FORMER CITY PLANNER ROMAN MCALLEN SPEAKS OUT IN MAYOR'S RACE

Roman McAllen, second from left

Mark your calendar for Monday, April 22nd to Tuesday, April 30th and Saturday, May 4, 2019, then go out and cast your vote for Trey Mendez to make a great future a reality for Brownsville.

Trey Mendez has studied the issues, and knows the potential for the City better than his opponents. He has answered the call of public service as a volunteer on the Heritage Council of the City of Brownsville and a publically elected trustee of Texas Southmost College. Brownsville needs a leader who consistently engages with his constituents and in a dialogue with City staff on how to make Brownsville better. He knows the true obstacles the city faces. Brownsville needs a mayor who is a Leader and will be laser focused on results. Only one person has the combination of characteristics to do the job right, right now. Trey Mendez has the clarity of thought, energy and homegrown enthusiasm to make true success for Brownsville a reality.

How do I know? I had the good fortune of working closely with Trey for 4 years from December 2011 to January of 2016. While I worked on downtown revitalization and historic preservation for the City, Trey voluntarily served, along with other distinguished citizens, on the Heritage Council as its chairman. He invested, lived, and worked in historic properties in the center of this great American city.

Outside of strong mayor-council cities, such as Los Angeles and Houston, the job of City Manager is omnipotent and can lead a city to good things, stifle success, or worse. The former City Manager left City Hall under a cloud of suspicion. Why was the Audit Committee disbanded? Those that voted to disband the Committee, as one can imagine, had something to be worried about. Brownsville must hold them all accountable by denying them at the ballot box. Mayor Martinez can be credited with many great things that have happened in Brownsville over the past 8 years and if he had a better City Manager, progress and good decisions would have happened far more frequently. It is unfortunate that some, including the mayor, voted to provide a large, unwarranted raise to the City Manager, rather than recognizing the disadvantage that he put the City in. It is simply time to hand over the baton to the younger generation in Brownsville. Brownsville needs a mayor that can inspire new, capable, honest and thoughtful citizens to come into the fold.

I worked in Brownsville in part to honor my late father, Alfred Barreda McAllen who was born and grew up on Polk Street near downtown Brownsville and in San Benito. Brownsville and its citizens, like citizens in every city in the country, deserve leadership they can trust and that inspires them to get an education, then stand up and serve. Brownsville needs a mayor who will be outspoken and supportive of robust public debate, and ultimately be an advocate for the right decision, every time.

Monday, April 22nd to Tuesday, April 30th and on Saturday, May 4, 2019, voters in Brownsville have the opportunity to vote for the one person that is ready and able to take Brownsville significantly higher. The choice could not be any clearer. I wholeheartedly endorse Trey Mendez for Mayor 2019.