Hispanics Hate Cattle?

This past week's City of Kissimmee Commission meeting was an eye-opener to anyone who might have watched it. First we learned that with no votes being cast, the city has converted itself to a strong Mayor form of government. After the majority of the commission had already decided on voting on an ordinance to curb cellphone abuse during commission meetings, Mayor Swan hijacked the process and guided the commission into passing a cream puff policy that will allow the abuses to continue. "The bottom line is after our meeting two weeks ago, I was kind of embarrassed personally and for we as the commission," Swan said Tuesday. "I just hate the thought having to have an ordinance to tell us we ought to act in a professional manner and we ought to take time away from our personal affairs to do the people’s business in the people’s house." That was the whole point Mr. Mayor. Some of the commissioners are less concerned with the people's business and more with what they should say to win re-election. The electronic devices also create a 'transparency' issue that should have been considered more strongly as a matter of policy.

The second eye-opener was a discussion by Commissioner Irizarry about some promotional videos that are available from the city's website. His argument was that the first video that depicts Kissimmee as a place with a "charming atmosphere" complete with bass fishing on the lakes, hospitals, historic neighborhoods, an airport and a close proximity to theme parks ignores what the Hispanic community is looking for in a community to call home. In Commissioner Irizarry's words, "It’s not what I’m looking for."

Commissioner Irizarry went on to say, in an interview with the Osceola News-Gazette that "the video ignored the fact that 53 percent of the city’s population speak a language other than English, arguing that the video portrays Kissimmee as too much of the 'good old boy cow town' it used to be." Commissioner Irizarry stated in the interview, "If I don’t like cows, I’m not going to go there. If I don’t like bass, I’m not going to go there," he said.

The WayneWho staff suggests that Commissioner Irizarry should make sure to put that message on his re-election campaign mailer. "Kissimmee, I'm not going to go there." It has a nice ring and expresses exactly the type of divisive political tactics Commissioner Irizarry has used since the the start of his last election campaign. It's the 'White Good Ole Boy Cow Town' against those of us who are not white. Maybe we should remind Commissioner Irizarry that he was a champion of continuing to dilute the Hispanic vote by fighting to keep from going to districts in Osceola County when the county was in violation of federal law? Or just to break this down more simply, how does talking about cows create a racist environment?

The answer is actually very simple. Commissioner Irizarry knows nothing about government, the city he lives in, or the whole of the people he is supposed to represent. The WayneWho staff would argue that it does not make sense to attack the heritage of our community for some type of political gain. The history of our community should be learned and celebrated by all who call Kissimmee home.

As far as 'good ole boys and their cattle,' lets just have a quick history lesson. In the year 1521, Juan Ponce De Leon brought a small herd of Andalusian cattle and horses with him on his second expedition to the New World. These were the first cattle and horses to ever set foot (or hoof) on what is now the continental United States. The Spanish explorers were forced back to their ship by the Caloosa Indian warriors, and Ponce De Leon received a mortal wound. There is no record of what became of the explorers livestock, so it is imagined that these were the first cattle to ever run wild in Florida. The challenge to conquer Florida went out, and other conquistadors soon followed. These explorers brought cattle, swine, and horses. By 1700 there were over 30 privately owned ranchos in Florida. A census ordered by Spanish tax collectors reported over 20,000 cattle on the ranchos. The horses and cattle played a tremendous role in Florida history.

So the question to Commissioner Irizarry is, who really are the good ole boys who developed the cow town environment in the state of Florida? Wouldn't it actually be nice to once again have a thriving cattle or agricultural industry that provided jobs and stable incomes in an economy like this? We would also like to ask if you would have attacked the video for its content if it was your face on the video?

As for the WayneWho staff, we celebrate the people of all races who worked the lands of Florida and helped build our original economy on the cattle industry. We just hope our next set of commissioners will do a little homework before they speak and be proud of our community and all of its people.