Mayor Martinez Views SpaceX as his Legacy~Wrong, Tony! It's La Casa del Nylon

It's no coincidence that the City of Brownsville's Channel 12 keeps replaying a Tony Martinez speech with a Space Exploration Technologies backdrop. Seemingly, Martinez wants to ride a crest of public appreciation for luring Elon Musk and Spacex into a second term as mayor.

A local political operative disagrees: "Actually, Tony had almost nothing to due with Spacex selecting Boca Chica beach as a location for a commercial launch facility. Primarily, latitude played the major role in the Boca Chica selection as well as the lack of development and remoteness. The monetary incentives from the State of Texas played a major role added to local incentives. Martinez was nothing more than a cheerleader, taking jaunts at taxpayer expense to visit launches, but not a real player in negotiations."

Commissioner Tetreau with
Future Astronaut

The political observer added, with a chuckle: "In all honesty I think Commissioner Tetreau, among local politicians, may have been more influential than Martinez, pictured with her son in astronaut uniform.  Not saying she had a big role, but likely more than Martinez in influence."

No, Tony's legacy will not be Spacex as he is a mere footnote in Musk selecting this area for his government-subsidized venture.  

The Martinez Legacy~La Casa del Nylon

What locals will associate with Tony Martinez are his foolish real estate purchases with taxpayer money, the crown jewel of which is La Casa del Nylon at 1305 Adams Street, purchased for triple its value at $2,300,000 from his friend Abraham Galonsky, with an assist from his law partner Horacio Barrera.  The building, of no actual use to the city, sits idle two years after its purchase, decaying.

While many Brownsville taxpayers shake their heads at Tony's foolhardy moves, many do not realize his motivation since he never felt the need to engage the public on any of his moves.  The truth, it seems, was that Mayor Tony was in full panic mode to keep whatever form of an eastern satellite campus the University of Texas selected, it would remain in Brownsville.  

Mayor Martinez acted in ignorance as the  University of Texas had absolutely no interest in any of the dozen third tier buildings the mayor purchased downtown with taxpayer dollars.  It was as if Tony had gone to Las Vegas and dumped $3.5 million in Brownsville's money on the craps tables.

A frequently expressed fear among Brownsville residents is that no suitable alternative to Tony Martinez will run for mayor in 2015.  Some guesstimate that Martinez spent nearly $100,000 in 2011 to flood Brownsville with a sea of blue "Believe in Brownsville" signs.