A new era?

rownsville has a new mayor. Tony Martinez was sworn in to the post on Tuesday, as were new District 2 Commissioner Jessica Tetreau Kalifa and re-elected District 1 Commissioner Ricardo Longoria Jr.

After the June 18 runoffs, the city will also have new people representing District 4 and At-large District 1.

Let’s hope the new blood brings a new era of professionalism to the commission, after nearly half a decade of mayhem.

Some of the current, and now former, commissioners were swept into office on a wave of public outrage over a previous administration’s attempts to benefit financially from their positions. They sought to change the City Charter in order to take salaries for their positions, and to compensate the friends they placed on the many boards and committees that operate in the city. They defiantly claimed employee benefits in the face of public opposition, until a judge ruled they weren’t entitled to the perks.

Voters replaced those officials with some of their more vocal opponents. Unfortunately, some of them turned out to be better at throwing grenades than at working with their fellow commissioners to formulate policies that promoted Brownsville and benefited its residents.

The City Commission in recent years is known more for petty bickering than for any constructive developments they might have attained. Too often arguments got in the way of governance, and too many necessary issues, such as street repair, went unattended.

And so the voters, fed up with the lack of progress and with the embarrassment that the commission had become, rejected the re-election bids of two of the more argumentative members of the panel.

We hope the new commissioners recognize the message that came with the votes — including those that swept a write-in candidate to victory over an incumbent: The people of Brownsville want commissioners who put the interests of the city first, just as they invariably promised during their campaigns. That means basing their votes on a proposal’s merits, not on any personal affection or animosity toward the person who made it. It means accepting the democratic ideals upon which the commission was designed, and accepting decisions even when they are in the minority.

Most importantly, it means recognizing that this city belongs to the people, not to those who happen to be in office at any given time. They need to listen to those people when they address the commission, and take their complaints and recommendations seriously.

Otherwise, they risk the same fate as those they replaced — unhappy voters will remind them who’s boss when the next election comes around.