Thursday, January 16, 2014

City Planning Director Ramiro Gonzalez Becomes the Face of the Proposed Parking Meter Increase

Mayor Tony Martinez
Much like a military general sending his troops to the front lines while orchestrating the strategy far removed from battle, Mayor Tony Martinez has selected City Planning Director Ramiro Gonzalez as the point man for selling the taxpayers on the idea of tripling parking rates downtown. 

At the last City Commission meeting January 7, before the scheduled second reading of the parking meter ordinance change and the vote for approval, things seemed to inexplicably stall. Agenda item 4C, involving changes in the ordinance regarding parking meters, was pulled from out of the group of consent agenda items destined for routine approval.  

Martinez placed City Manager Charlie Cabler in charge of a town meeting to sort out the issue after an older gentleman(Abraham Galonsky?) approached the mayor and Commissioner Rose Gowen prior to the meeting:  "We'd like to have a town hall meeting to reflect other ideas. . . . . .  Mr. Cabler, as City Manager, I would like you to set up a town hall meeting, doing it in a form that legal will deem appropriate, doing it within the next two weeks and we'll see what comes out of that meeting. . . . . I'm going to be out of town." Interestingly, with no definite date set for the meeting, the mayor already knew he would be "out of town," but, as we wrote above, generals seldom expose themselves to risk on the front lines.


City Planner Ramiro Gonzalez
Interviewed on Brownsville's channel 12 and by the Brownsville Herald, Comprehensive Planning Manager Ramiro Gonzalez has become the face of the proposed parking meter increase.  He's been quoted as saying that tripling parking fees downtown will "create more spaces," because it will eliminate the customer or downtown employee who simply "feeds quarters" all day long and will "turn" that space over for the next customer.  

We ran into Gonzalez and an associate, described by the City of Brownsville website as "Planner II," Roman McAllen, last Monday as they exited the city annexed El Tapiz building on the way to lunch.  Both men believe what they've read about the parking meter issue.

"Jim, I wish you could read a study I have on my desk," Ramiro started.  "It shows that an increase in parking fees will create more spaces downtown.  Those monies then can be used for downtown revitalization."


When asked if there was a specific use in mind for the new revenue, Gonzalez offered:  "Well, actually, it will go toward new parking meters, those that will allow a credit card to be swiped. This is the way cities across the country are doing it now."

Gonzalez and McAllen, both confident, bordering on cocky, young men in their early 30's, may have some difficulty empathizing with struggling downtown business owners who will be adversely affected by the tripling of parking fees.  Both men enjoy the perk of free parking downtown, know exactly to the penny, how much salary they will draw on a given day.  

Downtown business owners do not have that luxury, instead focusing on selling enough $5.99 Chicken Mole' lunch specials, shoes, shirts, toys or Natural Light Beer to stay in business yet another month.  While Ramiro Gonzalez contends the dozen or so clubs and businesses closing in downtown Brownsville the last two months was due to "bad management," it's obvious this business scene is hurting badly.  


My friends, the Humberto Lozano family, who recently opened the Tequilas Restaurant and Cantina this August at 9th and Adams St., invested heavily in their downtown business. With parking meters on Adams St., 9th and in the lot on the west side of their restaurant, the Lozanos are critically aware of how a tripling of the meter rates could effect their business, adding as much as 25% to a lunch plate, as well as the anxiety of a $10.00 or $15.00 fine to a customer who lingers over their meal.  


MMB, Rosa, Humberto Lozano
Ms. Lozano inboxed me yesterday with her concerns:
  
Hello! Mr Barton...This is Ms Lozano from Tequilas Restaurant.. downtown.. I was wondering.. by any chance do you know when the commissioners will have another meeting about the parking meters? ..Because we the small businesses will be the most affected..
They want us to invest downtown.. and we haven't received any kind of help from them...that's how they supposed to help us? Can you believe that we are so disappointed because every time they want our vote we were there for them.

The Lozanos are among the hardest working people in Brownsville with a restaurant, auto repair business and a used car dealership, all family run. They are not merely taking up parking spaces downtown.  It would be almost criminal to so drastically alter the parking ordinance without at least considering the effect it will have on families like this one.





13 comments:

  1. The unconscionable, stratospheric level of ineptness Brownsville leaders have NEVER ceases to amaze me! This is why I left Brownsville and so many others have as well. These pendejetes never have a defined objective in sight. These poor restaurant owners and the other downtown merchants will suffer because of this.

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  2. Sounds to me like 'Da Mayor is setting up Cabler and Gonzalez for a fall. Tony Martinez doesn't have the balls to stand up to the public...to defend "his" policies, so he sends his pawns out to take the heat. Tony has made up his mind, and doesn't want to listen to the public. I saw a sign today which said "Those that stir the shitpot should have to lick the spoon." Tony is trying to stay away from the spoon while he stirs the shit downtown.

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  3. Jim, Mr. McAllen was suspended for at least two days without pay by City Manager Charlie Cabler following an obnoxious outburst against a citizen at a recent public meeting. He is one of the most obnoxious of any employee currently working for the COB. Mr. McAllen is, frankly, the world's greatest expert. If you want to learn about the suspension--and maybe another one--file a FOI request.

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    1. McAllen and Gonzalez are both idiots out of control! They think that they know everything and have their heads so far up the Mayor and Gowens ass, it's pathetic! And yes, McAllen was suspended, should have been fired!

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  4. Brownsville has a City Manager form of government, so these bureaucrats will be front-center on any project undertaken by the City Commission. When you change to a "Mayor form of government, then, and only then, Barton, can you lay all your blame on the mayor. As for the business people you side by, well, business in any American town is subject to the sort of things that trouble these Brownsville folks. It's part of the territory. Perhaps they should move a few miles south, across the Rio Grande.

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    1. That's bullshit! The Mayor is and has been dictating what goes on in this city, and he is to blame for all. Everyone, including the City Manager, fear for their jobs because this dictator that we have as a Mayor has threatened firing them.

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    2. Wow! You must be an elected official or relative of the mayor. Like the 1st comment says, it is incomprehensible (I no understand) that these idiot "leaders" rape and pillage the city and county. At both levels we the citizens have ignorant knuckleheads leading and enforcing policies and code. Ask any out of town developer how difficult it is to build any new commercial buildings here. Wannabe cop Humberto Barrera ((Cascos boy) is Emergency management director and interferes with building permits from the county with no authority. Cascos does nothing about it because he wants help with the Rio Hondo vote from Barrera. Sepulveda, Benavides and the other county code enforcement along with Gamez at the city level have NO idea what they're doing. Its the blind leading the blind. The mayor has made enough money from his friends by buying up their properties at super inflated prices.

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  5. Jim, the older gentleman that approached the Mayor was not Abraham Galonsky, it was Larry Holtzman.

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  6. You do not have to raise the parking fee to get rotation in occupying a space. You do as any other city does and limit the amount of time a space can be occupied, like two hours, and enforce it. It is not rocket science, but in this land of pendejos you would think it were.

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  7. Mr. Jim, could you refrain from using a picture of our fugly major in the future? His fugliness strains my eyes and leaves them in misery for days. He has the looks that, well, only a mother could love, Perhaps you could substitute a head picture of Brat Pitt instead. I think its called photo shoot or something like that. I would love you and the missus forever. Blessings.

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    1. Martinez currently is letting his beard grow for Charro Days. His face is covered with salt/pepper stubble, not a bad look. He won't be available for photo shoots, though, until after the town hall meeting on parking meter raises. Someone messaged me that they saw him at the Brownsville Airport on his way out of town.

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  8. Jim, Mayor Martinez, Gonzalez, and McAllen, are nothing but elitists that are contributing to the problems of downtown revitalization with their own specific self serving agendas. They know nothing of how to fix our downtown and want to shove this parking increase idea based on other cities. Tequilas restaurant is a perfect example of the type of owners that really care about downtown and how our city is working against. What really needs to be done is for these people to realize that nothing will change until we get businesses downtown that will create decent paying jobs so that we can, work, visit, eat, shop and even reside downtown. You don't attract more people downtown by increasing parking fees. You don't need an elitist education to figure that one out. Jim, thanks for keeping us informed on our downtown.

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    1. "...What really needs to be done is for these people to realize that nothing will change until we get businesses downtown that will create decent paying jobs so that we can, work, visit, eat, shop and even reside downtown..."
      In order for more "retail" outlets and become successful, we need Industry type businesses i.e. manufacturing, energy, a viable prosperous successful water port activity, a REAL tourist industry. These businesses are PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITIES, that create, produce, make things, that can employe people that PRODUCE and PAY TAXES. People that are welfare recipients or work for government local-county-state are just TAKERS, PRODUCE NOTHING who PLUNDER OUR TAX MONEY and the dirty little secret unfortunately these pariahs piranha make the majority here. An industry of TAKERS is our downfall which is the only thing DEMOCRATS KNOW HOW TO CREATE. PEOPLE WE ARE DOOMED AS LONG YOU KEEP VOTING FOR THESE LOW LIFES.

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