Austin City Councilman Don Zimmerman Earns Ultimate Rebuke: A Piñata Likeness

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- District 6 Austin City Council member Don Zimmerman has been Trumped.

By now, piñatas bearing the likeness of Donald Trump are ubiquitous and all the rage. The GOP nominee's hard stance on immigration inspired the papier mâché creations shortly after the real estate mogul launched his presidential bid, after he vowed to deport some 11 million immigrants he described as "criminals" and "rapists."

Local piñata maker Monica Lejarazu, along with her husband, Sergio Lejarazu, have done a brisk business with their own Trump-inspired creations. In a Sunday interview, Mrs. Lejarazu estimates she and her husband have made between 400 to 500 Trump piñatas --still a hot-selling item, with upticks in sales every time Trump opens his mouth to denounce immigrants, which is often, and really good for business, Mrs. Lejarazu said.

Needless to say, the Trump piñata is wildly popular in Mexico. Back in Austin, the Trump piñata now has some competition thanks to Zimmerman.

Last month, the councilman earned widespread criticism for comments directed to Latino children at a council meeting where many signed up to speak to urge continued city funding for after-school programs. Gathered en masse, many holding signs, the schoolchildren waited patiently before the agenda item on funding came up and they were allowed to address the dais.

“I’d ask for everyone here, including the children, when you grow up, I want to ask you to pledge to finish school, learn a trade, a skilled trade, get a college education, start a business, do something useful and produce something in your society so you don’t have to live off others,” Zimmerman told the kids. “Thank you,” he politely concluded.

Given the gathering's ethnic makeup, many interpreted Zimmerman's comments as tinged with anti-Hispanic sentiment. The ensuing controversy commanded headlines locally and beyond, and earned a rebuke from fellow council member Delia Garza and Mayor Steve Adler.

Indeed, condemnation of the comments was swift and far-reaching. But in the Latino world, there's no greater level of outrage expressed than securing a piñata in a person's likeness -- not for the traditional celebration of a momentous event, holiday or personal milestone but just to bash the facsimile to smithereens in letting out one's frustrations.

Community activists commissioned the Zimmerman piñata in their own protest against the councilman's commentary, Lejarazu said. Since the photos of the protest were posted on Facebook, the piñata maker said she's gotten more than a dozen requests from people wanting one of their own.

"It started off with a chat," she said in an interview with Patch, conducted in her native Spanish. "It's the same way it started with Donald Trump," she said of the mounting interest.

When the Lejarazus got into the Trump-piñata-making game, others had already made their versions. Even so, Mrs. Lejarazu said she didn't expect the Trump piñata to be such a hit locally.

It has been. To date, she and her husband have made between 4o0 and 500 Trump piñatas priced at $39 apiece -- so many, in fact, that sales helped finance a family vacation to Disneyland last August, she mentioned. To this day, she and her husband fill from 20 to 25 orders for a Trump piñata every week.

"The irony," Mrs. Lejarazu, herself an immigrant, said.

As for the Zimmerman version, early demand yield promising signs of potential, Trump-like commercial success. The level of interest is reminiscent of the slow-but-sure growth in orders for Trump piñata, she noted.

"Just this weekend, from Friday to Sunday, we've gotten 12 calls, she said.

But Lejarazu acknowledged the process of creating the image of the councilman was a tad more challenging than Trump. Zimmerman is something of an every-man with no distinguishing features -- like Trump's enigmatic hair style that has served as muse for many a piñata maker or his contorted mouth frozen mid-speech.

Ultimately, she went with a subdued approach portraying a caricature version but with attendant white fedora invoking the real-life one Zimmerman likes to wear from time to time at council meetings -- a fetching attention-getter on the dais. Given its complexity, a Zimmerman piñata will set you back $59.

"The Trump ones we can almost make in our sleep at this point," Mrs. Lejarazu said. "We're more systematic in the process, so we can charge less."

Mrs. Lejarazu sells her wares from a space at Julia's Crafts, 2605 E Cesar Chavez St. She also can be reached via her and her husband's Jumpolin business page on Facebook.

The Lejarazus are gearing up for Dia de los Muertos next month, a poular event in the Hispanic culture honoring the dead. They've been commissioned by the MexicArte museum to create a mojiganga, a larger-than-life mask featuring the likeness of the recently deceased Juan Gabriel, an iconic singer and composer from Mexico.

But who knows. Maybe after the Dia de los Muertos rush, the Zimmerman piñata might even trump Trump's.

>>> Image via Monica Lejarazu