DISCRETIONARY FUNDS, THE CARROT MPO MERGER ADVOCATES DANGLE IN FRONT OF BROWNSVILLE

From the editor:  This article is a continuation of our reporting on Tuesday evening's City Commission Workshop on the proposed merger of the three RGV Metropolitan Planning Organizations.  

Only three city commissioners were present: Rose Gowen, Rick Longoria and Joe Munguia.  Commissioners Neece, Tetreau-Kalifa and De Leon were absent.  Mayor Tony Martinez was present.

Ruben O'Bell

Ruben O'Bell, Chief of Staff for Representative Eddie Lucio III, 
walked my way, with a finger on his cell phone.

"What is your email?" he asked.

"I'm sending you a white paper on the proposed merger of the three RGV MPOs. 

Later, O'Bell explained:  "Discretionary funding is the big opportunity here, the money for special projects.  It's only to the largest MPOs."

When I asked Ruben how much money was available from discretionary funds, he deferred to former County Judge Pete Sepulveda, also the Executive Director of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority. 

"Pete, how much money is available for discretionary funding?" O'Bell asked.

Pete Sepulveda

"Oh, billions.  Two special projects were recently approved, one for $300 million, another for about a billion," responded Pete.

So, while there are 12 funding categories available to fund projects for individual MPOs, I'm told that most increases in funding are modest.  The real prize, the proverbial dangled carrot that encourages the formation of a much larger merged MPO is that discretionary funds are dispersed only to the big boys.

The white paper I received from O'Bell was a bit dated, published in 2014, but it contained similar figures to what was presented in the workshop, indicating that if all all three RGV MPOs merge, the unified RGV MPO now vaults into 5th place in size of Texas MPOs, jumping ahead of El Paso.

Also discussed at the workshop was the various "models" used to merge smaller MPOs into one unified MPO, principly two concepts, the "Florida model" and the "Dallas-Fort Worth model."

When Pedro Alvarez, the pro-merger narrator for the workshop, a member of TxDot, Pharr District, stated that the various models for merging MPOs had been thoroughly presented, Eddy Hernandez raised his hand.

Eddie Hernandez

"I've been on the Brownsville MPO Policy Board for 15 years.  We've heard no presentations about what type of model a merger would follow.  I feel like I'm voting on a pre-nup without reading it first," stated Hernandez.

Bullet pointer Alvarez responded by say that just last month the Harlingen MPO heard a presentation about the various "models" for merging MPOs.  

Later, Alvarez admitted that while the Florida and DFW models were the only ones under consideration, Governor Abbott had already nixed the Florida model.  So there.  Approval from the governor is required for any merger to actually take place.

FIVE STEPS NECESSARY FOR MERGER OF THREE RGV MPOs

1.  The three MPOs need to agree to joint discussions on logistics of possible merger

2.  TxDot must be involved in the committee/working group since it is a TxDot venture.

3.  MPOs need to jointly determine the proposed governance and funding distributed.  Historical funding distributions to individual MPOs could be retained as part of a merger agreement.

4.  All three MPOs are required to pass by a 75% vote whether to approve a merger.

5.  The governor approves the merger.

While the lure of possible discretionary funding is strong, an objective look at the project map shows work projects strongly favor the upper valley over Brownsville.

The stretch of toll road bypassing Pharr, McAllen, Edinburg, already costing $150 million is now stopped by Texas legislation forbidding more toll road projects currently.

Yet, a similar project, much needed for Brownsville, the proposed East Loop Freeway, is not even included in the MPO ten year plan.

The East Loop project, much needed in Brownsville and proposed 25 years ago, needs to be guaranteed before any merger of RGV MPOs occurs.