Wife Of Pastor Tom Brown To Run For City Council

A morning jog left Sonia Brown slightly out of breath Tuesday morning.

But as she talked about running for City Council representative for District 5 in East El Paso, Brown, the wife of pastor Tom Brown, found her second wind.

The Browns and the group, El Pasoans For Traditional Family Values, successfully got a measure on the November ballot that voters approved which took away health care benefits from the gay and unwed partners of city employees.

“I’m not a politician, I’m an advocate for the people,” Sonia Brown said Tuesday. “I want them to know I will fight for them.”

District 5 is currently being represented by Rachel Quintana, who announced in January she would not seek re-election. Maria D. “Mayela” Mejia, Omar Macias, and Michiel R. Noe have already filed to be candidates for District 5 in the May 14 election.

Brown does not have prior political experience but did help her husband during his campaign for city representative more than 10 years ago. She plans on filing the candidate paperwork either today or Wednesday.

“I’m excited. I’m a little nervous,” Brown said. “I don’t really know what to expect. I really believe we need a voice.”

Brown said she has learned a lot about the political process in the year or so she and El Pasoans For Traditional Family Values have been trying to get the city to stop providing health care benefits to the gay and unwed partners of city employees.

“I’ve seen that City Council has a lot of power with the traditional family ordinance, that they were contemplating rescinding and I didn’t like that,” Brown said. “I believe City Council has been dishonoring the voice of the voters. I want to give back the power to the voters.”

If elected, Brown plans on introducing the Voter Rights Amendment, which would keep any ordinance passed by a majority of the voters from being rescinded by City Council for two years.

“She doesn’t like where City Council is going,” Pastor Tom Brown said. “She doesn’t like that they disrespected our values. She doesn’t appreciate the big brother style of government they’ve been practicing and she thinks she can make a big difference.”

Tom Brown said they tried their best to get someone to run who was committed to values, but as good as the other candidates are, they think Sonia Brown is a better option for voters.

Although he has run in the past, Tom Brown said he never wanted to run for office again and wants to stay a spokesman for values.

Brown’s platform will include family values, as well as plans to build a tourist park paid for by private business, to cut government spending and lower the tax rate. She also would like to expedite completion of the Loop 375 project to alleviate traffic.

Tom Brown said one thing he learned from his unsuccessful campaign years ago is the importance of name recognition to voters.

“When I ran, I didn’t have name recognition and the other guy did,” Tom Brown said. “I think Sonia has the name recognition. It’s about real positive ideas. It’s not about attacking other people. I think it’s time we have on council, some balance. I think voters see council as being a bit on the radical left side. What’s wrong with another person who can balance it with fiscal ideas? So she’s going to be on the fiscal conservative side.”

Several municipal judges, retirees, and domestic partners have sued the city of El Paso over the ordinance initiated by El Pasoans For Traditional Family Values. They claim its unconstitutional and discriminatory. Federal Judge Frank Montalvo granted a temporary injunction on the ordinance in January until he decides if its constitutional. That ruling is expected in mid-April.

El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values tried to intervene in the case, fearing the city’s hired attorney would not properly defend their ordinance, since the city council has been opposed to it all along. The judge allowed them to participate, but has not officially deemed their ‘intervention’ as valid.