.

She has a quote from “a conservative Republican” supporting her. It’s not that I think voters and candidates should only support their party’s candidates. I just think that Cibrian needed to appear more “Republican” and so she got a quote from a Republican. Maybe I’m just cynical but I really don’t think she has been having meaningful, engaging conversations with the Republican voters in the district about how she represented San Antonio to the 2004 Democratic convention (for $2.95 you can read her blog she did for the Express-News) and helped nominate Kerry as the Democratic candidate.

Photo HoustonChronicle.com: Election Central – 2004 Democratic Convention

Karen Warren / Chronicle

Diane Gonzalez Cibrian of San Antonio holds up a pro-Kennedy sign during the Massachusetts senator’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

She wasn’t able to get a direct quote or support from Trakas so she gets someone else from the Vance Jackson Neighborhood Association, Art Keith, to say something for the flier. I’m willing to bet most people will assume that Keith is the same person who wrote the letter–Trakas. See, while she “reprints” Trakas’ letter on the flip side of the flier, she conveniently leaves off his signature. Who’s going to remember the actual name of the person who wrote the letter to the editor was Trakas and not Keith?

The bottom corner of her flier has a cut-out of a letter that basically has the Harvard University’s JFK School of Government letterhead and her name underneath. The only other thing visible is “ship in a Ne.” So do you think the JFK School is now endorsing Cibrian? It’s one thing to show a degree from your college. It’s quite another to allow people to infer something that you know isn’t true.

Oh, but she never said she had an academic fellowship, did she? No, she’s just campaigning in a district that has a medical school, dental school, and a Ph.D. level university and is populated by voters with advanced degrees. Why on earth would she think that these people would assume that she had completed a two year fellowship at Harvard?

She’s sending out three fliers (at least) to Stribling’s one but reminds voters not to “be misled by my opponent’s attacks. Sadly, my opponent is making last-minute, false accusations against me in the hope that you will believe it.”

So she’s accusing Stribling of saying things about her that aren’t true? How is that any different than what she states about herself in her fliers that lead others to believe things that aren’t necessarily true? When Cibrian talks about belief, she isn’t talking about the kind of beliefs that reflect values. She’s talking about the kind of beliefs that advertisers use–words that make you feel good and buy their product.

Unfortunately, I think Cibrian is going to win. I guess I should be grateful that San Antonio has such restrictive term-limits that make it virtually impossible for an individual council member to do any real damage. With only a maximum of four years on the council, it would take a real leader, someone with a plan or maybe even a vision rather than empty promises to get something done. I don’t know if Stribling is that person, but I’m absolutely positive the Diane Cibrian, opportunist extraordinary, isn’t.

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Posted in Diane Cibrian, District 8, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Morris Stribling, San Antonio, Sylvia Diane Gonzalez Cibrian, opportunitist, run-off elections