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| Ruben Gallegos, Jr. |
Ruben Gallegos Jr.
"Hi Jim This is what I received today from Mr. Hilts.
"Ruben, the total cost of the study was $451,260 and each entity, GBIC, PORT, and BPUB agreed to pay 1/3rd the cost which equals $140,420 per entity and all entities are up-to-date with their payments. We have only one invoice left of $3,332.08 which will be divided three ways as well."
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| Ramiro Gonzalez |
after the presentation and inboxing Gallegos. While Gonzalez never responded, Gallegos finally did November 18.
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| MMB with Architect, Urban Planner McCaffrey |
Robin McCaffrey of Needham-McCaffrey & Associates, Inc. moderated the third leg of a slide show presentation to the GBIC on October 31, outlining an overall plan for a 22,000 acre industrial corridor including the Port of Brownsville. Earlier, the Port of Brownsville and Public Utilities Board heard the same proposal.
Here is part of our report from October 31:
McCaffrey preached to the choir as he stated that extending the airport runway to 12,000 feet and dredging out the ship channel were prerequisites to the plan's implementation.
Brownsville's uniqueness is that it has rail, air, sea and road transport and a border location according to McCaffrey. Infrastructure permitting, he claims Brownsville holds a competitive advantage over other U.S. locations and Mexico. McCaffrey estimates manufacturing companies employing 500 workers, using 100,000 kilowatts annually save $5,000,000 on labor in Mexico, but $16,000,000 on energy in Brownsville. The plan is that Brownsville be an a manufacturer, an exporter, not merely a transporter of goods. Steel plants particularly foster spin-off companies. McCaffrey's plan foresees an aggregation of industry, including manufacturing, but also lighter industry, even agri-based in what he calls an industrial corridor."
Unfortunately, Brownsville taxpayers may recall a similar plan for the City of Brownsville, Imagine Brownsville, that was never put into action. Here, again, from our October 31 MMB article:
"There is a sense of deja vu here as we recall the Imagine Brownsville Comprehensive Plan purchased for $900,000 from Carlos Marin's Ambiotec Engineering five years ago. In retrospect, that was a huge waste of tax dollars as the never implemented paperback plan now gathers dust on city shelves, obviously dated and unworkable."
The resume' of Robin McCaffrey is not in question here. He has numerous successful projectis attributed to him, including acknowledged work for the Dallas Museum of Natural History. But, a plan is only as good as its implementation. The original Imagine Brownsville plan was never implemented, only morphing into a behind-the-scenes, shadowy, unaccountable, supervisory board for the city and county now called Greater Brownsville.
Here's a plan/analysis and I will only charge $450,000. The Port of Brownsville and surrounding area will never be a significant production zone. The port only offers two major points of value, cheap labor and a transportation center for Monterrey. The former is manifested in the ship breaking and off-shore work, and the outlook for off-shore work is less than sanguine because the new PRI government in Mexico is very much interested in upgrading Altamira to major off-shore production to feed into the recent deep-water oil discoveries off the Tamaulipas coast. This is in addition to other "privatization" schemes for PEMEX.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, the border area is adversely affected by the presence of even cheaper labor in the maquiladora business model. You cannot compete on price with that wage level. Geographically, the valley really should be part of Mexico not just by de-facto but politically. But, this was a mistake made in 1848. The Republic of Texas never controlled this area even though those pretty maps indicated otherwise. The Republic stopped at the Nueces River. No other part of the US has been as physically isolated from the rest of the country as the Magic Valley. My guess is that it will obviously continue to "grow" in population but economically is another story. It is highly dependent on government work and outright public assistance from a variety of sources. This is not meant as a criticism. It is what it is. Local caciques like to come up with these wild and very expensive plans. Especially when all they do is make a good doorstop.
Here is an example of high-skill manufacturing jobs. Oops, they are in Aguascalientes, not Agua Dulce. Talk about coals to Newcastle. We send cheap natural gas to Mexico to build automobiles to export back to Texas. No natural gas in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteLlevaría gas desde el sur de Texas al gasoducto planeado de Los Ramones, que recorrerá aproximadamente mil 100 kilómetros desde la frontera hasta Monterrey, Nuevo León, y al estado de Aguascalientes, abasteciendo al centro manufacturero automotriz en rápido desarrollo de México.
Es Mejor algo que nada(It is better a little than nothing) the saying says, thousands of unemployed people, would gladly work for the minimum wage here in Brownsville, but the politicians or unions looking for political grandstanding, when a Company seeks incentives from the City the first thing they ask is for better wages and scare away prospective job creators, let the Companies come and pay minimum wages, place orders for help at Employment Office and let people decide if they work for the minimum wages, after all, Es major algo que nada!!!
ReplyDeleteRamiro Gonzalez is a good for nothing, do nothing, over paid city employee. He has accomplished nothing and not worth a penny of the $63,000+ salary that we the taxpayers pay him. He spends most of his time traveling the country to check out bike trails and wining & dining on the taxpayers dollar. All the wining and dining has caused some weight gain for Gonzalez, but he is in denial as he still tries to fit himself into clothes that are three sizes to small for him. He does not return phone calls because he is usually either taking his three to four hour lunch break or napping in his office. Gonzalez is the Mayor's little puppet and Charlie Cabler won't touch him for fear of losing his City Manager position.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at this Jim, this plan is directly tied with Imagine Brownsville. Carlos Marin is the one that brought this firm to Brownsville and he was the one that worked hand in hand to get this study done. It accomplishes nothing but gives credence to the imagine Brownsville document. It is another pipe dream that in all costs over two billion dollars. When is the community going to wake up and stop giving money to Marin? They are going after commissioners for giving a family member a job, but a guy that steals millions from the community is free to roam and keep stealing.
ReplyDelete