Oral History Interview with David Noyola, 1997

Oral History Interview with David Noyola, 1997 Noyola, David Interview conducted by José Angel Gutiérrez, Ph.D., J.D. Interview transcribed by Karen McGee José Angel Gutiérrez Transcript converted to XML encoding by Julie Williams Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Arlington Texas State Library and Archives Commission 55 pages; KB.

Published online as part of the Tejano Voices Project.

University of Texas at Arlington Libraries

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2001

Source: MS-Word file transcript of video recording CMAS No. 97.

Oral history interviews published online as the Tejano Voices Project, partially funded by a grant received in 2001 from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's TexTreasures program.

English Spanish Gutierrez, Jose Angel University of Texas at Arlington. Center for Mexican American Studies Mexican Americans--Texas--Interviews oral history interview Tejanos Chicanos

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Oral History Interview with David Noyola, 1997 Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) Interview Number 97Mexican American Public Figures of Texas Interviewee: David Noyola Interviewer: José Angel Gutiérrez, Ph.D., J.D. Transcribers: Karen McGee and José Angel Gutiérrez Date of Interview: June 14, 1997 Location of Interview: Corpus Christi, Texas Number of Transcript Pages: 55 Cite this interview as Oral History Interview with David Noyola, 1997 , by José Angel Gutiérrez. CMAS No. 97 David Noyola Dr. Gutiérrez: We are interviewing David Noyola who is the county commissioner elect and former city councilman in the city of Corpus Christi. This is a personal request. If, if you can keep the interview mostly in English it's easier for me because if you mix up the Spanish, and then, I got to translate it and transcribe it, so. You have signed the deed of gift form and you know what the interview is for, right? And you are willing to do that? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: All right. You got to talk louder. Commissioner Noyola Yes I do. Dr. Gutiérrez: There is four parts. You know, the biography. Who, who is David Noyola; the family; the parents; where they are from; their names? Brothers, sisters, your own children, so on. And then your early childhood where you grew up here this Molina Barrio, growing up, in Corpus. And then, your political carrier. And at the end I am going to ask you issues and opinions. Well why don't we start out with biography, you know. Who is the Molina family. Where do you fit in? Where do they come from? When? Why? Commissioner Noyola Well this neighborhood was mostly like a farm, a ranch. Molina was a man that had all this prop .... all this land and it was like a ranch. And then, it started developing to a community. Actually the Molina st... started a couple of blocks away where I live at. I live in shut. This man inherit all this land. Hard working family. And became what we call it, Paul Cox, a developer, started developing the community. Dr. Gutiérrez: Do you know how to spell that name? Commissioner Noyola C-O-K. C-O-X Dr. Gutiérrez: Oh, oh Paul? Commissioner Noyola Paul Cox Dr. Gutiérrez: OK, Cox is the last name. Commissioner Noyola And then, he started developing the community name like Jose St., and then, Ramona for individuals that worked for Mr. Paul Cox. Of course, my family moved here one of the earliest families here in... the 50's. My dad Marcos Nayola was originally from Laredo. And my mom is from the Valley. La calle 23 en Dallas. And I have four brothers and two sisters. My oldest brother Marcos is a teacher at Tom Brown in Corpus, then my other brother.... My sister Mary Thompson she works for a counselors in Del Mar. And my brother Danny, he is a superintendent of West Oso School District. Actually, the Molina sub division that, that is myself, David, political consultant. And then, I also work for a neighbors center here in Corpus Christi. Where I am in charge of a recreation program and also community service program where youth getting in trouble, they have to go through my program. Then I have my sister Isabel Martin. She is a probation office for the county here, the state. And I have my youngest brother Jesse, he works for Southwest Airlines. So the family has always been involved in this community. Not only the Molina area but through Nueces County. My parents have thought... Stand up for what is right, speak up do not be scared and do what is right. And, and remember the phrase that like nunca to olvides de la vida (never forget about life) in other words never forger where you come from. That was the first part on our agenda. My mom was a school teacher. Dr. Gutiérrez: What was her name? Commissioner Noyola My mom Lucy Noyola. Dr. Gutiérrez: What was her maiden name? Commissioner Noyola Garcia. Dr. Gutiérrez: They came from McAllen? Commissioner Noyola From McAllen, yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: And her parents, your grandparents? Commissioner Noyola Marcelo Garcia. My grandparents. Dr. Gutiérrez: And the, the grandmother? Commissioner Noyola Isabel. Isabel. My uncle was a musician. He used to, back in the Fifties, recording for La compania Falcon (Falcon Records), Rafael Ramirez. He was well known El dueto, Marcelo and Aurelio. That was my uncle, so he comes, our family music. But the most important thing to my grandmother Isabel, she was very involved in the community. She was giving out piano lessons. She organized benefits to help different charities in the Valley. In fact, I have an article, actually a flyer in the 1948 Award helping Dr. [Hector] Garcia to raise money for a hospital in McAllen. So I think that's where I got it from, from my grandma. Dr. Gutiérrez: Do you know where they came from before McAllen? Commissioner Noyola Original, I think it was, they were, they were from, from Kingsville, I think from Kingsville. Nogales, my grandfather. My grandfather used to play baseball and that's a story, you know. Dr. Gutiérrez: Nogales next to Arizona or...? Commissioner Noyola No, in Mexico, Mexico. But I, I can still remember my grandfather; he used to come down and visit us in the summer and play dominoes. But it was hard to beat him. The guy was sharp and he was always a person to look up to. Tall man, little sombrerito (hat), don't drink, don't smoke, very respectable, about 6'2", big man. And, of course my grandmother, I was very young when she passed away when she had a stroke. I still remember when I used to go to her house on Twenty Three and Dollar Street there in McAllen. She was in a, a hospital bed. All, all I can remember from her when she would say corazon, corazon (sweetheart, sweetheart ). That's all I can remember from my grandmother. But our family, you know, has been involved for many years in this community. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. And then, your family; your own personal family. Commissioner Noyola My family, I have a, I got two, two boys and two girls. My youngest daughter is a junior here in West Oso High School, straight A student. Dr. Gutiérrez: What's her name? Commissioner Noyola Her name Lisa Anne Noyola. She's a, a junior in high school, you know, West Oso, a cheerleader. In fact, she's going to Chicago and she's going to New York with a different organization named in a scholars like for engineer schooling and stuff' like that. I think she wants to become an engineer or a doctor. And I have another daughter, Laura. She's in the sixth grade. She loves to sing. In fact she does my commercials, you know, on my campaign. Something touching, family. Then I have a son, David Michael. He's in the fifth grade. Good baseball player. Got it probably from his dad or his grandfather's side. And my youngest, Jesus David. He's three and a half years old and I think that's, I think that's the one who's going to be a politician. I don't know why, but I feel it, you know. Everywhere we go he's always, you know, smiling and shaking hands and really outspoken. I think he maybe got it from his dad or maybe from his mom. I don't know. Dr. Gutiérrez: What's your wife's name? Commissioner Noyola Janey. Dr. Gutiérrez: Where is she from? Commissioner Noyola From Corpus. In fact, she just lived across the street from me. She was my girlfriend in, in high school, in elementary. Was my sweetheart many years back. And she, she's a, she's a legal assistant for a law firm. In fact, she worked for some big law firms in Dallas and Houston and now she lives here in Corpus. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Any other significant thing about your family you want to talk about? Commissioner Noyola You know, the thing is that, you know, remember when, when you were a kid? Toilets with no air-conditioning. Right across the street, you know, the familia (family) Benavides. Carlos Benavides, Guadalupe Benavides very, successful business men from Houston. And the family, they've all been involved in community also. Remember times when you were young that you know, like they're, you know, they're real, the windows used to be open, the doors used to be open and at noon time, you know, Carlos and Freddy and his brother would come over and through the win, through the doors, "Hey, let's go outside and play." And we couldn't go out. We had to take a nap. That was costumbre (custom) for my family. Also my dad would not allow us to play on the street. We knew when we played baseball in the street at five o'clock my dad was coming from work, so we had to pull inside the house, you know. The thing is that, you know, when you have the familia unida (united family). I think that's important. Some of the policies we have in our community that, that's lacking. You can blame administrators, you can blame teachers, you can blame counselors, you can blame anybody, but I think it all starts at the house. It's important that, you know, that once you walk out of this house and out that door you are on your own. You make your own decisions. And, I, I hung around with all different kinds of people, but knew that I would be in trouble, you know, I, I remember what my parents taught me. Your name is important. Don't no lo embarres (don't smear them), you know, don't, don't mess it up because your friends are not going to be there. And those are the things that you treasure fór the rest of your life and you try to encourage other students, the youth. Communication, I think it's important. We need to communicate more. If we do those things, I think we'd have a better world. Dr. Gutiérrez: What, what did your father do? Commissioner Noyola My dad was, he worked for a clinic, pharmacy and he was a, a driver. He would deliver medicines to hospitals or to homes. But you know, back then my dad used to earn like forty some dollars a week and it was tough. Dr. Gutiérrez: Yeah. Large family. Commissioner Noyola Yeah. And, and he bought an encyclopedia for forty something dollars, but the investment that he did, you know, it was well spent, invested in our family. It's like, you know, reading. You can go any part of the world. I mean, you want to go to South America or, you know, learn something about different cultures and stuff like that, just grab a book. I've been to New York and I've been to, you know, London, you know, by reading, you know, and it's important. And that's one thing we need to encourage our kids to have that vision, that if you want to become something, you can do it if you want to. No es como antes, pos que (it's not like before, that) you can't go because there's no money. So there's different places you can apply for grants and stuff like that, scholarships also. But that's, you know, something that the family, the family value is very important. Dr. Gutiérrez: Now you said this area was the West Oso School District. Commissioner Noyola It is the West Oso Independent School District. Dr. Gutiérrez: All of the Molina Barrio? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, is it a segregated school district? Is that why they created it? Commissioner Noyola It's an independent school district. Dr. Gutiérrez: But is that why they created it? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. It was back then by Bohemios, we call, call it ... Bohemios Dr. Gutiérrez: Bohemians? Commissioner Noyola Bohemians, yeah. That's what it used to be, you know. It was this little, it was way out there.... Old Brown Shoe Road. That was a, they used to drive us, bus us to school. Dr. Gutiérrez: Old Brown what? Commissioner Noyola Old Brown Shoe Road. Way out there by Goliad toward, going toward Driscoll. Dr. Gutiérrez: All right. Commissioner Noyola The school doesn't stand anymore there. The property is there. The only thing that is still standing, part of it is the old gym. My brothers attended to those schools. I, I remember Danny my brother, he was a .... I used to go with him on weekends to..., you know. And, but then after that the, the majority of the board, it was white and when eras started changing, that's when they moved it here to, within a neighborhood school zone. Now you have John F. Kennedy Elementary, and then, you have Carlotta Elementary, Skinner Elementary, and then you have West Oso Junior High, and then, West Oso High School. That was done back in 1970, `71. Dr. Gutiérrez: Well, why wasn't this made part of Corpus Christi ISD? Commissioner Noyola This was always, you know, I think the people that lived here for many years have always had their independence. You know, it was like, it was like I told you when, when we come into my house, the district division. Right across the street from that ditch there used to be a landfill so we used to have a smell. I mean, estaba feo (it was ugly) it was bad, you know. We had the landfill right here. Services it was like that... Dr. Garcia walked the streets here. He was my doctor, but he was always motivating communities to organize to get better streets, better drainage, because Dr. Garcia did a lot of, for this community. Dr. Gutiérrez: Was this part of Corpus Christi? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: Back then? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. There was always an independent school district. We had our own school compared. It's like you have CCISD, then you have West Oso. They are independent school districts, but it's within the city, but they are independent. Dr. Gutiérrez: But this was the only one that was all Mexican predominantly? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. So, it's you know, it's pretty interesting. Except now it's becoming to more of a mixture, but here it's always been Mexicanos and Blacks. Dr. Gutiérrez: Oh, the Blacks live out in this area too? Commissioner Noyola Oh yeah. It's like, it's like right now if you go, for example, on Varian Street, this side of Varian, that's where you had, on this side, this section is Mexicanos. The other side where we came through is Black. But there was a division on the street in the middle. But now as, as time has passed, now you got a couple of Mexicanos that come in, they're originally not from the community, but they come into the barrio and now live in that part of the section where there is Black. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. How about your early childhood? I guess you went to the Oso School District. You went to Skinner Elementary here two blocks down, no? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. It was Dr. Gutiérrez: Tell me about your, your childhood, your, your, your schooling. Any important things? You played football, did you play baseball; did you have good teachers, bad teachers; your favorite subject? Did you graduate; when did you graduate? Commissioner Noyola Well, I had some good teachers and bad teachers. I will be honest about it. I had an experience I will never forget. I will treasure it for the rest of my life. And I was in first grade. Good grades, but I flunked. I think it was the teacher was real attached to me. My parents even went to talk and I was still a good student, you know. I'd been promoted to the second grade. My grades were, were good, you know. There was some time there when you have those teachers that have their, their favorites and I'm not going to mention her name, but I, I saw her not too long ago and she came over and congratulated me on, for my race. I will never forget that experience, you know. But I was always a leader in school. Dr. Gutiérrez: So you weren't promoted? Commissioner Noyola No, no. Dr. Gutiérrez: You were kept another year? Commissioner Noyola Another year. My parents went and talked to the principal. My grades were there, but they, they came out with well, he has to stay le falta (he is lacking) whatever. And I will never forget that. So I always was a leader and I was involved in athletics in school. I remember when I was in the fifth grade I was playing with sixth, graders. Baseball. Football. Of course, I was a little bit of a troublemaker also. I was always, after the patrol, you know, patrol guys that would patrol, well, the school and protect, you know. I was the person that I was always, everybody would follow me. Then, when I went, I'll never forget this. When I went to junior high, the seventh grade, it's like when you go from elementary to junior high, it's only a block away from school. And there was always the guys that were already in the eighth grade who were the so called pachucos (zoot suiters) and leaders. And I was a leader of the school when I was in the sixth grade. So everybody told me, . you better watch out when you go up there because they are going to be looking for you, you know. That's fine. So I, I walked in the first day of school and I will never forget, went to the back restroom there at the junior high and I sneak over there every once in a while to remember that. I walked into the restroom and there were bunch of friends, camaradas (friends) and they knew who I was, but they never touched me. They never messed with me. Of course, they messed with some of my friends. But you, those were some of the experiences, you know, that, but I was always, you know, I'll never forget then when I jumped, you know, to high school. My freshman year, you know, I remember a coach, Rocky Garcia, a very disciplined man. Coached, coached my brother Marcos and Danny. My brothers were athletic also. So as a freshman he was expecting me to play and I was wanting to play. No, you know. So, I had some better things to do than play sports, so he was... Dr. Gutiérrez: What were those better things? Commissioner Noyola Well, you know, when you are young, I was working. I used to work in a restaurant peeling potatoes. Since junior high, after school then go work in a K-9 restaurant on Port. But I said, "Coach, I'm not going to play," you know. " And your brothers play and..." you know, he wanted a tradition. So I said, "No, no, no." So I went ahead and went out for football and I quit. I played freshman baseball for West Oso and I quit. I was too active in other things that I did not love. You know, I was looking for well, how to make money, have to work. Going to have my car as a freshman and stuff like that. And I also had a good experience, you know, the printing class. And I'll never forget this something that brings you memories also. It was the first year they introduced printing in West Oso, brand new equipment. The instructor, his name was Joe Martinez. And he is still the teacher there at West Oso printing. And I go visit him. And I still give him some business now for the school. I remember it came out the day, no they give you the, the work order. "Noyola, this is the job you got to do." "All right." "Salinas also. And Johnson, this is your work you have to produce." So I would do my work, but I remember when he came up to me to, to report cards. I didn't get the grade I think I deserved. And then, some other of my classmates felt the same way, so I said, "Well, we are going to boycott." They said, "What?" Orale (OK ), we are going to do it. So in the mornings we went to class and he would come in and give us instruction. This is what you got to do. But I already got together with the group that were half Mexicanos and half Black. I said, "Nobody is going to stand up. I am going to do all the talking." And we are going to boycott him until we change our grades. So one day we did it. He comes in; he gives out the work orders; and he says, "OK, let's go out and work." And he turns around and nobody moves. And the first thing he turned around and, "What's going on?" I said, "We aren't happy with our grades." "You need to work!" So, and so.... "This is what you got and the credit..." So, and so, I said, "Nobody's going to work.'He says, "Well, I am going to call the principal." And the principal, the name was Mr. Ed Boka, a former football player from UT, University of Texas. Big. Tall man, maybe about six seven. A Mexicano, big man. So he came into the, the classroom..... Dr. Gutiérrez: The last name was Boka? Commissioner Noyola Ed Boka. Ed Boka. Dr. Gutiérrez: But he was Anglo? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Ed Boka. He played for UT, he was roommate of Tom Landry back then. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Commissioner Noyola Big guy. He reminds you... right? So, the guy comes in and he always had his head, never see in your eye, todo el tiempo para abajo (always looking down). "What's the problem?" So, and so, I said, "Well, we feel that the grades were not proper and we are not going to work." So we got into trouble. We came out to some kind of an agreement that, of course, he didn't change the grades, but some other rules were changing. And after that, I'll never forget that I got a, a, I think about half of a little index small cards, put them beside the machine when the instructor was going, started to give us directions on how to operate the machines. The guys still remembers that. You know, some €;ood experiences, you know, but football games on Fridays.... Dr. Gutiérrez: How old were you when you led that first boycott? Commissioner Noyola I was maybe about fifteen. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Commissioner Noyola Then, I was involved with, at the age of fifteen, I was involved with Little League. It was like universal league my brother started back when I was about eleven years old. We used to play down here behind the school and there was no lines. The fence was open. We had no fence if we hit a home run. We only had a white line. The concession stand was a mesquite (mesquite tree) ... tent. It was a carpa (tent), with a tent. That was our, you know, raspas (snow cones) where we get our snow cones. And the following year we moved into, across the street from the Boys' Club in Greenwood, She helped us get the, the property from the state and that's where we developed our, our baseball. And then at the age of sixteen I was assistant coach of the All Stars. And then, at seventeen I was the vice president of the Little League. So, I started very young. I used to walk from, after school I would walk across the ditch and I had the keys for the facility. I used to coach; I used to umpire; water and cut the grass. But I started very young. I always liked, you know, to be involved, helping. Dr. Gutiérrez: And working? Commissioner Noyola And working. At the K-9 restaurant, it was a very popular Mexicano restaurant on Port. It was better known for it's smoky burgers. That's some kind of a.... Dr. Gutiérrez: Barbacoa (barbeque)? Commissioner Noyola ...flavor on and it was very nice. I started peeling potatoes there in the back. I replaced a guy that used to work there. He passed away so they, I applied and he gave me the job. But there were the stories that the guy would appear at night. And I was the fastest potato peeler in, in Corpus. I tell you de volada (right away) I want to get out quick. Dr. Gutiérrez: Before it got night? Commissioner Noyola Yeah, before it got night and those guys, other guys were older than I was. And they would go to the back. And there was a little, it was the theater, the Golf Theater, a drive in, Cantflas [Mexican comedian]. And they were always packed. And all those people would come buy hamburgers and fried chicken and camaron (shrimp) and all that stuff there. And those guys that worked with me went to the back and start scratching.... I'm peeling potatoes as fast as I could. And then, on from there I got promoted to, I was the first guy to work in the front with the ladies. In the front kitchen, you know, taking orders and stuff like that. But little experience and all, I think I've always been a leader. Sometimes I get angry when you see injustice to our people. Especially people that can't defend themselves. I, I had a good incident when I was in my senior year where we had that program that we called ... We'd go half day at school, and then, the half day you would work. I used to work for Skaggs Albertson's here down in... And I had a, my supervisor, she was Mexicana, but she thought she was white. And I was the person, there was me and another guy named Lupe Perez, big guy from... working at Albertson's after school. OK And that supervisor, she said, "Well, if I hear any more of you talking in Spanish, I'm going to fire you." I said, "You can do whatever you want to. I'm going to talk Spanish. I think I can talk Spanish and English." So, I continued being a sacker. And I would get out the sack, you know, I would sack the bags. And there was the other guy say well, sometimes he'd help me at night to, to stack the, the cans and stuff. And, so I, I was working a lot of hours when I was a senior in high school. And I'll never forget that there was this beautiful blonde lady with green eyes, nice looking lady, was having some problems with a register. The lady that was, you know, she was buying some groceries and guess who was, who they called? They called me. You know, the lady was from Mexico. Beautiful blonde hair. Couldn't talk any English so that, my supervisor, my, my boss called me to be interpreter and I did it. And I said, I turned around and said, "Didn't I tell you?" So she never messed with me again, you know, but this is some of the experiences that, that I was willing to challenge her, you know. Because it's always one thing, some things we have to do. And I think it is unfair for people sometimes. Nobody wants to take a stand. So I figured you are a good example. That's what motivates me. Even if I'm the only one who do it. Like you get criticized, but those things you have to live for the rest of your life. Dr. Gutiérrez: So when did you graduate? Commissioner Noyola 1977 from West Oso. It's a pretty, you know, I, I dropped out. Dr. Gutiérrez: Oh, you did drop out? Commissioner Noyola Yeah, I dropped out of school, I think it was my soph, my junior year and I dropped out. Some way I dropped out because I was having a lot of problems at school because I was always in trouble. I was always a leader. I was, I mean, in everything. So I got tired. I said,"Well, I'm going to get out of this school. So I started working for Cameron Iron Works. It's the same company that used to be out there, I think, in Houston, but they had one here in Corpus right here on Alameda Street. And I was a young kid when I started working and I had my own department. I was in charge of making the screens. Screens and doors. Patio doors. And throughout the summer I said, "You know, what? Chale (No). I'm going back." So I went back to school. Dr. Gutiérrez: What did your dad think about that or your mom? Commissioner Noyola I mean, it was bad. It was a tradition for family, you know, to get educated, go to school, you know. And, of course, the time when you're young, you feel like well, you can be whatever you want to. But then, later on you realize that you are on your own. And my dad would tell me, he'd say, "Well mijo (son), if you want to do this here, you're going to have to get up at seven in the morning and you have to go to work until late hours. And it's going to be all a different ball game." Said, "No, I can handle it." So I started working at this place. Mr. Isaac Perez is the one that helped me get the job because he was the manager of the Little League and I was the assistant. So he helped me out. He was a big time supply store and I worked for that summer. And I said, "To hell with this." So I went back to school. But I made a commitment when I went back to school. I said, "I'm going to change my, my way of doing things,"you know. Because anything that would happen in the classroom, "Noyola." Because I was a troublemaker. Not a troublemaker, but I was always a leader, you know. Always, you know, if there was something that had to be discussed, I, I'd be at the front of it, you know. I remember when we did our senior year. We had a group of seniors that we organized for a senior dance. And I was in charge of go get the, to go meet with Roberto Pulido. I'll never forget that at the Club Casino on Port to talk about the moneys and how much he would charge for, for a senior dance. It was myself and another guy named Rene Salinas. And we went to his club to see him. It was a pretty heavy casino back then. So, Pulido was playing and after that, the intermission, we went outside and we talked about a contract. And I signed it without approval of nobody. So, it was my responsibility. I went back there in a meeting, our senior meeting. We wanted to get Tony La Rosa. I said, "What for, man?" I said, "This is Roberto Pulido and it's the best deal we can get." So I convinced the majority of the classmates of mine and Robert Pulido played for us. Dr. Gutiérrez: Were you the class president? Commissioner Noyola No, I was just the guy they sent me to talk to Roberto Pulido because they knew I could, you know, deal and wheel. And the right way. I think it was always, always on top of everything. If they needed something, "Noyola, Noyola." So I signed a contract that night. So we had a meeting and there was a little bit of arguments and, you know, "No..." This and that. And, "You took it on your own." And I said, "Well, what can you all do? You want it or you don't want it?" And some of the old, some of the other students say, "Well, we want Tony La Rosa because my parents..." I said, "I understand that, but this is for our... We are graduating." So I convinced them and we did it that way. That night Roberto Pulido was contracted for three hours, back when he used to charge us three hundred dollars an hour. And after a couple of drinks, we had a, I remember we had a big bottle and all my friends were sitting there. It was all one, guys sitting to one side and the girls the other direction. You know, that's the way it was. Our dates were sitting with other girls and we were sitting over there and having a good party, a good time at the dance. And close to one o'clock I knew time was getting over and I said, "You now what? IT pitch in some more money. " So I came out with two hundred dollars and I took it to Roberto Pulido and I said, "Well Roberto, here's two hundred dollars. Please go on one more hour." He played for another hour. You can ask Roberto this story and he remembers that one, but because I was always in front of everything, you know. It was a good experience. I mean, I, go to the high school there. And I still remember when I was walking the hallways. And, you know, that's one of those things that, it's an experience, you know, but it doesn't matter any, you know, as long as, you know, it's like they say, there might be another chance. And I got, I got that chance. Dr. Gutiérrez: Did you plan on going to college or you think about going to college? Commissioner Noyola I went, I went to Del Mar and I never got a degree. You know, at the time I got married... I said, "No you know what..." I just, you know, most of the time I was passing the day at the student center. Checking it out. Who was coming and who was going, you know. But I quit.And then. I got married.And I never went back to school, you know. The education that I learned, I learned it on the street with a hard education, you know. But I encourage everybody to go to school, go to college, but it's never late. It's never late. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, so this was another marriage? Commissioner Noyola What? Dr. Gutiérrez: This was another marriage? Commissioner Noyola Uh huh. Dr. Gutiérrez: Who, who was that person? Commissioner Noyola The same person that I married the first time. Dr. Gutiérrez: Oh, you married the same one twice? Commissioner Noyola Yeah, yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. All right. Commissioner Noyola So the thing is that, you know, you know, it's important to go to school and get a good education, you know. I remember when I ran for, for councilman, I was in a LULAC meeting. The guy who, the opponent that I was running against, the guy had degrees from here to Mexico. It, it reminds me like a, a Ross Perot with figures and datas and stuff like that. But you go to see the numbers you represent the precinct and the district. And I was in a LULAC meeting and the guy stood up and say, so and so, "These are the degrees I've got, this is the experience, and I've been an activist for, well, for many years as a young kid." And I stood up and they started asking me questions and I started saying, "Well I'm from West Oso, blah, blah, blah, my family. My involvement." Then the guy, after the, we finished our, our actual debate this Mexicano comes over and said, "Don't feel bad man." Said, "You know, tell them you have a Ph.D., man. I mean, you have learned the hard way. The experience you stood up for fighting for the rights of people." And from that, they labeled me as a Ph.D. of community service. You know, in this time of this race, one of my opponents when I ran for county commissioner made the same remark. He even called me a doctor, you know. Maybe there's something, maybe it was a, was a, as a joke. But people knew what I stand for, you know, and, and that's hard. That's why I encourage everybody to go to school. Dr. Gutiérrez: Why did you go to that LULAC meeting or what attracted you to LULAC? Commissioner Noyola You know, you know, I, I went because there was like a public forum to hear from the county's... Some of the advisors told me I needed to go because I'm not even a LULAC. I don't believe in LULACers. So, but I went to show them that I had the guts to go into the old territory. I knew they weren't going to support me, but I still, I stood up and I say, "You know what? I know who you are. I know what you all stand for, but you still, you also have some problems." I said, "We need to do this and this." I told them what they should do and they looked at me and they said, "Well, David, you're a little bit crazy," but, you know. Those were some of the experiences we have with LULAC. I never became a member and up to this point I'm not a member of LULAC. Dr. Gutiérrez: How about G. I. Forum? Commissioner Noyola I just became a member of the G. I. Forum about a year ago. You know, I love the, the works of the doctor, what he did. But there were some other areas that I think we should be working on. Same way with LULAC. LULAC was, tt one time, boycotting a bake fest for some turkey legs.? And I got hold of the president of those guys and I, I told him, I said, you know, "There's better issues in our community than fighting bake fests for a turkey leg, because they won't let you sell them." I said, "Well, you ought to be going to the schools and helping organize the students to get educated, to go to school helping get scholarships," you know. That's why I never became.... Leo Abrero was the city councilman. That's the guy I replaced him, a good friend of mine. He says always, you know, "I'll pay your dues." I said, "Even if you pay my dues I won't become a LULAC." And I've never, with all respect to them, of course, we have worked on it, hand in hand, on some projects. And on some other ones, we have worked against each other. Dr. Gutiérrez: Now in the Seventies, of course, there was Raza Unida around and before that the Mexican American Youth Organization. Did you ever hear of any of that? Commissioner Noyola I did. I did. You know, but, you know, it's like when, when, when you're at that age, you know, you feel like, maybe that's what some say well, this is what's going on with this organization. I don't want to be a part of it. I want to get educated. I want to live my life. I want to have a job and go and do what I have to do and come back, you know. This is some of the policies we had, you know. It was like the stories I read from the Raza Unida party, you know, and I, I had the opportunity to meet Ramsey Muniz. It was a sad thing what happened to him. Dr. Gutiérrez: Well, he's out of this barrio, no? Commissioner Noyola He's out from, from close from here, you know. But he got into the wrong ropes. To me, I think he was set up. I don't know. But the guy opened the doors. You know, you all did, la Raza Unida. And then, this is a power struggle that we have now like when you have the Mexican American Democrats, the only thing that changed is names. Now, you have the Tejano Democrats. Why? Because the powers are losing here and they want to start a new organization. It's the same thing as you have in schools with the different organizations, but I think the biggest problem that we have, we are Raza, is like you talk to an individual and say you know, "I'm David Noyola." And that one comes Jose Rodriguez. And then, you start talking in Spanish. And you didn't come from the barrio. You, you can mix it. I don't understand, you know, some of the problems that we have, you know, that's good to get them educated. But I think we are losing; them of our, our heritage in one way another. That's the, the year 2000 is a dangerous year in my opinion for La Raza. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, how did you get to the city council? What happened between `77, that LULAC meeting, and then, when you finally decided to run for the city council? What, what happened there? Commissioner Noyola What happened is that the guy that was there Mr. (inaudible) city council, I was his, I was his right hand on the west side organizing. And I've been involved in politics since I was ten, eleven years old. Dr. Gutiérrez: What did you do then? Commissioner Noyola Huh? Dr. Gutiérrez: What did you do then when you were ten or eleven years old? Commissioner Noyola Oh, when I was, when I was eleven, ten, eleven years old when I was playing Little League, my coach, his name was Tony Salinas. He was a, a union leader and instead of practice we would all go pass flyers, flyers. And he's give us a couple of dollars, you know. And I got to meet Senator Truan and a bunch of those guys back then, you know, when I was a young kid. Hugo [Berlanga], Eddie Cavazos, and the list goes on. So I got encouraged from that. And then, when I saw, as the years went by, you know, injustice for example in the West Oso Independent School District. I got involved by getting involved with other people saying what you want when you run, when you run. And we started organizing the block. And by the time you know it, we started building that power and by law you can only have three thousand registered voters in one precinct. We had over three thousand until los gavachos (the whites) the Mexicans saw the power when Molina was coming in with Carlos Truan, Hugo Berlanga, the school board election. Then, the county, the county judge says., "Well, let's divide it now." So, they divided us from Precinct 80 was a solid base. So that way we had Precinct 80 in Skinner, now we have Precinct 78 in Kennedy. So los dividieron (they divided them) and they built another precinct also. And we got two precincts in one year. Four precincts now in Molina because of the power we had. And then, from that one I decided when Leo didn't resign from, from council, I said you know, "It's my turn. I can do it." You know, "I know the system." Dr. Gutiérrez: What year was that? Commissioner Noyola It was in, in `92. Dr. Gutiérrez: `92? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. So, I decided, you know, I'm going to do it. So I got organized. Dr. Gutiérrez: When were you born? Commissioner Noyola `57. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Commissioner Noyola `57. But I got organized, and then, from there, you know, (inaudible). In fact, the mayor who was there, praying I wouldn't get elected because I had gone before council meetings a lot of times, you know, asking for certain things for the west side, representative from, from the people, from the community. So they felt that I was a threat. So, I had two other guys. It was another Mexicano, another white guy running and I got into the runoff and I beat him big time in the runoff. But it was a good experience because when you see it from the outside, then when you come inside you start seeing the way the bills are going, you know, if we help you you can do this or, or this is the way we can do it, you know. But there were some tough decisions for the city of Corpus at the time. And I was the very outspoken one and I did stand up for what is right for my constituents. If I was the only one voted that way, I would if I felt it was right for my constituents. But it was a good experience. And then, from there... Dr. Gutiérrez: How long were you on the council? Commissioner Noyola I served one term. Dr. Gutiérrez: Uh huh. Commissioner Noyola One term. Now at the time my wife had gotten pregnant. And we decided, you know, ya es tiempo (it is time now) for awhile. So I decided I wasn't going to run so I let the, my constituents know that I had a plan for anybody that was interested to run. Dr. Gutiérrez: That was a two year term? Commissioner Noyola Yes sir. Two year term. So I decided I wasn't going to run. And then at the time there was a Mexicano attorney that was lining up to run for mayor. Rudy was a solid guy who could've won. Being the first Mexicano attorney, mayor in Corpus. But then we find out the guy wasn't even registered to vote. Man, that was a big blowout for this community. It was an embarrassment. Dr. Gutiérrez: Who was that? Commissioner Noyola Rudy Gonzales, an attorney. And the guy told everybody he had voted and then it was an embarrassment and it was the laugh of the city. Now... Dr. Gutiérrez: That was in `94? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. `95. The guy, the guy, in `94, yeah. The guy could've won. He had built a solid base from all across the board. He was a very involved attorney in the community. So it was an embarrassment. So... Dr. Gutiérrez: That come out in the paper and all? Commissioner Noyola Oh yeah. That was, that was the front page. The guy was not even registered to vote. That's when you bring in good consultant to do some research. So it happened. And then, a lot of people started calling to different talk show radios in Spanish and they were to recruit me, you know, for mayor. And I said, "No, no. I'm not going to do it. I made a promise," you know, "for a while I'm not going to do it because of the pregnancy." And so, I was not going to do it. And I remember it was in the Valentine's Day, went out to dinner and she knew I had something in my head, you know. And she said, "You know what? Go for it." Man, she, she didn't tell me two times, you know. I said, "Yeah, let's do it." So I went and filed one minute to five o'clock that night. And the community was in arms because they wanted somebody that would be speaking for them. We were doing good in the, you know, organizing. We didn't have no moneys. You know, of course it would be hard to raise moneys, but at the time, I'll never forget it, it was March the 31 st. I went to Comentarios (Commentaries) [Radio program in Corpus Christi, Spanish language.]. Dr. Gutiérrez: This would be `95 now? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. I went to Comentarios, and after that I was on the freeway and I was driving and I heard that there was an accident of Selena. And I, and I keep on listening and I find out where the location. So I made a U and went all the way up there and spent about two hours there. It was the day before my election. I think that hurt me. Roger from the university was saying that I was going to come out with seven percent. That's what he was prediction from the university running against the incumbent and some other two well recognized Mexicanos. Dr. Gutiérrez: Who was the incumbent? Commissioner Noyola Mary Rhodes. Mary Rhodes. So they were predicting I was going to get seven percent. It turned out nineteen percent. It could have been better, but the day, the day before the election was when Selena got killed. I mean, the community on the west side fell out. I mean, you could come to this neighborhood, not too far away from my house, I mean, cars from everywhere, tourists coming to see the site. We had a meeting about four o'clock in the morning in Denny's Restaurant, the family, the guys, you know, who worked the campaign the day of the election and I said, "You know what? No P. A. systems." I needed the P. A. system on the west side. I could've, I could've made the difference and I said, "We are not going to do it." With respect to the, you know, Quintanilla family. And some of my advisors said, "Are you crazy? You are going to lose." I said, "Well, if I lose I lose, but I respect the family." I think it was a, a dark day in the west side. So I decided no P. A. system no where. No going house to house, get them out to vote like we did before when I went for city council in the runoff and we lost. Maybe it was for a reason. And then, I became commissioner. Dr. Gutiérrez: Well no, no. That's too far down the road here. Commissioner Noyola Yeah, it is. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, what did you do between `95 and `98? I mean, you didn't sit still. Commissioner Noyola Oh, no, no. I was still involved. I mean., I was... Dr. Gutiérrez: Where are you working now? What are you doing? Commissioner Noyola I, I worked with a Neighborhood Centers in Corpus Christi. I am in charge of the recreation program. It's a nonprofit organization and I run the, the... Dr. Gutiérrez: Is that part of the city? Commissioner Noyola No. It's just, it falls, the name is... Dr. Gutiérrez: All right. Commissioner Noyola Neighborhood Centers. We have three centers. Dr. Gutiérrez: Where does the funding come from? Commissioner Noyola United Way. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Commissioner Noyola United Way. And we have a daycare program in Molina down here and we have another one in the Elgin, the other part of the west side, and then, we have another ore in Margarita, the west side. It's for low income people that can't, you know, afford a day care. And plus we have reading programs and we have recreation programs, educational programs for the community, but it's under United Way. Dr. Gutiérrez: Did you have to take a leave of absence or resign to run for commissioner? Commissioner Noyola No. I was working half and half, you know. Of course, I did take a leave of absence when we were getting close to it. I did take a little absence. But we didn't have time after `95, I was still involved in helping other candidates get elected. Dr. Gutiérrez: Well, let's, let's talk a little bit about the first city council race. How many volunteers did you end up getting and how much money did you raise? You said you had no money, but you had to have something. Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: How did you do that? Commissioner Noyola Well, it was all family. You know, we had a couple of fund raisers, you know. And we had, we did a barbecue and we raised about, about fourteen, sixteen hundred. And, of course, everything was, the barbecue, the chicken and everything was donated. My brother got one box, my cousin, my uncle, my friend. The place was donated. The bread was donated. The beans were donated. The plates we had was donated. We raised about three or four thousand dollars, maybe five. Dr. Gutiérrez: And volunteers, how many did you have? Commissioner Noyola Just families. That was it. Families. And the good thing about it, we had a bunch of students that helped me out. They believed in my, my platform. If we had twelve to thirteen, fifteen devotes and walk, walking was tough. The, the district was big, it was part from the west side all the way down to the south side toward the lakes and that's a big precinct. But we made a lot of flyers. And we walked, knocked doors, talked to people, went to the Comentarios, take every advantage we could on the radio especially in the Hispanic market because we saw the graphic numbers. The majority was about fifty something percent were Mexicanos. And the other percent was a little bit lower. So we know that the representation, it was when they had single member district. So that, that was the advantage that I had. And I knew I couldn't win the south side. It was very tough because I have always been a fire for this part of the city. And I think I, I couldn't get that vote across from the south side. Dr. Gutiérrez: Can I assume that, that all you did on the radio was Spanish language radio? Commissioner Noyola That's it. My, my budget was very low. I got criticized, but I knew the numbers that I have to get elected. I knew that part of the city wasn't going to help me, but it was important. Dr. Gutiérrez: Are there still Anglos over there? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. But it was a mixture, but I still needed, you know, (inaudible). I went to the public forums, but I didn't have the money to advertise, you know, because it was too expensive. We raised a couple of moneys and we did a couple of commercials on the TV in Spanish. Capital Channel 10, 6, and 3, but the budget was very low. It wasn't there, you know, to put on prime time and news or a big show, you know. It was just whenever we could get it. The twenty five dollars spot and the thirty five dollar spot and but it worked. It worked. Dr. Gutiérrez: And then, for the mayor's race, how much money did you raise? Commissioner Noyola Maybe no more than ten probably. I mean, the moneys were not there. Dr. Gutiérrez: Ten thousand? Commissioner Noyola Maybe about ten, probably about ten. Dr. Gutiérrez: How did you raise that? Commissioner Noyola The same way. You know, it was good organizing. We did barbecues and we had a little get together. And people, you know, had a little barbecue there at the shop. Five dollars, ten dollars, twenty dollars, and, of course, I had a couple of friends of mine, attorneys, who contributed from fifty to a hundred dollars, two fifty. And the lawyers could get a little bit higher, but you can't compare the big bucks to the little bucks. But we did it the hard way, you know. It was a good thing, you know, that the material is printed with local business. The guys that helped me like (inaudible) Printing, Jesse Soto. You know, the money was going back to the community. The signs that were done were done by a professional guy from our neighborhood; does it in his house. In fact, in the garage. He did professional work. He did it for other big boys in the city races. But, of course, he gave me a good deal because I was from the barrio and he, you know, he gave me a good deal. But it was very low budget, very low and very hard. Dr. Gutiérrez: What made you decide to run for county commissioner? Commissioner Noyola Well, the thing is that, you know, the time when I was a city council and this is pretty interesting because I was a councilman. By law they had changed the law that if you were in a city, you still can run for another office. So, at the time I decided to run for commissioner against the late (inaudible) because of a lot of encouragement because they felt it was time for a change. So, I was on the city council when I decided to run for county commissioner at the same time. I think I only had to leave my post, my position. So I lost in the runoff to Mr. Berlanga. It was a very close race. And, ofcourse, you, you fighting establishment, a well recognized person in the community. And I had a name also, but I didn't have the army, I didn't have the money. But we gave him a good race on that one. Dr. Gutiérrez: How much money did you raise for that one? Commissioner Noyola Maybe about fifteen probably. Probably like fifteen. I think, yeah, probably about fifteen. Dr. Gutiérrez: Same way? Commissioner Noyola The same hard way. Dr. Gutiérrez: How many volunteers? Commissioner Noyola It got to be maybe about twenty five. And we started, we started building and the numbers were getting there. As, as an experience (inaudible) if you want to do it, you feel it inside of you and but you know the odds (inaudible), the workers, the phone banks. You know, the phone banks were here in my house. My sisters, my brothers, my cunados (in laws), my neighbors, you know, usually you call your friends. And that's the way we did it. Dr. Gutiérrez: How much did Mr. Berlanga spend? Commissioner Noyola Oh, they spent big bucks. I, I'm not sure of the exact amount, amount of money, but a lot more than, than I spent. Commercials, mailouts. My mailouts were house by house, directly mail. Knocking on doors. We did a lot of that, but we did a very good race. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, it was a narrow defeat? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. He was, Mr. Berlanga was glad when it was over with. You know, he said, "Well, I thought he was, I thought it wasn't going to be this hard," you know. But we, we ran a, a good clean campaign on issues and after the, it turned out that way so I returned back to the council. I didn't lose my spot. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, that was about `94? Commissioner Noyola `94. Yeah. I had only been there about over a year in the council... Dr. Gutiérrez: Uh huh. OK. Commissioner Noyola ...when I ran. Dr. Gutiérrez: So then, `98 comes around and you are going to try again? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: Berlanga did not want to run anymore? Commissioner Noyola No, what... Dr. Gutiérrez: Did he retire or...? Commissioner Noyola ...happened, what happened is that Mr. Berlanga passed away Dr. Gutiérrez: Ah. Commissioner Noyola ... in `96. `95 or `96. `95, but he passed away. So there it goes again. My, my machine was off the wall. To submit my name because the county judge, Richard Borcher, was going to make a recommendation of all the resumes. So I got on and I called and said, "Hey," you know, "I want the position," and submitted my name. But I was one of the finalists, but I didn't, I didn't get appointed because I felt and the, the people, the people in the county knew that I wasn't one of them. That I couldn't, you know, I was always going to fight for other reasons, for my constituents, you know, give them direction. So I didn't get appointed. So then, at the time, it was going to be, he got appointed by the judge. And it was coming to twenty eight precincts to the convention. Twenty eight precincts from the precinct from Nueces County. They were going to make the recommendation for the November ballot for the Democratic Party. So I submitted my name and it was a war. Money again against matter. I had, with twenty precincts, I had fifteen votes that I had lobbied. The day of election, when the precinct chairs, you know, we made a presentation, the three candidates. I came out with three votes. Se vendieron. (They sold out.) The truth, se vendieron. So we had a big party that night and said, "Well, it's not over yet." So I did a little research and I said, "Well, I'm going to run as an independent candidate." I wasn't going to give up because I had believed that the people from, from twenty eight precincts did not voted. Only politicos (politicians) within, you know, deals. You know what politics are about. So I'm going to do as an independent candidate. So I went and got my package and information. And, and went to the county attorney, Carl Lewis, and Ernest (inaudible) the county clerk, the county judge and they said, "Well, this is the way you have to do it." And they gave me, I had to pick up signatures and they were telling me they had to be signatures of the people that had not voted in the primary. And I, I read the law and said, "No, it could be anybody. That was my argument. Said, "No, it has to be this way. So, I followed their orders, you know. I went up and got some signatures. I started from the south side all the way down to apartment complex in Everheart all the way down to the west side. We submitted our, our, our, our package, but I got disqualified because three hundred and something were not good because so and so, he got voted. So, I challenged the secretary of state. Was it Tony Garza? I think Tony Garza. And I put a lawsuit against the state, secretary of the state and also the county judge, Richard Borcher, and we went to federal court because I knew the law wasn't right. So then, a day in federal court and we were sitting there. And, and I felt confident in my attorney, you know, and said, "You are going to win it." And I said... Dr. Gutiérrez: Who was that? Commissioner Noyola My attorney? It was this guy named, I am trying to remember his name, but he was a young attorney from Corpus and I can't remember. In fact, he contributed to my campaign after that. I am trying to remember his name. Probably comes out after awhile. Dr. Gutiérrez: All right. Commissioner Noyola So we went to federal court and the judge ruled in my favor. So I had about thirty days before the election. And the paper comes out Noyola decides not to run, you know. Because I, I couldn't raise, I, I, and I know that I needed more than fifty thousand. And to organize the army and I know the incumbent, you know, of course he was appointed, didn't have any money, so I decided not to run. So I elected out, you know, because I couldn't raise more than fifty thousand dollars. But I beat them in federal court to tell me they were wrong the way they were misinforming me. Imagine if they did it to me, imagine what they did to people that don't even know from left or right. But that was a big victory for me. So we just stayed out of it after that. And then, it came out to run this year and I submitted my name and again, the odds were against me, the machine, the power and money was against just this little Mexicano from the west side from Molina. But I remember Mr. Maroquin. This man would tell me, "Don't worry about the money. The money, sale sobrando. (is not needed, left over.) We can beat this guy by working hard. You have a record; you are a proven person who has always been fighting for La Raza. We are just going to have to work hard." And there was times that you would get your high, there were times, you know, because you feel that the advertising and all that, you know, we rode thousands of lists here on this table. Dr. Gutiérrez: Well, why don't you unroll it and show it? Commissioner Noyola My, my, my brother-in-law... Dr. Gutiérrez: Put it, put it up by your face. Commissioner Noyola ... my dad, my mom. This is a very generic little, look at this. Dr. Gutiérrez: Put it by your face. Commissioner Noyola Very, very, Dr. Gutiérrez: There you go. Commissioner Noyola Very generic, not no union bug or nothing. It was just, you know, a typical print stuff, you know. We wrote thousands of them here on this table every night. And I've still got some there as a souvenir that I would treasure, probably put them in my office, but we did it the hard way with no moneys. But I felt that, and I've always told my family and my friends, I said, "If I get (inaudible) with this guy (inaudible) I can beat him. I can beat the man." And we did it, you know, and, and in the primaries I came out I was the highest vote getter with thirty five percent and Morales, the other guy that was running came out with thirty three and the incumbent came out with thirty, thirty two, about sixty nine votes behind Morales. I remember after we closed the polls at seven, we all got here. My sisters were here and we were going to have the big party at my other sister's house. And I remember I walked in and my sister, I call her my consultant, she was always on my butt, my sister, always, at five thirty in the morning, "You got to do this. You can't say this. You have to do this.This is what builds the plan." I walked in and, and her face and there were in the kitchen right there, there was a radio. We were listening to Victor Lara from the courthouse and I was in third place. Can I tell you? No, I can still make so and so. I said, (inaudible), you know. "I mean, I appreciated everything you did for me and I appreciate all you done for me. Pero (but) I have faith in God. No se acabo, es temprano (it has not ended, it's still early). You want to just pack up? Let's go to my sister's house and let's have a good party. Lo que paso, paso (Whatever happened, happened) whatever happens, it will be, I'm not going to be ashamed of it. We did what we could with what we had." So, as I was driving the reports were coming in and I was still in third place. And I was driving and I was smoking a cigarette. And suddenly I made a turn on Saratoga, then the next report came in. Noyola's on top. Then, I look up and I said,tears, "Gracias Senor,"(thank you God). Thank God," you know, just keep me there. Just give me a chance. I'm not going to let you down." So I continued driving, and by the time, you know, it... Morales still on top. Morales still on top. And then, Noyola is a winner to get the incumbent and Dan Morales.... Good experience there. I got there, the phone was off the wall. "They've been waiting for you, they're waiting for you." So and so, my sister did not want to hear the results after she got them here. She went to the airport and picked up my, my, my cousin coming from Houston. (inaudible) David didn't raise it. And she told me the story afterwards. Said, "I don't want to talk about it. Don't turn on the radio. We are just going to a party." So I remember when I got there at the courthouse, I had my little army with me. All, "Viva Noyola, " Zapata style. And I had one "Viva Noyola." Very, very nice. Got there in the parking lot and here comes Lauro Cuellar, the guy that had defeated John Bell in the Democratic Party. There was a major upset in, in Nueces County. My race and his race. And I told him at the parking lot, I said, "You know what? Congratulations." So, and so, I said, "Why'd you go in there, man?" I said, "The media is going to go after you. But you do whatever you want to do, but I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. And I think it's what is best." I said, "Victor Lara helped me and I know he helped you. So, I'm going to go talk to him first. And if you want to follow me, follow me. That's fine because this is what I'm going to do." And this is it, this is when he came out, you know, the front page. You know, my brother, here it is. That's me right there and that's my campaign treasurer, Miss Palomo, and this is Lauro Cuellar. He'd beat the Democratic Party chairman and it was a major upset, right there.You know, it was something that they never suspected was going to happen in the history of Nueces County. But it was great, a good experience. And then, there is the other one where afterwards when we had the, again, the front page after the, the runoffs. It's voters pick Noyola, Huerta, Marta, and this is Marty Garza (inaudible) Court and that's her husband there. And there's,of course, myself. And then, some other people there that helped me out in the campaign. But it was a major victory. The good thing about it is that, is like when you come from a barrio like this, from Molina, since the first time I ran for council, it was because I wanted to encourage the youth in this community, from any, any part of this city or the county, that if I could do it you can do it. We need to work hard at it. Never, never give up because if I would've given up, I don't know what I'd be doing now, but I'd still be working at the Neighborhood Centers or somewhere else, but, or probably still be as, as an activist as I did before for the last twenty years since I started. But it was a good experience and I encourage, you know, I wish that some day that everybody would have an opportunity to run. That's where you find out who your friends are, where the moneys are coming from. And, you know, sometimes people don't want to run because they say well, it takes a lot of time from your family. That's true. You do spend a lot of time out and you should know from an example. But it's all worth it. You know, like, it's like my wife says, "Well, there's a thousand people that love you and a thousand people that hate you." So what? When I die I know what I did, you know. I've lived the right way. But we did it our way to help the people. And, and it's been a good experience. But if I have to do it again, I think I would do it the same way, but, of course... We got into the, to the, to the runoff, money started coming in from left and right. You know, that was, and I didn't need the money. Dr. Gutiérrez: How much money did you spend this time? Commissioner Noyola Oh, about, about twenty thousand. It was, it was... Dr. Gutiérrez: Forty? Commissioner Noyola About twenty thousand. Dr. Gutiérrez: Twenty? Commissioner Noyola Yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: Is that for both races or just one? Commissioner Noyola Just, combined together. Dr. Gutiérrez: Combined? Commissioner Noyola Because we came in with five, and then, after we came out fifteen thousand afterwards. The money started coming in (inaudible). Then we did a mailout, and then, we did some phone banking to, to secure the pact, to be sure that we were going to get elected. We still did the block walking. We still had the little rallies here and there, but the difference was that we had the money now on the runoff, so we did a mailout. We did the phone banking. The day of the election, because the consultants always told me, he said you are going to go with fifty nine percent. And it came out to fifty nine percent. Dr. Gutiérrez: Yeah. Commissioner Noyola It was right on the head, you know. But, of course, we didn't take it for granted. We still went out and worked. Early in the morning I was out there and I was listening to Bishop and (inaudible) and it happened the day I came back to their territory, my west side precincts. And we walked and we took them out and, and, and we became history. Dr. Gutiérrez: And you had no opponent in November? Commissioner Noyola No. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, you are the commissioner elect? Commissioner Noyola Yes sir. Thank God for that. Dr. Gutiérrez: January l. Commissioner Noyola Yeah, I can't wait for that, you know. Dr. Gutiérrez: What do you plan to do and how do you plan to work with the judge that you sued before and some of them people there? Commissioner Noyola We, like I say, bygones are bygones, but sometimes you don't forget those things. No, you, you probably have those flashbacks once in a while. But my agenda is very clear. It's a people's campaign. My agenda or issues that had to do with the precinct, they have been ignore for many years. I'm going to, you know, you can request certain items in agenda. I'm going to address some of the issues. Before we didn't have a commissioner saying well, these are some of the concerns we had, you know. There might be five or ten things and nine might belong to me, but I'm going to address. At least, if it doesn't go our way for the people of Precinct Two, but at least we tried. Before you didn't have no voice. Now you can have somebody who will speak out and say well, drainage here, improvements for this building, and things like that. For now, what was, you know, they don't have that communication that, you know, like I said, now this is your house. The courthouse is yours. It belongs to you. Before you had to have an appointment. My office, you can walk in even while I'm there. It's your house. It's your building. If Jose Angel Gutierrez would call me tomorrow or my assistant says, "Well, you have to have an appointment." No, it's not true. I'll be there. I'll be a twenty four hour commissioner. They call me the pager man, you know, because I've been called. They call me for different things in this community, benefits our people, victims house gets burned out, somebody is in jail, bail bondsman, attorney, I've always been committed to this community. So there's all ideas and, you know. For example, I, I did a reception for the people up there in, in Bishop that helped me in my campaign; beautiful people; and we became new families. I got a lot more family now here in Precinct Two, Nueces County. After we had that dinner I stood up and talked to them, but the things that I told them was about organizing, organizing, not only to work. Anything you have complaints toward me, you know. If I don't do this job you can kick me out and I told them out dear, because I'm not a politician. I'm just a person like you who has a concern and I can work with you hand in hand even if you didn't voted for me, I'm your representative and I'm going to help you. Even if you don't, you didn't support me, but that's my job. Before I left that dinner we already had block captains. So I organized it quick. Miss Diaz, Miss Ortiz, and the list goes on, you know, Jaime in case there's some problems with city hall, pick up the phone. Call Jaime. Call Miss Ortiz and you call so and so. Numbers makes difference. And organized also the school board. If you got problems with the school district, boom!, this is the way you do it. And when we got through and they said, (inaudible)nobody's ever told us this. I said, "Es usted (It's you). You have the power in your hands, man, use it." We are going to have a talk meeting once a month. The first meeting I'm going to have, I want to bring the congressman. I want to bring everybody that represents my district and your district and (inaudible) for the board. Let's say Congressman Ortiz this is what the problems that we have with the federal government. How are you going to address them? Senator Truan, how are you going to address them? Jaime Tupelo, State Representative, and then, the mayor, and then, you have, of course, your constable from that area, then you have your county commissioner..... Dr. Gutiérrez: And your county judge. Commissioner Noyola And your county judge. It's going to be all somebody. They are going to be there. Dr. Gutiérrez: And they are going to have be accountable. Commissioner Noyola That's what I tell them. It's time that we, as public officials, being accountable to the people. And I say it to myself. I don't try to be there forever. No, I might have another vision down the road. I'm still young. The thing is that do your job, you know. Help the people, you know. It happens to a lot of public officials, they get office and they plan to make it into a political career. I think it's like a horse, you know, con el tiempo (with time) you start getting weak. And I think there's time to replacement and give somebody else with young vision and ideas to come in and help those communities, but don't make it into a, a habit that's going to be there for twenty years, you know. Dr. Gutiérrez: Have you talked to Judge Borcher already? Commissioner Noyola Oh yes. We've talked. In fact, he was at my birthday party. He was there to congratulate me and to felicitar (congratulate). And I told him, I said, "What happened happened in the past and it happened, but I can work with you. I can work with any commissioner, anybody I can work." But, of course, I'm not going to forget where I came from. Of course, I'm not going to forget my constituents because those are my priorities. Simple. Es lo primero. (It's the first thing). You know, there's times I might vote with you and there's times I might riot even vote with you. There's sometimes that we are going to get the gloves on because I'm going to speak what is right for the people that I represent first. Dr. Gutiérrez: Is Nueces County under the unit rule? Commissioner Noyola Uh huh. Dr. Gutiérrez: Under the unit rule? Commissioner Noyola Uh huh. Dr. Gutiérrez: So, you have a small budget with just your staff? Commissioner Noyola Oh yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: How many you got here? Commissioner Noyola I just have one administrator. Before they used to have two, but there was, the commissioner that was there before, they got into some kind of lawsuit, got rid of two employees, and now, they are not even under civil service. Before administrators and the employees that worked for that precinct were under civil service, and now when Mr. Berlanga was there, it was deleted because politics, they, they had the majority of the votes, three two, so they deleted civil service for their employees. You only have one assistant administrator. Dr. Gutiérrez: Have you looked at the budget? Commissioner Noyola Oh, I sure did. Dr. Gutiérrez: Does your precinct get as much as the others? Commissioner Noyola No. This is a very limited post. But there is going to be some changes. It's about a hundred and six thousand budget. It's not big, but there's some areas that I think that we should be increased and I've looked at budgets of other precincts. And why does this one have more than I do? Well, and I'm a person that I, that I ask questions. And that's what, that's all the people from Precinct 2 wanted, a voice, and now they have a voice. You know, a voice actually for the people. Dr. Gutiérrez: How do you get along with the J. P. and the constables for this precinct? Commissioner Noyola Fine. I had meetings with them. In fact, with the J. P., I had a meeting with him before the elections and all. And I said, "Win or lose, if I was your friend I'd be back." The guy said, "Well, he probably won't come back." I got elected, I attended all the meetings. By Friday I was there. Went to his office (inaudible). Said, "You are a man of your word." I said, "Yes sir." I said, "There's some time we work together, sometimes we won't. But I got to remember that," you know, `not only because you are a J. P., but you're also one of my constituents." And this within the community because he does live in the precinct. With the constable, the fact that he was a school teacher here in West Oso. The constable was (inaudible). He's been here for many years. I can work with everybody, but the important thing is, the difference between me and other public officials that I'm a person, a good listener. I'm not scared to step in your shoes if you're bigger than mine. There's times that I have to make decisions what is best and I'm going to do what I think is fair first for Precinct Two. And then, of course, there would be other issues throughout the county, but it's going to be take care of your own backyard first. These are the ones that put you there. And a lot of politicians get there and say, "Oh no. Pero es como dicen (It's like they say), "In two, four years I get them back." That's where they are wrong. You need to be accountable to, to them. And you need to be responsible for the moneys. There's times they call you to go out and do some, some stuff for them, to speak out for them in rights. I would do it. You know, I'm not going to be a commissioner that is going to be well, I can't get involved because, you know, I'm looking for my futuro (future)a picture of my political life. You know, I got involved with a kid that was eighteen years old running for the school board. was a city councilman. I helped him. My advisor said, "You are crazy for doing this David." I said, "No." I said, "Somebody gave me the chance, somebody believed in me." So I went and I knocked door to door for this young kid, Arnold Rodriguez, and he became the youngest school board member. This is the difference between a politician and myself. Dr. Gutiérrez: Well, you work in other elections, no? I mean, you got a lot of people... Commissioner Noyola Oh, oh Dr. Gutiérrez: ... on the West Oso School Board? Commissioner Noyola Oh yeah. There's other school board members there in the school board. My sister, years back, was a school board member. I got a lot of people indebted to me that I've supported. This last election they had two incumbents, the president and the vice president for reelection. I was out there: when I could have been at the mall. I could've been with my family, but I was out there campaigning for them and they, they defeated big numbers. I helped different politicians get elected since I started at a very young age. I love politics, but of course, as over time you learn that it's like I said, you know, a lot of politicians come into my living room over there. I can list them down the line and I have never asked them what they can do for me, but I ask him what are you going to do for my people. That's the bottom line. If you can't produce, you know, over time we tell them, you might win somewhere else in the district, but if you don't produce here in Molina you won't get reelected in this precinct. You might win across the board, but the numbers here will be a lot more different. Dr. Gutiérrez: Commissioner, you are commissioner elect. You have talked about leadership and, and said you were a leader early on. What is leadership? Commissioner Noyola Everybody has a different point of view. It's like it's been said that if I get a newspaper, you read it and I read the same thing, we might interpret it a different way. To me a leader, you know, is like, I give you a better example. I'll probably get criticized again and it won't be the first or the last time. A leader is like Emiliano Zapata. That's it. A leader. If you are willing to take, you know, that by the horn instead of even if the odds the against you. But you go, you, you, a leader, you open the doors to everybody. You teach them the things you have learned. A lot of politicians don't want to do that. They want to say, "Well, I'm going to give you the brain how to do it. You know that's not, that's not a leader. That's a gain for themselves. Dr. Gutiérrez: Do you want to get the door? Commissioner Noyola You know. But a leader, to me, is a person that let's say you have a meeting. You might have twenty people there and there might one person in that room, let's say Mr. Gonzales, just listening and never has an, an input. A leader is a, you know what? Mr. Gonzalez. What are you thinking Mr. Gonzales? Give him the opportunity. And I guarantee you Mr. Gonzales has a better idea than you and I and everybody else, but believing in giving the opportunity. No, that's what's wrong about the leader. To be a person up front, you know. There's a saying like, you know, or something you get up and go file a case and you turn around and where's everybody else? And sometimes te dejan solo (they leave you alone). But you still don't give up hope. When you think about those things, why should I, why am I doing this, you know. When they say yes we'll help you; yes, we are going to do this and that; and there are times that you have to go before any, any government to fight cases, stuff like that, esta solo (he's alone). Leader worth means, it could be different to everybody. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Well, that, that's, you talk about a leader, but how about leadership? What is that? Commissioner Noyola To me, it's, you know, what yo lo senti (I felt it) to be there for people, you know. Let's say you come and ask me, I'll give you a better example. Maybe about ten years ago there was a guy that lived not too far away from here. It used to be a subdivision. The state comes in, they want to buy all the properties, and this Mexicano says, "Chale (no) I'm not going to move. You are not giving me my equal price, my money for my value and my house." And so and so. He calls all the leaders in this community. Nobody wants to fight with the state. And then, he calls his (inaudible), comes to Molina and finds this Mexicano and I go do the research. And I say, "Well Chale, it's not right. " The guy had some problems with liens and stuff with the property. After all the money that they were going to give him, they were going to give him twenty dollars. How you going to send (inaudible) to the street with twenty dollars? (inaudible) I got up, organized him a press release. I had a press conference. I said, "I had a gentleman that we are not going to move out. The state wants to come in, they are going to have to take us all together." Then from there, I went to Austin to the office of Dan Morales and knocked at his door, came back, had a meeting with (inaudible) Gutierrez, the highway department director. What happened we resolved because of leadership. He got himself relocated. Now he lives in Molina. He's one of my constituents there. And they wrote their, there's seven; eight votes there, you. know. That's leadership. Que no tengas nudo (that you don't have a knot) if you have to knock the doors, you know, we'll go over there and knock it con fuerzas y con ganas (with strength and with a will) and do it. You know, that's the way, that's the way I see it, you know. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Who is the most effective Mexican American leader today? Commissioner Noyola Where? Dr. Gutiérrez: Name a place. Commissioner Noyola Right now, it's tough to say seriously. Pa' mi (For me), there's been some good leaders, but it's like they say you know, you have this pile and it's become that pile is divided. We don't have a true leader, Mexicanos. Maybe back then you had like a Henry Cisneros, but then, there was some faults and because of those faults it's become that well, there's nobody that's really.... You know, he might have did some things with the city of San Antonio, for HUD, but a true leader, no hay (there's none). Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Which is the most effective Mexican American organization? Commissioner Noyola There you go again. There's problems. My personal opinion. hay problemas (there's problems). They might be good in certain things, but there's sometimes when organizations do it for publicity or for example, for money. Without mentioning organizations, you know what I am talking about. You know, there's cases that, at the moment, what I mentioned earlier during the interview about turkey legs, you know, lack sense for, for education, promoting so and so. Then you have, I'll give you a better example. You have the Mexican American Democrats, (inaudible) help promote to help and encourage more Mexicanos to run for public office, and then, they be endorsed a Republican. Que esta pasando? (What is happening?) So we don't have it. I don't think so at this moment that we have a solid.... Look at the Black community. Miami, Florida they said there was an accident between a police officer and a guy, Negrito (black). Black to burn the town that they organized. They have a summit in San Antonio against drugs and stuff like that. Here comes the administration with the president and they were organizing this. We Mexicanos, we are the majority pero que hacemo (what do we do). What do we actual who we have? Yes, we have the numbers, but in times when in case of emergency, let's say we can have a summit here in Corpus. You know, all the public officials, [Congessman] Solomon [Ortiz].. They bring somebody big from the White House as they already did with other organizations. You think we can put them all under one umbrella? It would be tough. Yes we might, but with the ring ourselves, there would be some areas the pie starts dividing. And I think if we need to build for the year 2000 a new foundation leadership. Es importante (it's important) because we're not. We can have the majority of the votes, but then, we started looking back. For example, in Corpus for the first time, five Mexicanos city council. And Look at the way they vote. So, establishment. Maybe once in a while they came around, but it's like winning the lottery, it's tough. We think that we have progress. Yes, Black and white. They are looking at actual numbers. How much money did they divide to this part of the community? How much money is going to be divided towards this side? Then you start looking. An example, look at the money they are going to put in for our budget. Let's say, for example, (inaudible) moneys, see how much moneys are going this way. Then you have a, when they have a bond election for public street improvements, capital improvements for the city, and they put it on the ballot for people to go out and vote, but they might give us a little bitty piece of the pie y hay viene la Raza (and here comes the Mexicans). And then, all the moneys that get appropriated and it takes ten to twenty years before we get our street repaired. But there were priorities on the other side of the county. And those are the problems that we've got. It's hard. Dr. Gutiérrez: What is the most pressing issue facing Mexican Americans today? Commissioner Noyola Unity. That's it. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. Commissioner Noyola Unity. Dr. Gutiérrez: Black/Brown relations. What are the underpinnings of tension between Chicanos and Blacks? Commissioner Noyola It's, you know, like hmm. In this community where I live, I don't have no problems of... We, like I said, the dividing of this community, on one side of the street negritos (blacks), Blacks, Mexicanos, you know. In this neighborhood as an example, I used to be across the street in..... the Black community. A friend of mine, Robert used to come over here and stay with us. We were always together. We even get together and work together. But there's times that when examples that I make, you know, the Black community gets organized for a cause, they are going to listen. Then we have the problem with Mexicanos. No. Estan locos. (No. You are crazy). We don't need it. That's what one opinion is and it spreads out to others. It's like you read the paper, you all have different versions. But it's hard to get them to the table and the only way you can get them to the table is if you are going to eat. Comer juntos (eat together) and when you pass the bread and the tortilla, acuerdate (remember). We might have a round table discussion, but afterwards when we get out, es el hermano (he is the brother) is brothers and you go out and find for the things that was left for our community, that's what the Black community is. Organize. I mean, solid, you know. They might be low in numbers, but when it comes down to funding programs, organizations, the funding is there, you know. Y nosotros no podemos sentarnos en una mesa (and we can't seat at the table). We can't sit at the table. Dr. Gutiérrez: Chicanos and Mexicanos. What are the problems there, the underpinnings of tension? Commissioner Noyola It's the same thing like, you know, (inaudible) like in California, you know, the education. Then, you have, you know, I've always felt this way, you know. We are not too far away from the border, strong point. People come from Mexico and put us down (inaudible) and you treat them like dogs, but we have other people from other countries, they can cross, come into our country, help them get financed for, to become chauffeurs. There's other culturas (cultures), cultures, they can get easy ways to get services. You know, I had brothers in Mexico and it's a shame what they had to go through because of the government politics the way El PRI /Mexican Political Party) happens up there, but we can do deals with them for, for oil. We can lend them millions of dollars to the government and it takes them a long time to get paid. Of course, they already paid it, but why can't we open those doors where we can work and merge together, you know. Of course, you say well, this will cost too much for the welfare program. You got to remember all those brothers estan cortando (they are cutting them out).They are cutting. But if you don't have that communication between Mexico and Estados Unidos (United States) not only on financial backing stuff, but on human beings. I mean, this could be a better country. Of course, it's going to be a lot more people, but you know, for example, a person comes from Mexico, you ask them, "Can you do this?" "Yes sir." "Si puedes?" (You can do this?) "Puedes tirar esto?" (Can you throw this away?) "Si puedo. Si, si, si." (Yes I can. Yes, yes, yes.) Then you ask the Americano. "I don't want to do it. I, I can't do that. It's too hard. I'm not going to do it." And for moneys like that, you know. I think that we need to work a lot closer and, and that, don't have National Guards holding the, the borders, you know. That's not right. Dr. Gutiérrez: How about relations.... Commissioner Noyola This land belongs to them. Dr. Gutiérrez: How about relations with other Latinos? Puerto Ricans and Cubans, what are the underpinnings of tension there? You started to talk a little bit about that. Commissioner Noyola You know, it's like, look at, look at the, the, the Hollywood industry. If you talk, look at, if you go back and do, do the research there. We've got so many Latinos in Hollywood, we got so many in so and so in athletics. There's only two, two Mexicanos going to como tu y yo (like you and me) Mexicanos that are living there in Puerto Rico, Venezuela. You got a bunch of them playing in, in the major leagues. How many true Mexicanos do we have in the ABA? How many true Mexicanos do we have actually playing, you know, major league ball? But we are Latinos. Our hermanos (brothers) we crossed, you know. It's like eres cafe, eres blanco, eres negro (you're brown, you're white, you're black). But the tension would be that, you know, there's always going to be problems. As we get closer to the year 2000 our gobierno (government), is always coming up with different ways how to, to divide us. You talk about education, they always come over to be tested, and then, there's... Two hundred and fifty years I say that and that's the phrase that I use. Every time you, you, you go in numbers, they find a way out of the (inaudible). I'll give you a better example. When you got only three thousand registered voters here, by law, and then, you see the power you coming, well let's divide these precincts. And that's the relations that we are becoming to education. For example, how many Mexicanos can go out there and, and get bonded to do a, a highway? No hay. (There is no one.) You don't have the guy with the suit that, to get bonded. How many Mexicanos are in main positions in banking? How many Mexicanos are into the business like I can collect your taxes? No. There's (inaudible) coming to city, county school districts, that's where we need to start. You might have a Mexicano as a vice president of a bank just because of the numbers, but if you go in and ask him for a loan, no puedo (I can't ). But there are countless bolillos (white guys ) that as a developer. And he has two or three times bankruptcy that I mention... "Oh yeah, we help you out." And those are the problems that still exist, you know, we might have some Mexicanos in those positions, but when you go.... I give you an example. I went, oh more than eight years probably, me and my partner, (inaudible) and another guy, we were trying to get a loan, five thousand dollars. And I'm not going to mention the bank. They give us a stack of papers and we had to sign like I'm signing my life away. And we got five thousand dollars in collateral just (inaudible), five thousand dollars to somebody who started a little business (inaudible) advertising and stuff. We got these curves because I was a Mexicano and we see it, you know, everyday. Esta duro It's hard) and it's going to get a lot harder. Dr. Gutiérrez: I know that you've been active on a lot of other things beyond electoral politics. I know that you opposed the sales tax. I know that worked for like this eighteen year old, Rodriguez, who became the youngest school board member and you've done, you've done a lot of things. Can you tell me some stories because I had, that's the extent of the interview, but I know that you've got a lot more stories that, that you may want to tell. How about a couple of them so we can wrap it up? Commissioner Noyola I give you one that's very interesting. This guy ran for, for judge, (inaudible), Robert Vargas, and he became judge. But you got all these signs there on Concord Street. We did the signs silk screening and we put them on the grass se secaron (they dried) and all that. We played pool, we drank beer, and then hearing the people in Molina, what we did right across the street from (inaudible) we put up a big sign (inaudible), all the persons who were endorsing the community. Well one of (inaudible) campaign manager, Mexicano attorney, (inaudible), he said we don't want to associate with this guy here. So the guy did all the signs and his name was Dickey Valdez, he's the brother of the district attorney now, Carlos Valdez. He came over to my house in his little red truck and he goes, "Hey Bofa, I need to talk to you." That's my nickname. So I go "What's up?". "What happened?" I said, "Well, I had a meeting with, with Robert Valdez and this guy and they don't want to put that (inaudible) name as an endorsement." I said, "Dickey don't worry about it." "I'm having a meeting with them tonight." "We're having a little dance." "I'll take care of it." So I walked into the Stardust Club and (inaudible), about seventeen guys, big guys of the barrio, went directly to me and we talked and I said, "What's the problem Robert?" He says, "Well, que esto (that this) my campaign managers the one that did this. I didn't want this fight." Said, "I told you didn't have to worry about Molina. Molina's in the bag. But you know what? Now it's going to be tough. Va estar duro (it's going to be tough). Instead of the people that you've (inaudible), have them somewhere else and now you are going to have somebody in Molina because we are not going to take care of you. You might win throughout the whole county, pero Molina no les vas a ganar (but Molina you are not going to win)." And we got into a big discussion and I, I'll never forget his wife saying, she started crying, and said, "Dejalo que haga (let him do), do it this way. He knows what he is doing." So we finally came out to an agreement and the sign stood up. And half of the day of that campaign for Robert Maldonado became a judge. It was never Molina on the (inaudible) and he won big time numbers, you know, and that's one experience. And there's another one like Carlos Valdez. Dr. Gutiérrez: So this precinct is tied to Robstown? Commissioner Noyola It's tied to the whole county. It depends on the area you are running for. Dr. Gutiérrez: But this (inaudible) J. P.? Is this the J. P.? Commissioner Noyola No, no it's not the, the district court. Dr. Gutiérrez: Oh, a district court. OK. Commissioner Noyola Yeah, yeah. Dr. Gutiérrez: OK. I got you. Commissioner Noyola It's the whole county. Dr. Gutiérrez: Got you. Commissioner Noyola So he's still there. He's been there for about eight years already as judge. And he still remembers that story, you know, because it like it was yesterday. Carlos Valdez is a better example from the barrio. Young Mexicanito, piojito (tiny Mexican). No money. The same way as I did. But on Concorde Street again, we did the silk screen, barbecue, and organize. The odds were against Carlos Valdez from West Oso. But he became a county judge, the first Mexicano. We worked day and night. If you go to the courthouse and, and we'd be sure they would have Carlos Valdez' name in the loudspeaker every day. Carlos Valdez (inaudible) and it was one way to get the name out to the county employees, his name, you know. He made a commitment. He would get a, a stack of a hundred cards every day, (inaudible) in his pocket and go everywhere and pass them out. I remember he used to play softball, Carlos, flaquito (skinny), come back with a cigar after a game and his little tennis, como va ser (how is it going to be), you know, and we'd sit there and we'd discuss about (inaudible) if he wins. And I'll never forget that we were there at the, this, there is a hotel and they are already declaring that he was out. And Carlos is a very religious person cree bastante el la religion (believes a lot in ) and he got everybody together and he said, you know, "Let's have a prayer." And we started praying and giving thanks to God, you know, for the people that helped him and after that within a couple of minutes he was in a runoff. I think he became the county attorney. There's a lot of stories I remember, you know, when my sister ran for school board. Then when you have a name like Noyola, you know, they going to say, they call us the Kennedys. The Noyola brothers, you know. And then, sometimes if you go like well, con orgullo (with pride), you know, I, I sat down during the week, you know, and I seen a program of, of, of Robert Kennedy and it reminds me, well, they call me Young Jack, you know. Robert, my brother Danny, the superintendent. And Teddy, my brother Jesse, and they always call los Kennedy (the Kennedy), you know, the Kennedy (inaudible), Kennedy (inaudible), you know. I had this guy that would go and lay carpet and his earlobes are like, and this is a true story, we talk about the Kennedys, these are the guys that started the name attorneys. And the passenger side, the sun visor, he had two pictures. Uno (one) Carlos Valdez and David Noyola. Decia eso son (would say those are) Kennedy. That, that was when they started, you know, because they, they believe in me. OK. You be there for them to fight. There's a lot of other experiences like when my sister ran for school board. A couple of days before a bunch of them, she, she came in very disappointed, you know, they painted all over my signs. Somebody threw some paint at her signs. From there I say what, it becomes an issue. No hay Comentarios (there are no comments(inaudible) y to estan tratando con esto y esto. (and they are treating him like this and this) they turn everything around and she became a board member. There's a lot of stories, you know, that if only the walls would speak, the experiences and, and the buenas memorias (good memories) It's like in `90, in '93 when I ran for city council the first time. There was a guy named Jose Angel Gutierrez and I got this tape and I treasure it with me and I wish I could speak like him. Me falta pero me puedo defender. Yo cree que si. (I'm still missing it but I can defend myself. I really think so). I heard this commercial on KCCT radio, Davila.. Arid I think it was a sixty second spot and I would have it in my room in my comoda (drawer chest) beside my cassette player. In the mornings I would get up, you know, I'm a diabetic, take my insulin, get ready and get my cup of coffee and my cigarette and I put the tape. Y cuando vine (And when he came), you know. And that would build me up to go out in the street and talk to people, you know. Because sometimes I got to say to myself I wish, that I would've lived in the era (was) Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa. I probably would have been dead a long time ago. Because you see the things that they fought for, you'know. And then you go', back through the history, you know, and they make Davy Crockett and all the guys famous where there are no bodies, you know. They don't put que corrian (that ran). There were a lot ofMexicanos that fought in the Alamo that we never heard of. And it's things like that, but get them back to that, you know. It was something that would build me up to go out and talk to people and there were some times, you know, you had your up and downs, but if you listen to that tape, it would, you know, in, the first time I heard it I was driving. You know, thinking to myself, I said, I wish I could talk that way, come across that way, but I think I do it in a different way, you know. I mean, but I know when I walk into a place they know who I am and they know what I stand for and they know I'm from Molina and they know that (inaudible) and they can depend on that, you know. There's always been people that should motivate other people to do things in life. That's the way it's been in my life. Dr. Gutiérrez: Commissioner, I want to thank you for the time for the interview. Commissioner Noyola I enjoyed it and had good fun with it.