Judge Cortez named Field Marshal of the War on Poverty in Hidalgo County

EDINBURG, Texas – Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez has been named honorary Field Marshal for the War on Poverty in Hidalgo County.

The award was bestowed by the Hidalgo County Community Service Agency (CSA) at the group’s inaugural Access to Success Program Banquet, held Dec. 12 at Monza Social Event Center in Edinburg.

“We have amongst us someone who walked the walk and said we’re going to do this (wage a battle against poverty). And this is an important award because this is our inaugural event,” said CSA Director Jaime R. Longoria.

Cortez could not be present to accept the award because he was out of town on business. So, Longoria presented the award jointly on Cortez’s behalf to Hilda Salinas, who assists Cortez in the Hidalgo County Judge’s Office, and Mario Reyna, coordinator for the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force. The task force was set up by Judge Cortez to tackle poverty. 

Longoria said that since Cortez announced the fight against poverty a top issue, back in 2019, the poverty level in Hidalgo County has dropped by 2.4 percent.

From the podium, Longoria pointed out that although Hidalgo County’s Community Service Agency was started in the 1970s it has its roots in President Johnson’s War on Poverty initiative of the 1960s.

“The War on Poverty was declared 60 years ago in 1964. Sixty years ago, LBJ came up with this idea of taking federal money and moving it to the local level and allowing the local communities to spend the money the way they saw fit and develop programs for people that were living in poverty, to make decisions about how best to address poverty,” Longoria said.

Longoria said that is what Hidalgo County does every day.

“We have local control of these two million dollars to assist families. Part of the money is for emergency services, families that are in (a) domestic violence (situation) or lose their house to a fire or something like that. Part of the money actually goes to running this particular program.”

Longoria paid tribute to President Johnson. 

“So back in ’64 this whole idea of bringing federal money to a local level was kind of novel. It was new. And so, the community action agencies were formed to administer these dollars. We are the direct descendants of LBJ’s war on poverty.”

A president may declare war on poverty but at the waterfront, a nation still needs people to wage that war, Longoria said.

“We need people to plan for it. We need people to be visionaries, to motivate, to direct and to defend the water. We need leaders dedicated to winning the war,” Longoria said.

“We need to have someone, a champion, who says we can win this war. Even 60 years later, we need to be reminded that the war is important to fight.”

That person in Hidalgo County has been Judge Cortez, Longoria said. At every table at the banquet was a copy of an op-ed Cortez wrote in 2019. The op-ed was titled: “We Must Reduce Poverty.”

“Hidalgo County needs to fight this war on poverty, and he (Judge Cortez) committed himself to wage this war on poverty,” Longoria said.

After the op-ed was published in a local newspaper, Longoria said, he kept a copy of it under the desk pad in his office. 

“I did this because I knew what that meant. I knew that I wanted to be able to hold that opinion piece and say, what are we doing about this? And I’ll be darned if the person that we’re going to honor today (Judge Cortez) hasn’t bugged me every day since about how are we moving the War on Poverty?”

Longoria said Cortez set up the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force to fight poverty. He said the judge wanted to pull in lots of partners for the project.

“He coined this whole idea that we could all work together. And he talks about it in this article, where if you raise the level of the water, everybody is raised up. And that’s what he talks about with our economy. How do we make things better for everyone? So that Hidalgo County is raised up.”

Longoria said CSA plans to hold an Access to Success Program banquet every year going forward. “And we’re going to name a Prosperity Warrior every year. Moving forward, we’re going to celebrate those people who make a big difference in the lives of people.”

Longoria explained that Cortez could not be present to receive the award because he was out of town on business.

“He couldn’t get out of that commitment. But the reason that I wanted to bestow this award on him is he is our very first Prosperity Warrior, named by the Hidalgo County Community Service Agency.”

Longoria asked for a round of applause from the audience and got it.

As for the name of the honor, Longoria said he consulted with Reyna, the Prosperity Task Force coordinator, because he has a military background,

“He (Reyna) said, a general is at one level, but a field marshal is above a general. So, we named Judge Richard Cortez an Honorary Field Marshal on the War on Poverty in Hidalgo County.”

In his remarks, Reyna said that while people have no control over the environment they are born into, they can control how they wind up.

“So, we have this strong belief that you can be whatever it is you hope to be if you work hard. But the other part is that here in Hidalgo County, you’re going to have a lot of folks that are going to be helping you, and one of those organizations is the Community Service Agency,” Reyna said.

“So, this is a first step. We’re going to introduce CSA that more into the (task force) because if people know this type of program exists here, it can help so many people.”

In her remarks, Salinas, the assistant to Cortez, said the Judge had given her a message for this year’s graduates from the Access to Success Program.

“He is extremely, extremely happy for you and very, very proud of you. Judge Cortez will tell you that he is a person of humble beginnings, and he knows how hard it is to make it to where you want to be. He knows it takes sacrifice to make that dream come true,” Salinas said.

“So, he wants you to keep striving, to keep moving forward. He’s very, very proud of all of you, and to those of you who are just in (the program) and still moving forward. Keep going, because that dream is waiting for you to finish it.”

Longoria then read out two passages from Cortez’s 2019 op-ed. One stated: “If Hidalgo County residents are to enjoy future economic growth and prosperity, we must reduce our poverty rate. The poverty rate in Hidalgo County is published at 29.5 percent.” The other stated: “Slowly we can transform the cycle of poverty to a cycle of prosperity where increased economic opportunity draws increased investment, which creates more economic opportunity.”

Today’s poverty rate in Hidalgo County is 27.1 percent, Longoria said.

“This is five years later, a 2.4 percent difference. That’s 19,000 persons less in poverty today. That is 6,000 households out of poverty today. In those five short years.”

Longoria concluded: 

“How we win the War on Poverty is one household at a time. And I’ll never forget when we went over the numbers with the judge at one time. He says, well, the needle’s moved. And he says, who’s moving the needle? And I said, Judge, and I kind of cleared my throat, (and said) there’s a lot of us. There’s a lot of us in this room that can take a bow and say we’re moving the needle.

“So, we’re moving the needle together, starting with the participants (in the Access to Success program), the graduates, all the agencies and organizations in the room, all of the staff members in the room, we’re all moving the needle. So, congratulations to all of us tonight.”

At the banquet, 19 adults who successfully completed their Access to Success program received their certificates. CSA also gave special recognition to Lone Star National Bank, McAllen Careers Institute, and UT-Rio Grande Valley School of Nursing. 

Editor’s Note: Here, below, is an audio recording of part of the Hidalgo County Community Service Agency banquet held to celebrate the Access to Success Program. This part of the event focuses on the CSA awarding Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez the honorary title of Field Marshal for the War on Poverty .

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About Access to Success:

Access to Success, which is funded through our Community Service Block Grant, is intended to empower its participants. It establishes a foundation for upward mobility towards self-sufficiency, transitioning them out of poverty. The Access to Success Program is available to all residents of Hidalgo County over the age of 18, who are interested in pursuing and/or enhancing their professional skills and certification to transition out of poverty and to attain meaningful employment.

The mission of the Access to Success Program is: “to improve the quality of live and promote self-sufficiency of the low-income, diverse, and vulnerable households of Hidalgo County by providing effective, efficient, and comprehensive services through partnerships and direct funding.”

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