The Politicians


o city's potential can be realized apart from politics, and...the realization of the city's potential is, as it has always been, the real definition of politics," wrote former Montana politician Daniel Kemmis in his book, The Good City and the Good Life. In Garden City, we talked with elected leaders and political appointees who seemed to reflect Kemmis' definition of politics as a genuinely human and satisfying human enterprise.

Dennis Mesa, Field Representative for U.S. Senator Sam Brownback
"My family was given the gift of learning two languages," said Dennis Mesa, who is the Garden City field representative for U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. "My grandparents came here from Mexico, and my parents were often told to only speak English. But my parents wanted their children to have the choice to be bilingual, and that has made a tremendous difference in our lives.

"Today, some children and adults are still taught to leave Spanish at home and to not bring it to school or the workplace. But people are also trying to keep some of their culture alive. In Garden City we have fiestas, Cinco de Mayo, Tet celebrations, Octoberfests, St. Patrick's Day celebrations, International Festivals, and other cultural celebrations. There is so much more available to us when we can enjoy a multi-ethnic focus.

"Garden City is a progressive, forward-thinking town," said Mesa. "It's a microcosm of what's happening all over, which some have called the 'Browning of America.' " Mesa and Garden City were featured in a Public Broadcasting System special on that topic in the early 1990s, when Mesa was serving one of his two terms as mayor. "People say we've done really well," he said, "but we still have room for improvement."

"Garden City is...a microcosm of what's happening all over, which some have called the 'Browning of America.' "

"Banking institutions need to capture more of the market," said Mesa. "That will happen as they build trust, and as they develop a staff that mirrors a diverse customer base. Qualified minority and bilingual employees need to be encouraged and promoted, to move through the banking system. Most people would rather do business with people they can identify with.

"There are cultural differences," said Mesa. "Some Hispanic people are not willing to put their hard-earned money in a financial institution. They need education about how banking works, to understand that their money can grow if it's not hidden away, and that there's less chance of money being lost or stolen if it is in a bank. But the differences are not just Hispanic. There are many kinds of cultural differences. My wife is a farmer's daughter of Irish and German descent, and her mother would never borrow money. She always said, 'If you can't afford to pay cash for it, don't buy it.'

"Today, banks are doing projects in the schools, and that's good," said Mesa. "The earlier the better. This is a young, dynamic community--the median age is 28. Garden City is becoming more of a regional hub--the population swells on weekends as people come here for shopping and entertainment.

"Some older people talk about 'the good old days,'" said Mesa, "but people of Mexican descent have been here a long time, and it's always taken an effort for people to learn not to be fearful of one another. Once we get to know other people, and let them know us, we learn there isn't anything to be afraid of. That's happening, and it happens partly as products from different cultures come into the marketplace.

"For example, the city has a multicultural board that works to lay the groundwork for other activities. In speeches to various groups about ethnicity, I often say, 'If you like our food, you're going to love our people!' Something as simple and as universal as food can build cultural bridges. In Garden City, we have excellent Mexican restaurants, Chinese restaurants, and Vietnamese restaurants.

"The city has a multicultural board that works to lay the groundwork for other activities."

"For some, the question about whether Seaboard comes to town has racial implications. I think that may be one issue, but it's only a smaller component. The dialogue is healthy. Some people don't want to go through quick growth and would like growth to be more controlled. Some communities would love to be in a situation of quick growth. We're talking about quality of life issues, and if we need resources we'll find them.

"Growth does cost tax dollars, and some elderly people living on fixed incomes are concerned about having to build more schools and about giving support to newcomers to the area. But we've always had people who have had to look out for the next generation. We don't want immigrants to leave, we want to encourage them to put down roots and stay.

"The issue isn't whether we're brown, black or white," said Mesa. "The issue is what each of us is about as a person. I don't think of myself as Hispanic, or Mexican-American. I think of myself as an American, whose ancestors were from Mexico.

"I think of myself as an American, whose ancestors were from Mexico."

"When new immigrants started coming here from Mexico to work in the meatpacking plants, at first there was tension with some of the people whose families had come here from Mexico generations ago. Some new immigrants had less understanding of life here. It seemed as if they were forcing their way of doing things into our way of living, without breaking their ties with home. But after a while the barriers came down. The Spanish language was not the issue--you don't not trust someone because they do or don't speak a language. You trust someone because of what's inside, because of their sensitivity and sincerity.

"Most people from Mexico do want to learn English, but for adults it's difficult and may take years. Some prejudice still exists, but more barriers are broken every day. The keys to progress are time, and dialogue between people.

"Part of the greatness of Southwestern Kansas is the diversity of its people," said Mesa. "We need to think about how we can leave things a little better for the next generation. We need to keep pulling together as a community team, and celebrate our opportunities and successes. Garden City is evolving--you're catching us at mid-stride right now."

"Garden City is evolving--you're catching us at mid-stride right now."

Tim Cruz, City Council Representative
"Seaboard is a hot topic in Garden City," said council member and former mayor Tim Cruz. "I suspect if people voted today, half would support their coming to Garden City and half would be opposed. But as the director of our chamber of commerce said, we may not see eye to eye, but we still need to walk hand in hand. We may disagree, but that's no reason to dislike one another.

"We may not see eye to eye, but we still need to walk hand in hand."

"We can handle a little more growth," Cruz said. "We've learned from our experience with IBP, but we'll have challenges if Seaboard comes. We don't have enough housing. We need better codes for rental housing, so we don't have places with dirt floors. Some apartments hold two or three families and have no screens on the windows and no air conditioning. The high school was built to hold 1,300 students and it has 2,000. We need more bilingual educators. The city is just now to the point where it's catching up with itself.

"There's a lot of transiency in Garden City because of the type of work that's available," Cruz continued. "A lot of Asians have moved on to other parts of the country. I worked at a beefpacking plant while I was in college. Some people there would say they were going to move to Colorado, but 15 years later they're still here.

"In the Hispanic culture, the family is most important. If your brother needs something, you see that he gets it. Maybe education should be most important, but it isn't.

"In the Hispanic culture, the family is most important."

"Garden City is a great place to live," said Cruz. "It's a lot of work to get people involved, but we need to build friendships and invite people in. We need to do more to make people feel this is their community. Garden City is a community that's friendly, where people are willing to help one another. We need to remember that people coming here are just trying to work and make a living."






"Garden City has two distinct characteristics
viewed from the angle of the traveling man or the casual visitor--
its sturdy town character and its town spirit."

1911 traveling salesman,
quoted in Constant Frontier by Agnesa Reeve