Can Ben Neece Turn Downtown Brownsville Around?

Judge Ben Neece

Make no mistake. Commissioner John Villarreal is a very nice young man from a great family.  Nothing in his six years of service in District 4 indicates otherwise.  As you may recall, John's first run for office in 2011 was to complete the term of Ed Camarillo, who stepped down to run for mayor. Villarreal subsequently won a full four year term in 2013, which he will soon complete.

While District 4 extends into West Brownsville, it also includes the majority of the downtown historical district, which is in obvious decay. Building after building in downtown stands without a tenant, simply decaying.

The typical complaint heard is that downtown property owners do not do the necessary maintenance, but, without renters, can you blame them?  Some sort of incentive, through tax abatements to those who use monies to make needed improvements has to be initiated. Something like that was done with building facades, etc., but the program was too limited in scope.

The Brownsville Preservation Society keeps saying that renovated historical buildings can be an "economic driver" to the City of Brownsville, just as they've been to New Orleans and San Antonio.

The prime mover downtown has been the City of Brownsville itself, renovating the Mother of Perpetual Hope nursing facility into the Brownsville Community Resource Center, after purchasing the building in 2012 for $195,101.  

A HUD grant, re-purposed, is enabling the renovation of the old Stegman Building as the Brownsville Performing Arts Academy on 11th Street.

Judge Ben Neece, former owner of the Crescent Moon, a live music venue, is retiring as municipal judge at the end of the year and plans to run against John Villarreal in District 4.

Perhaps Neece should be given an opportunity to use his skill set to vitalize downtown.