BEEVILLE, Texas — Deep in the belly of Texas oil country, Bee County commissioners took a stand last week -- one they hoped would ignite a prairie fire of protests throughout rural America.
They passed a resolution calling on their constituents to boycott Exxon Mobil Corp. until gasoline prices plummeted to $1.30 a gallon.
What they didn't count on was how it would divide this south Texas county.
"We certainly look like hicks now!" Pam Tull wrote the local newspaper.
Added another letter writer, teacher Charles Marley: "You have a standing invitation to come to high school economics class and learn how supply and demand affects gasoline prices. You are embarrassing us in Texas."
What set off this fury was an honest effort to strike back against gasoline price avarice, said County Judge Jimmy Martinez, Bee County's top elected official, who proposed the boycott.
But it forced the citizens of Beeville, population 13,129, to make a personal decision: Do I declare war on Big Oil, or fill up at Leticia's stations?
There are three Exxon Mobil gas stations in Bee County. All are independently owned by the family of Leticia Quiroga Munoz, who also operates the adjacent convenience stores.
Sticking it to Exxon Mobil inevitably would mean stiffing the Pantry stores, which dish out hearty carne asada tacos and chorizo with eggs as well as sell diesel and unleaded -- a fact county officials were seemingly last to realize.
"I am trying not to take this personally," Quiroga Munoz, 43, said Tuesday as she wiped taco grease off the Formica tables at the store on the south side of town. "But the only ones this can possibly affect is my family. It's just unbelievable. We've worked hard to get to where we're at."
Martinez said he hatched the boycott idea after reading about the $400-million "platinum parachute" that Exxon Mobil gave to retiring Chief Executive Lee Raymond.
Within days, the Bee County boycott -- believed to be the first of its kind in the country -- was international news. Martinez was on MSNBC, the BBC and seemingly every other news outlet.
Beeville suddenly was at the center of the sharp-edged political debate over gas prices.
As the boycott entered its second day Tuesday, it was evident that some here were on board with the plan to shun Exxon Mobil.
