Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, Jr. Addresses Brownsville's White Elephant~United Brownsville

Commissioner Longoria's thoughtful reply to our recent article "Brownsville Continues to Throw Money At Self-Perpetuating "United Brownsville"~ Why? Why? Why?" deserves more than a simple response in the comment section. The problem is not so much that "Imagine/United Brownsville" never got off the ground as much as it is that it continues to be funded. Many critical aspects of the plan are set in a 5 year time frame. With the plan approved in 2009, we are 3 years into implementation still looking for our first sidewalk built or palm tree planted at the direction of this entity. First, commentary from our first article, then Mr. Longoria's response:

"The project started with a glossy book filled with artist's conceptions, futuristic illustrations of what Brownsville could look like if engineers designed, contractors built and taxpayers paid for the illusionary artistry bound in the book. The concept was flawed, doomed from the start, in that it combined corrupt political entities with unsavory, greedy business interests with no accountability"---Mean Mister Brownsville

Now, Commissioner Longoria's response:

Ricardo Longoria, Jr.Apr 10, 2012 01:11 PM


We revisited the idea of a Master Plan after a lobbying trip to Washington D.C. in 2006 when then Congressman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota told us that he had money for our Downtown Revitalization, but we needed a plan in print that identified our projected plans and a sort of needs assessment for our community. That was when we came back and went out for proposals and through a fair process Ambiotec Engineering was awarded a contract to begin this plan so we could return to Washington and Congressman Oberstar and secure funding. The plan was created, Congressman Oberstar as well as Congressman Ortiz was unsuccessful in being re-elected, so we had to come back and begin anew. In my personal opinion: the plan has been created, the projected targets and needs have been identified. Thank you for your service ladies and gentlemen of our community.

By now, members of the different boards and commissions should have convened and identified the projects that we as a community want to take on and persue at a state and federal level for funding and create interlocal agreements that would identify specifically 1. What each entity would contribute to achieve the goal and 2. a time frame of completion to the specific project. Boards, directors, and elected officials have met, talks about and discussions have occurred, but nothing identified and presented to the different boards for approval or review. Let’s get one thing straight the City Commission, BISD Board, Navigation District, Cameron County Commission and UTB/TSC Board will be the ones to vote and move ahead with these projects. The members of these boards that sit on the United Brownsville Board are there to listen and report back to their respective boards and commissions any plans or strategies that are being discussed. Until now ideas are being pushed around, but no concrete plans have been put into action. I say this because there are projects that are going on right now that want to be tagged on to United Brownsville to make it look like it is being accomplished through it, but they are not.

As I stated in the beginning United Brownsville was created so that a plan could be in print to secure funding, what is going on right now is not what this plan was created for. I sincerely appreciate the countless hours that all volunteers, directors, employees and elected officials have put into this very much needed plan and know for a fact that no one is monetarily benefitting from this concept, but we must stop with the smoke screens already and go as was intended in a unified front to Austin and Washington D.C. to seek major funding for our community and make the visions that are on paper into a reality.

Do we need to continue with the United Brownsville concept as is; in my opinion “no,” but then again I am only one vote. Thanks for your time.

Ricardo Longoria, Jr."


MORE FROM MEAN MISTER BROWNSVILLE

Only the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent One could implement the Imagine/United Brownsville Plan as written and illustrated. Fully seven creative days would be needed, eight with delays and bureaucratic holdups. At best the plan was an obvious overreach--more than can be realistically accomplished or funded. At worst the plan was a slick con job, a glossy book to justify a million dollar taxpayer expenditure.

The illustrations in the plan are fanciful, reminiscent of the hovercraft Mechanics Illustrated in the 60's said all of us were supposed to be driving by 1975. I recall a magnificently bricked wall along the Rio Grande with a walkway on top and periodic, umbrella-covered picnic stations at regular intervals. Behind the wall, a mixture of highrise and multi-family housing with fountains and automatically-watered landscaping encompassed the gentle curve in the Rio Grande River beyond Mexico Boulevard. The reality of that area is total abandonment with tall, unmowed grass.

Not only is the plan unworkable, unfundable, but the bureaucracy created is beyond cumbersome. Looking past the Task Force Executive Committee consisting of 15 members, the Task Force Technical Committee Chairs totalling 16, there are 5 subcommittees; Civic, Environmental, Infrastructure, Social and Economic. There are 399 names total on all of the committees ans subcommittees. Numerous members serve in several committees but the sheer number of participants, contributors renders the process nearly unworkable.


BOBBY WIGHTMAN-CERVANTES' EXPERIENCE

One of the original 300+ members, local blogger Bobby Wightman-Cervantes details his experience with United Brownsville:

In the end the entire vote on Imagine Brownsville was a joke - did they have a choice? No. I went to one meeting of Imagine Brownsville, and with my group participated in one productive discussion via e-mail. I did not attend the second meeting for my group (our job was to work on inter-institution cooperation) because at the first meeting it was clear the leader was there to force feed us preconceived ideas. I found myself trying to mediate between the various voices every time the group leader summarily dismissed everyone ideas.

When it came time for the second meeting, I received endless e-mails telling me where the meeting would be and when. It was like the information was changing by the hour. We are not talking about a handful of e-mails, we are talking endless e-mails which reached the point of harassment. I decided to not return to the process.




MEANWHILE HARLINGEN QUIETLY POLISHES THEIR DOWNTOWN


In the past few years, while Brownsville has been tangled up in a grandiose, bureaucratic boondoggle, Harlingen has been slowly, sprucing up their downtown on a smaller, but more practical scale. Landscaping has been installed. Buildings have been restored. More free parking has been added with little fanfare. It can't be and won't be the Brownsville model, but Harlingen is doing something to beautify, restore and improve. Brownsville is well within the third year of a five year plan, still looking for more parking for officials of a well-funded, do-nothing entity.

Below is just a tiny, typical portion of the United Brownsville commentary. It's included to illustrate the kind of doublespeak and gobbledygook that fill the report. Many with better than average reading comprehension come away from the manuscript with almost no retention of anything of substance. I believe that's intentional. The report is written in platitudes and generalities so broad they say absolutely nothing. It's simply a million dollar con job that adds millions more in administrative costs with each passing year.












SMALL SAMPLE FROM UNITED BROWNSVILLE HANDBOOK







Initiative Five: Local Nodes


Local Nodes begin to transform the local system
because they impose differentiations on the
current condition, which is lacking differentiation.
As differentiations emerge, places of greater and
lesser value will emerge and the system will be
energized (and revitalized) by a structure of value
that facilitates investment and transaction.


Land Assembly


The potential for Local Nodes to attain built
mass sufficient to positively impact the need for
ad valorem tax revenue is seriously limited by
current spatial constraints that suppress nodal
aggregation. Among these spatial constraints,
the most significant is land availability and land
assembly. Therefore, approaches similar to those
described above (in Local Corridors) are needed
to facilitate land availability for node formation/
aggregation.


Economic Development


Essential to creating significant differentiations
within the Local Nodes is an economic development
approach. Economic development within the
local system is not like economic development
within the regional system (discussed above). The
local system is focused on the emergence of local
tenants, while the regional system is focused on
large plates. Economic development for Local
Nodes includes initiatives that will attract:
1. Small scale local businesses
2. Neighborhood services
3. Local Property Owners Associations
To attract any of the above, it is essential that Local
Node economic development work in conjunction
with initiatives of the small business administration
and facilitate use of these resources, as well as
compliment such resources with additional aids.\

Development Controls


Development controls within the Local Nodes
must be focused on the form of development/
redevelopment/enhancement. It is necessary
to visually define the Local Nodes so that a
more pedestrian scale and neighborhood scale
environment emerges. Key aspects of development
control are:
1. Defining the street wall
2. Accommodating parking without creating a
foreground parking lot
3. Providing pedestrian space and comfort
4. Improving density
Spatial outcomes (such as those listed above) can
be accomplished through several regulatory tools
that would impose standards and guidelines.
These regulatory tools include:
1. Overlay districts
2. Special zoning suffix for Nodes
3. Third party deed restrictions in exchange for
concessions on density, parking, and other
current requirements
Five Year Initiatives for the Local Nodes
1. Create a development authority within the
City Government of Brownsville (modeled
after the San Antonio Development Authority)
that can facilitate needed land assembly.
2. Create a Local Node zoning classification that
incentivizes greater patterns of development
to promote business clusters and compliment
the adjacent neighborhoods.
3. Create an improved approval process for
zoning and plating matters related to Local
Nodes that has predictable time frames
and clearly states what is expected in the
development proposal.
4. Initiate a streetscape improvement program
within key Local Nodes.
5. Create an economic development initiative
that combines the services of the small
business administration with locally based
services and facilitates use of those services
with technical assistance.