"DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN"~ANOTHER FRICKEN PLAN FOR THE GBIC

The Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, frequently called locally by its acronym, the GBIC, should never be left alone without a babysitter.

Carlos Marin, whose company
Ambiotec pocketed the $900,000
for the United Brownsville plan

Entrusted with skillfully using 4A funds, actually 1/4 cent of every taxable dollar spent in Brownsville, approximately $5,000,000 annually, to promote economic development, the GBIC has time and time again proven itself gullible, easily conned, a baby with candy there for the taking, inexperienced and irresponsible, ripe for the taking by every snake oil salesman from Big D or the Capitol.  

Notice just a few of the cons financed in whole or in part by the GBIC in recent years.

2009:  $900,000 for the Imagine Brownsville Comprehensive Plan
2013:  $454,592 for the Greater Brownsville Infrastructure and Development Plan
2014: $750,000 to Jacobs Engineering to "implement" the above infrastructure plan(partially funded)

Robin McCaffrey of McCaffrey,
Needham and Associates, trying
to explain the $454,000
infrastructure plan in 2013

What did Brownsville taxpayers receive for funding these ludicrous plans?  Absolutely nothing.  "Nought, nil, nada, nothing, zero, zilch and zip."

So, imagine my surprise walking into Thursday's GBIC meeting to hear yet another plan "presentation by TIP Strategies and McDaniel Strategy Ecosystems pertaining to the GBIC strategic planning process."

The plan was unveiled, somewhat clumsily on the big screen, with power point platitudes.  As we got to pages 3 and 4, it was obvious the plan was not even for Brownsville, but for Fort Worth.(The two firms had sold a similar bill of goods to Fort Worth and had never even tailored the plan to Brownsville.)

Finishing their presentation, the firm's threesome quickly exited through the city commission chamber doors, but I followed them out into the hall.

"Has GBIC already paid for this plan or is this just a presentation?" I asked.

"We've been paid," admitted one of the three.

"How much?" I asked.

"$120,000," was the response.

Mary Helen Flores of CAVA, who'd accompanied me to the meeting, then asked:  "Do you guys know this plan wasn't even for Brownsville?  It's for Fort Worth."

"Yeah.  Sorry about that. We're going to change that."

Back in chambers, despite a quorum of 3, acting chairman Cesar De Leon called for a tabling of agenda items 7-15 until "all 5 of us are here."  Missing from Thursday's meeting were board members Jessica Tetreau and John Cowen.

Mario Losoya

Mario Losoya, the GBIC's new adminstrator at an annual salary reportedly nearing $250,000, gave the "Administrator's Report," but his volume was so low we could only make out something about Brownsville not having enough skilled workers.(Losoya was kind enough to stand for the picture on the left.)