More Economic Development Hype from the 4/17/14 GBIC Board Meeting

Jason Hilts

Jason Hilt's BEDC Director's report is well worth the price of admission to GBIC's monthly meetings.  Hundreds of jobs at many dollars per hour roll off his tongue at each meeting, so many, that I find myself no longer writing down the numbers.  By now, certainly every Brownsville resident should have at least three high-paying jobs, if even 10% of Hilts' tantalizing projections over the last few years proved true.

At least the old west medicine shows selling Dr. Gillespie's Magic Elixer at a dollar a bottle never visited the same town twice.  

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But, each month, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation Board pencils in a director's report for Hilts, forcing him to revisit his notes, repeat what he said last month and the month before about Finnish foundries, Turkish pipe builders, desalinization plants producing clean water, exporting soda ash, etc.  

Anyway, at the 4/17/14 GBIC Board Meeting, Hilts mentioned a few things he hadn't said before:  Project Sizzle is still on the "back burner."  The Finnish

foundry is now joined by an Italian company, intrigued by producing steel, shipping it to Monterrey, Mexico. Caterpillar is said to be a potential primary customer of the steel produced by the foundry proposed adjacent to the Port of Brownsville.

An unnamed Mexican maquiladora is said to be contemplating a move to Brownsville, based on access to the Port of Brownsville, security and cheaper power.

I'm not exactly a true believer as shown by these observations from a 5/24/13 Mean Mister Brownsville article:
"When Administrator Jason Hilts appears before the GBIC board, his mission is two-fold; tantalize the board with their favorite buzzwords indicating economic growth, increased revenue AND reassure the members that his tireless efforts on the city's behalf justify his six figure income and lavish travel. Hilts is a salesman and those in sales are always aware of the need to "sell themselves."

One company will provide "300 jobs immediately" but eventually need 600 full-time employees. Another firm will add "1300 jobs over 8 years." "100 machinists at $20,00 per hour" has a nice ring in this impoverished community. While the company's name may be somewhat obscure, we all learn the particulars, however overstated. Just to illustrate, think SpaceX. Even young Debbie Portillo is repeating the line "1000 jobs at a minimum of $55,000" although Elon Musk says nothing close to that in official company projections.

Ruben Gallegos took the bait, or was perhaps cleverly setting up his friend Hilts with: "That's a lot of work, Jason."

Hilts responded: "Yes, it's a lot of hard work." What Hilts had been describing and Gallegos lauded was the process of finding 75 appropriate acres for the Finnish foundry. "We had a perfect site until we found that the electrical service would not be P.U.B." When someone whispered "Magic Valley," Hilts nodded. Another site, near the port, thought also to be "perfect" was found to historically have been a landfill, not the proper ground to take the weight and constant pounding of a foundry. The picture is painted that Hilts is carefully protecting all our interests, maneuvering things so that a $200,000,000 company becomes part of the Brownsville tax base and spends its megawatt energy dollars with P.U.B. Yes, Hilts is selling Hilts."

One Minute Question & Answer with Yolanda Begum~Part 4

One Minute Question & Answer with Yolanda Begum~Part I

One Minute Question & Answer with Yolanda Begum~Part II

One Minute Question & Answer with Yolanda Begum~Part III

Project Behave~Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation Offers $750,000 Incentive to Attract New Psych Ward

BEDC Director Jason Hilts

Included in his report regarding "economic development, expansion and growth, BEDC Director Jason Hilts gave a rapidfire synopsis of projects "in the works."

Project Behave is the cutesy name given to an incentives program to lure a $11.5 to 13 million psychiatric hospital to Brownsville.  The project, if it comes to fruition, would bring 225 jobs to Brownsville paying $18-22 dollars per hour plus benefits.  Harlingen is our main competitor as McAllen/Edinburg already has such a facility.

Hilts explained that the Brownsville area currently has only 37 psych beds available, that 3 Brownsville Police Department employees are currently dedicated to transferring prisoners to and from facilities in Hidalgo County. 

The BEDC is recommending the GBIC approve Project Behave, giving the hospital $150,000 per year for 5 years, provided they stay at least 6 years.  A commitment of fewer than 6 years results in a pro-rated callback on the investment.  The total contract is for 10 years, approved Thursday evening by the GBIC.  The incentives are based on a 92 bed unit being built.  Should the firm opt for a 72 bed unit, the incentives drop to $135,000 per year for 5 years.

Hilts stated that the vacant Doctor's Hospital was mentioned as an option, but with no interest from the prospect.

U.S.S. Forrestal

All-Star Metals, a ship-breaking company located at the Port of Brownsville was given $400,000 to provide 400 jobs in salvaging the U.S.S. Forrestal. The jobs must be held for 10 years to earn the incentive, $100 per year for every job created.

Brownsville Metro's Downtown Parking Garage Stuck in Concrete

Sign(now torn down) Announcing Downtown Parking Garage

In this sometimes frugal city, signs are typically updated, not discarded.  The "$3.99 Lunch Special" is blacked out, repainted, reincarnated as the "$4.99 Lunch Special."

Sylvia Garza-Perez had her Cameron County "Judge" signs cleverly covered with "Clerk."(A septuagenarian candidate was even accused of using his high school graduation picture on his campaign sign.)  Penny-pinching candidates all over town cover "10" with "12," then "14," demonstrating how careful they will be with taxpayer money.

The sign in the picture above did not get the typical Brownsville "upgrade," but when the "completion date" of the "Fall of 2013" failed to materialize, the sign was simply uprooted.  

Brownsville Metro's top two officers, Director Norma Zamora and Assistant Director Andrew Munoz, appeared before the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation 4/17/14 to ask for a repayment "extension," on monies already advanced.  

In a move of sheer protocol, Director Zamora came merely to give Assistant Director Munoz a 15 second introduction.  Munoz, it seems, is the detail man on Brownsville Metro's (Planned) Downtown Parking Garage.

Munoz covered very familiar ground in describing the work by P.U.B. to electrify the garage.  We heard eighteen months ago about the high cost involved in going underground from International to E. 14th Street.  

This was the first time Munoz mentioned a "soil sample," not saying whether it was taken in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 or 2014.  Anyway, the soil sample reveals that the concept's original plans calling for 50 piers, 50 foot deep, is inadequate.  The soil sample mandates 160 auger piers, 85 foot deep.  The additional concrete alone adds $650,000 to the project.  

Brownsville Metro received a one year "deferment"(remember that word, Vietnam era guys?), but no money.  They will ask the City of Brownsville for $650,000 in matching funds to complete the project.

Historic Marker of the Battle of Palmito Hill Delays Launch of Boca Chica SpaceX

Historical Marker of the Battle of Palmito Hill
Placed along Highway 4 near Boca Chica Beach

SpaceX may already be creating jobs for Cameron County. According to BEDC Director Jason Hilts, some within the Department of Interior worried that a commercial launch site at Boca Chica might break the atmosphere of tourists stopping at the historic marker on the south side of Highway 4 commemorating the Battle of Palmito Hill, the last known battle of the Civil War, fought May 12, 13 1865.  

The Department of Interior  estimated that 1,000 people per year stop at the historic marker to contemplate history.(Was the Department of Interior confusing 1,000 annual historical tourists with the "1,000" who ride the Battlefield Hike & Bike Trail daily into the City of Brownsville or just guesstimating?  

Operatives of Elon Musk, still waiting on the results of an environmental impact study that could open the door to Boca Chica SpaceX, paid workers to sit in shifts, counting how many stopped at the historic marker in the course of a day.  These workers, if Brownsville residents, may be the first gainfully employed by the space transport guru, though likely not at the $55,000 plus per year Gilbert Salinas of the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation predicted SpaceX would eventually employ "500" annually.   

BEDC Director Jason Hilts

Hilts reported at the 4/17/14 meeting of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, that the Musk-funded study showed that, on average, two cars stopped daily at the Battle of Palmito Hill Historical Marker on the south side of Texas State Highway 4, halfway between the Border Patrol checkpoint and the beach.  In only one of two cars, the study found, did a passenger get out of the car to read the historic plaque. Half the time, the car's passengers merely stopped to take a break without leaving their vehicle.  Hilts hopes the results of the study will contribute to a favorable ruling by the FAA and the Department of the Interior on the commercial launching pad.

Asked for more specifics after the GBIC meeting, Hilts stated that the commericial launch at Boca Chica would have only a "15 hour window," starting with the rocket "laying flat," unlike Cape Canaveral, where the rocket is already upright in the launch pad

SpaceX Launch

well before the launch."  Hilts was a bit bemused that the State of Texas would block launches on holidays like July 4 and Labor Day:  "Those would have been great days to observe launches," he stated.  

When asked if citizens would be prevented from accessing Highway 4 beyond the Border Patrol checkpoint on launch days, Hilts agreed:  "That would be the logical stopping point."

Our Visit With Alex Dominguez, Candidate for County Commissioner, Precinct 2, At Antonio's

Alex Dominguez

The 2014 Cameron County elections are already historic, regardless of what happens from this point.  The voters have finally rejected the indicted Ernie Hernandez, Jr., after he's used Brownsville and Cameron County as his personal ATM machine for 25 years.  His daughter Erin, the apple not falling far from Ernie's tree, has also received her pink slip from the sleepy, but not comatose, voters.

Now, who will replace Ernie?  After we published the impressions of our interview with Leo Lopez, Candidate for County Commissioner, Precinct 2, we received a call from Zeke Silva, Campaign Manager for Alex Dominguez, the primary's top vote getter in that race.  Nena and I met with Alex and Zeke at Antonio's on Paredes Line Road.  

One of nine children in a migrant farm family, Alex Dominguez became a valley resident at the age of five, when his mother insisted the children not miss school.  His father took a job supervising a Santa Rosa sugar field.  He's proud of his family's work ethic, how his brothers and sisters cared for a special needs' sibling, the fact that six of the siblings became teachers.  

When I mentioned that Rice University, where Alex received a BA in Political Science after transferring from Southwest Texas State, is not the easiest of schools, he replied:  "True, I'm not sure I could even get in now as they require a near perfect S.A.T."  Dominguez received his law degree from Arizona State.

Our discussion shifted to Precinct 2 and the county as a whole.  "The county could really benefit from a grants writing department similar to the city's," offered Dominguez.  

As to Cameron Park's future, Dominguez feels those residents have "earned the right to decide that for themselves."  He's not certain they would even prefer annexation by Brownsville at this point, perhaps even consider becoming their own "municipality."  He admires their community leaders, like Gloria Moreno, and the fact that they vote with a higher percentage of registered voters than the city.  He cites "loose dogs, trash pickup, lighting" as among that area's primary concerns.

He wants the county to take the lead in developing the industrial corridor.  He doesn't see United Brownsville so much as a scam, but aggressive businessmen making certain their companies get a piece of the action.  

He would not hesitate to approach developers to handle their responsibilities with regard to infrastructure, flood control, etc. Dominguez feels his public speaking skills in English or Spanish give him an edge in representing the county's interests by courting new business in Mexico or seeking consensus within the Commissioner's Court.  

While there's nothing wrong with someone entering politics immediately after law school, that's not the situation with the 42 year old Dominguez.  His twenty-year work history includes legal assistant, four years as a teacher, stints at a Prosecuting Attorney's office, the Cameron County District Attorney's Office(not under Villalobos), and over nine years as a lawyer, focusing on "civil, criminal defense and pro bono cases."  His practice, currently with 150 annual clients, would be greatly reduced to serve as Precinct 2 Commissioner.  

Dominguez cites "truancy" and Brownsville's high school dropout rate as critical, sees a need for the county to develop the area along Highway 4 to Boca Chica, not simply wait on SpaceX.  If Elon Musk does decide to locate near Boca Chica, Dominguez states "we don't have potential employees with the skills required for those jobs."  He says our educational institutions will have to react quickly with training for the job demand that enterprise would create.

Nena wants me to add that she found Alex "easygoing, approachable, not only able to express his opinion, but interested in ours."




  

Was That Commissioner Portillo Giving Mayor Martinez "Back-Talk" At Tuesday's City Commission Meeting?

Commissioner Debbie Portillo

It seemed like a watershed moment, similar, but maybe not reaching the stature of Rosa Park's refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man in 1955, but, at least in the same spirit.  

Newbie City Commissioner Debbie Portillo had introduced Agenda Item #18: 

 Consideration and ACTION to acknowledge the list of City properties that could possibly be placed on the City's seller list. (Commissioners D. Portillo and J. Villarreal)

The only property mentioned was El Cueto Building, leased to UTB for three years at $30,000 per year, although we've been told that not a penny of the lease has been paid.(I've sent a Public Information Request to the City of Brownsville for the complete list.)

Mayor Tony Martinez

No sooner had agenda 18 been read by City Secretary Estela Von Hatten, Tony Martinez called for a motion to table since he'd been out of town and not had time to examine the agenda item.(Actually, in town or not, Tony likely receives the agenda via email on Fridays, just as I do.) Tony expressed concern that the "lessee," UTB, might misunderstand the decision to list the building, calling the lease a "less." to the chagrin of onlookers.  He was obviously flustered with the agenda item.  

When Portillo stated that she did not want inaction for "two months" on the agenda item, Mayor Tony started trying to talk over her.  For a minute, both Portillo and Martinez talked at the same time, but not in harmony.  Tony eventually got the item tabled, but not with the typical mindless rubberstamp by the City Commission.

This past January 27th, Portillo had joined John Villarreal in presenting an agenda item designed to curb Mayor Martinez dipping into the AEP Texas Settlement fund for his own pet projects: 

12. Consideration and ACTION to acknowledge the expenditures paid from the AEP lawsuit settlement proceeds and to approve an expenditure budget from the remaining proceeds.(Commissioners J. Villarreal/D. Portillo)

Tony had already spend $400,000 of the $3,060,000 utility refund before the commissioners moved in to protect the fund.  

If Ms. Portillo's current conduct continues, Brownsville citizens may find something they've not had on the City Commission for a long, long time; a voice.

The Handicapped May Have Full Access to City Departments "Within a Week"

Workmen Lowering New Hydraulic Jack in Elevator

Workmen from Rio Elevator were busy lowering a new hydraulic jack into a PVC sleeve or "sock" Monday at El Tapiz Building.  

"Maybe as much as one and a half weeks, but likely within the week," Rio Elevator's foreman estimated, when asked when the project would be completed.  

This is the second time within two years this exact repair has been made at El Tapiz.  Elevators in both the U.S. and Europe frequently operate for decades without needing hydraulic jack replacement.  

Sign Posted at El Tapiz Elevator for 8 Months

Our visit with Rio Elevator Supervisor James last February revealed why the relatively new hydraulic jack became totally corroded and worthless in less than two years:

"The hydraulic jack was placed in a PVC sleeve, but, without a cap, it was set in mud. In a short time, the thing was completely corroded," stated James.

When asked how his company will prevent a repeat of the previous short-lived hydraulic jack repair, James stated: "We will put a PVC cap underneath the sleeve to prevent contact corrosion."

James did not know why the City of Brownsville did not require the previous contractor to make good on the poor workmanship or even if the job was guaranteed.

Compliance with the 1990 American Disabilities Act is at issue for the City of Brownsville.  For the better part of a year, disabled citizens have had no physical access to the Brownsville's Planning, Fire Department Administration and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.(Recent meetings of the MPO have been held at Brownsville Metro and, last Saturday, at the Southmost Community Room, adjacent to the Brownsville Police Department Southmost Substation.)

While a rugged, concrete service stairs is available for the able-bodied, the city implemented a plan for the disabled recently to give them another option.  A phone was set up in the lobby for those "unable to walk up the stairs," with the promise that someone would come down to the lobby to "meet with them."

Hot Tar Delivered to Roof, 4/14/14

Meanwhile, Arco Construction has been working on the building's roof and exterior.  Here is this excerpt from a February MMB article:  

"We spoke with Jorge, a supervisor with Arrco Construction, the winning contractor on El Tapiz Building roof repair. 

Jorge stated that his company had received the $122,500 contract from the City of Brownsville to "remove the metal window bars, repair the cracks in the roof's parapet railing and give the roof a composite coating" with a three inch insulation underlay.

The repair's anticipated completion date is within 75 days."

El Tapiz Receiving Necessary Repairs

These two projects are necessary and beneficial to taxpayers needing city services, in contrast to the foolish purchases of speculative real estate approved by the City Commission the last two years.  

Bike Trails in My Old Home Town

Let me clarify.  I'm not against bike trails.  Build them if you think that's Brownsville's top priority.  But, we do not need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on studies, cycling seminars, artificially pumping up CycloBia.  Just build them.

The City of Brownsville has a history of wasting money on studies. $900,000 on Imagine Brownsville; never implemented.  $70,000 on Downtown Revitalization; nothing to show for it.  $454,000 on an industrial corridor plan;  may or may not come to fruition.  I understand we may be paying for a comprehensive bike trail plan soon.  With all of the above monies coupled with grants, we could have bike trails in every part of town.

Anyway, I Googled my old neck of the woods and "bike trails." Yes, the roads in Western Washington are typically wet.

Will the City of Brownsville Now Try to SELL Some of the Speculative Real Estate Purchased in the Last Two Years? Also, The Traveling Man

This agenda item for the April 15 City Commission meeting caught our attention, placed on the agenda by Commissioners Portillo and Villarreal:

Commissioner Debbie Portillo

ACTION ITEMS:
18. Consideration and ACTION to acknowledge the list of City properties that could possibly be placed on the City's seller list. (Commissioners D. Portillo and J. Villarreal)

Could it actually be that the city, after acquiring property after property for the last two years will now try

Commissioner John Villarreal

to sell some of these unwise, unnecessary acquisitions?

Among the properties purchased without a hint of justification or even explanation to the taxpayers:  A brick building and warehouse at 1700 Ringgold St. for $100,000, 611 and 615 E. 11th for $41,000 and $42,000(later Tony tapped into the AEP Texas Settlement Fund to buy 609 E. 11th for $42,000), the Mother of Perpetual Help Home at 519 E. Madison for $195,101(now used for bicycle storage), the Old National Guard Armory at 344 Porter Drive for $431,200, the San Fernando Building at 1100 E. Adams St. for $315,000(rumored to have been made available to an architectural firm working on a network of bicycle trails), and, of course La Casa del Nylon for $2,300,000.

Health Director Arturo Rodriguez, the "Traveling Man"

Health Director Arturo Rodriguez

In a recent story we stated that Arturo Rodriguez "must have must have an extraordinarily light work load as City Health Director," because he seems to always be on the go for training, seminars and conferences.  When is he in his office?

Just during March Arturo was out of town in seminars two full weeks, half the month, at the Texas Trails & Active Transportation Conference and the Active Living Conference.  Not only was Arturo out of the office, unavailable to Brownsville citizens, he socked it to the taxpayers on airfare, hotel accommodations and a whopping $71 per diem meal allowance.  Rodriguez charged us $1,439 for the TTAT and $2,623 for the ALC.  He also took Judy Hernandez, Wellness Coordinator, to the ALC.  Judy also asked the city for $2,623, meaning the taxpayers spent $6,685 in March for Health Department Travel.  

Both conferences offered at least some meals, a "networking" lunch here, dinner, continental breakfasts.  The Active Living Conference, in keeping with its theme, had scheduled physical activity.  Wellness Coordinator Judy Hernandez chose walking, zumba and beech volleyball as her activities.  Health Director Rodriguez wrote on that line:  "No thanks.  I'll exercize on my own."