IT'S WELL PAST TIME TO REPLACE THE UNRELIABLE GBIC BOARD!

Our incoming mayor's first priority may be to fix the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, the entity charged with oversight of the dispersal of $5 million sales tax monies annually on economic development projects.

While recent meetings have make quorum at the last instant or a few minutes past the scheduled start, Friday's meeting had to be cancelled because, besides the chairman, NO BOARD MEMBER SHOWED UP!

As per usual, all the salaried people were there; GBIC Director Mario Lozoya, City Attorney Rene De Coss, Lupe Granado, Ramiro Aleman, Janie Velasquez, easily over $1 million in annual salary, on the clock, wasting their time.(Rene De Coss told me he'd just flown in from San Antonio to make the meeting, only to find the board members lacked the courtesy and commitment even to show up.)


GBIC Board Chair, Esteban Guerra, sitting all my his lonesome, didn't get my wisecrack about being the Maytag repairman, but Pat Hobbs with the Texas Workforce, like me, an older guy, laughed.

Today's absent board members:

Pedro Cardenas, Vice Chair, makes about half the meetings.

Commissioner Jessica Tetreau, board member, chronically absent

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, Jr, board member, typically present

Former Commissioner Cesar de Leon, resigned from the board, but never replaced by the unconcerned City Commission

It's the work of the City Commission to populate these city boards, none more critical than the GBIC.  It's been more than obvious for months that GBIC needs new blood, responsible citizens with actual business and financial experience, preferably not City Commisioners.