Lincoln Park Will Soon Be Bulldozed If Gowen and Martinez Get Their Way

Two years ago, when the future location of the eastern satellite campus of UT-RGV was still in flux, Tony Martinez tried to use various Brownsville taxpayer assets to entice UTB, then led by Juliet Garcia, to stay "downtown."  At one point Tony's heyboy, Ramiro Gonzalez, was even escorting UTB officials on a guided tour of City Plaza, offering them any premium office space desired.

With this grandiose "generosity," involving assets not his, some local churchgoers see a parallel between the mayor and God's chief adversary, Satan the Devil, who, according to St. Matthew 4:8,9 offered the Lord "all the kingdoms of the world" in exchange for a little worship:  "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."

Satan, I mean Tony, has gone further, offering the ultrarich University of Texas system Brownsville's irreplaceable Lincoln Park to bulldoze the 50 acres of precious assets to make way for a building or two.(If you want to familiarize yourself with the amenities of the park, simply put "Lincoln Park" in the search feature of this blog.)  

Land Owned by University of Texas on
University Boulevard

The University of Texas should be embarrassed to be even considering acceptance of a park utilized by Southmost residents for softball leagues, nature trails, as well as outdoor cooking at family gathering.  No suitable land remains for these amenities to be duplicated for District 1 at any price, yet UT owns a huge amount of acreage just across the interstate on University Boulevard.

Despite the protests from taxpayers last spring, we've learned that the Lincoln Park giveaway will soon find itself on the City Commission agenda.  This will be a real test to see which commissioners will have the courage to oppose Gowen and Martinez and protect taxpayer assets.  We've heard that young Commissioner Debbie Portillo will vote with Gowen and Martinez.  That means Satanas needs only one more vote.