How the City of Brownsville, Cameron County and the Port of Brownsville Have Yielded Control to An Unelected Board of Opportunists to the Detriment of Our Environment and the Future of Our Children

Congressman Filemon Vela Meets with United
Brownsville, Imagina Brownsville

While the Imagine Brownsville Comprehensive Plan, so vigorously pushed by former Brownsville Mayor Eddie Trevino, Jr. at a cost of $900,000 to the taxpayers, sits on the shelf like a dusty vintage comic book, never implemented, now totally obsolete, the inertia created by that publication and the vacuous meetings it recommended have resulted in a dramatic shift in control of public assets.  Out of initial thrust came the United Brownsville Coordinating Board with no initial idea what it would be coordinating.

IBC Bank President Fred Rusteberg

For those connecting the dots, it appears that coordinating board, primarily including Fred Rusteberg, Carlos Marin and Juliet Garcia is now rearing its ugly, carnivorous head with the proposed FIVE liquefied natural gas plants to extend from the Port of Brownsville to the city limits of Port Isabel, destined to spew millions of gallons of hot effluent daily into the Bahia Grande while mercury, hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons would be "dispersed" into our air supply.

It was interesting that mayoral candidate Pat Ahumada, responding to our question about the proposed assortment of liquefied natural gas plants at the Port of Brownsville, stated that "you know the city has no jurisdiction in the Port of Brownsville governance, which is where these proposed plants are to be built."

While the City of Brownsville may have no jurisdiction at the Port of Brownsville, the City Commission yielded in resolution control of a so-called "Bi-ned Zone," including the port, the industrial corridor along FM 511 as well as manufacturing entities across the river to a "Bi-ned Co-ordinating Board" including the City of Harlingen, United Brownsville and Imagina Matamoros.  Here is a resolution relinquishing control, actually ceding control of the industrial corridor to Harlingen and two non-governmental entities that was actually passed by the mayor and city commission:

Consideration and ACTION on Resolution Number 2014-034, in support of the creation of a Bioned(sic) Coordinating Board to be made up by Equal Representation from United Brownsville, Imagina Matamoros, and the City of Harlingen in order to promote and plan the development of the Bi-Ned Zone. (Commissioners D. Portillo/R. Gowen)

This resolution, coupled with Congressman Vela's participation in the Bi-ned Conference held at UTB in 2012 and representation at United Brownsville meetings since, has added credibility to the shadow government, once described by City Attorney Mark Sossi as "informal," not subject to the Public Information Act.  Of course, United Brownsville has always been more than willing to have a young city commissioner serve as an out-of-the-financial loop tri-chair of the coordinating board.  Lol!

Mean Mister Brownsville with Robin McCaffrey, Author
of the $454,000 Industrial Corridor Plan

It was actually the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation that approved a $454,000 study for development of the industrial corridor, then $180,000 more to allow Jacobs Engineering to proceed with Phase 1 of the implementation of the initial plan. While  BEDC Director Jason Hilts insisted that Jacobs Engineering was the only one to bid on the $750,000 plan to implement the $454,000 study, Jacobs Engineering named young Oscar Garcia, Jr., Juliet Garcia's son, with no experience in such things, as Project Manager.  Are you having fun at home connecting the dots?

 While young Oscar Garcia, Jr. left his service on the Brownsville Public Utilities Board to accept the new challenge at Jacob's Engineering, it was not before he and PUB Board member Tony Martinez help seal the purchase of a quarter interest in an 800 megawatt power plant to be built, yes on the FM 511 industrial corridor by the Tenaska Corporation.  Many in Brownsville, as well as the internationally acclaimed Fitch Bond Rating firm viewed that purchase as an extremely poor financial deal, especially when financed by a $350,000,000 burden on the ratepayers.

Of course, no one knew at that time that LNG plants have extraordinary power needs, actually needing their own power plant, to compress natural gas into a liquid, storing it at -44 F under great pressure, so it can economically be shipped to other countries, namely China and Russia.  Connect the dots.

Of course, Rusteberg, Vela, Marin, et al, have a short window of opportunity to cash in.  China and Russia are said to be five years away from their own LNG plants.  By that time the bird estuaries of the Bahia Grande and the atmosphere above Cameron County, Port Isabel and South Padre Island will not be nearly as pristine, but more like Channel View, Houston and Corpus Christi.  Connect the dots.