Clay County Courthouse

El pastor: A longtime minister to the Hispanic community earns his citizenship

Cristobal Echevarria sets his office phone to speakerphone. A young woman sits on a couch nearby, twisting a small bit of tissue in her hands. Echevarria is talking to the Clay County courthouse. The young woman’s husband is in jail in Clay County, and she doesn’t know if he will come home this week or next, or next year. Echevarria is trying to help. For the last nine years, from his small office inside Greenbrier Church of Christ in Anniston, the 60-year-old Echevarria has helped people like the young woman sitting on his couch — Hispanics who need help with immigration problems or marriage matters. He runs the Hispanic ministry at Greenbrier, preaching the gospel twice on Sundays and again on Wednesday nights. All his children are safely in the United States now, and he says things are looking up for Panama, too — but America is home. He became a naturalized citizen this year. Only his eldest daughter, Neyra, is still waiting for her citizenship. Neyra was 21 when the family moved to the U.S. and had to stay behind until her paperwork could be completed. Neyra was a tough case, Echevarria said, because she was already an adult. It took him seven years, a mountain of paperwork and a lot of money to get her into the U.S. It will take another year before she can become a citizen, but when she does, her children — Echevarria’s grandchildren — will become citizens as well. He smiles at the thought of it. The law has been called the toughest immigration law in the country. If enacted, it would make it a crime to knowingly transport or rent property to an illegal immigrant. Schools would be required to check the residency status of students and their families. Police would be able to detain anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being in the country illegally. He does what he can to help people like the woman sitting on the couch in his office, whose husband is in jail in a country where she does not speak the language.

Clay County candidates rally on courthouse steps | The Columbus ...

“I’m running because I care for District 36, both its present and its future,” Davidson said. “Because I live and work in this community I have seen firsthand what’s needed to keep this area moving forward. I understand the needs of this community, and what you, the voter, demand. I welcome the opportunity to serve you. I will work tirelessly and be accessible to all citizens and responsive to your phone calls and letters. Most of all I will listen to you, the voter. “In the 1950s and 60s people across the state organized for equal rights,” he said. “Our struggle today is for the future of our children, making sure that every student has access to a quality education and access to programs similar to those in other parts of the country. We cannot continue to fund education at an adequate level. I will vote to fully fund education not one time, but every time. Everything must be excellent, including funding, teaching and overall expectation. It takes a community to raise a child, and it’s the parent’s responsibility to train a child, but are we as a community going to stand by with our hands in our pockets and watch our schools crumble?”

David Gibbs is the incumbent representative. “I have represented this district for the last 19 years,” Gibbs said. “I’d like to thank you for the trust you have placed in me for that time. I have been involved in all the progress of West Point for the last 40 years. I’m currently serving as chairman of County Affairs in the House of Representatives, and I serve on Appropriations, I serve on Apportionment and Elections and I serve on Agriculture. On all of those I have been successful because I have become part of the House leadership. You become chairman of a House committee when you have seniority. I have the experience, I have the training and I have the know-how to make the best representative I can be.”

Sheriff “I have been going around with my campaign and trying to meet everybody,” he said. “I want to explain to you some of the things I want to do as your sheriff. I left West Point in 1985 and joined the National Guard. I stayed there for 24 years. I joined the special forces, and I have done two tours, one in 2003 in Afghanistan and one in 2007 in Iraq. One thing I’ve learned is that I love my country. I wanted to do my part for my country. I joined the Mississippi governor’s counter-drug task force. I joined that in 1992. I learned the value of being a leader and taking care of people. I want to bring the experience I gained to the office of sheriff. I want to bring fairness. I learned about fairness through being a deacon at Strong Hill. I want to bring fairness and I want to take care of people. I love everyone. I know the sheriff’s department under Laddie Huffman has done an excellent job, but I want to take it to another level. I’ve built a network up, and I have people that I can go to that know that I want to learn and that I have learned, and when I call on them they will come and I will help.

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