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| Ramiro Gonzalez caricature |
It was fitting longtime city planner Ramiro Gonzalez would fall on his sword, resigning from his presumptuously titled final position with the city, Director of Government and Community Affairs.
So many times during his tenure with the city had Ramiro unabashedly promoted the whims of City Commissioner Rose Gowen and former Mayor Tony Martinez using misreprentation that he'd become sort of a cartoonish character as represented above by my late wife's caricature of him.
For example, in order to promote an extension of one of Rose Gowen's bicycle trail projects, Ramiro, once signed a grant application claiming that "1,000 riders daily used the Battlefield Bike Trail."
That was simply untrue then and remains untrue today as only a trickling of riders and walkers are ever observed on the trail.
As we reported in 2016:
Incidentally, I recently spent four hours at the Filemon Vila Federal Court House at 600 E. Harrison, reporting for potential jury duty.
Two hours were spent in the lobby on the 3rd floor, waiting to be called by lawyers in an illegal gun purchasing case.
For most of those two hours I stared out the window down into the mouth of the Old Battlefield Hike & Bike Trail.
Despite the fact that the City of Brownsville claimed that in a grant application to extend the trail through downtown Brownsville that the trail experienced over "1,000 riders daily," I did not see a single rider.
When I heard a report that the city was planning on removing the parking spaces on one side of East Adams Street downtown to accommodate a bike lane, I approached Ramiro, who assured me that wasn't happening.
"No, we're not doing anything like that on Adams Street," he told me.
Yet, when I obtained the city's plan for the hike and bike trail it showed that, not only did the city have plans to remove half the meters on Adams, but to reduce it to one lane, making it a one-way street, all to accommodate cyclists.
That's how it always seemed to go with Ramiro; promoting "the plan" without shame.
Then, there was the proposed tripling of parking meter rates downtown.
Ramiro, touting a book he'd read, "The High Cost of Free Parking," claimed the cheap parking was clogging our downtown, making it difficult for shoppers to get to the retail stores.
Standing in front of the city commission audience, Gonzalez talked about parking rates in New York, Chicago, Austin and San Antonio to justify tripling Brownsville's rates.
As we reported in 2014:
When Commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa noted that Gonzalez' comparison parking fees included New York, Chicago, Austin and San Antonio, she innocently asked if he had any comparisons from the "valley."
Gonzalez deftly responded that McAllen was at 75 cents, not mentioning Weslaco, Harlingen, Donna, Pharr or La Feria.
"But, how much is Harlingen charging for parking?" asked Tetreau "innocently."
"Oh, uh, I don't know how much Harlingen charges. I think 50 cents," responded Gonzalez, his nose growing noticeably longer.
Get this. Ramiro Gonzalez can rattle off the parking rates of New York, Chicago, Austin, San Antonio and Houston, but has no idea how much Harlingen charges. How convenient and what an obvious lie.
Harlingen back then had free parking downtown and still does.
Eventually, the city decided to merely double, not triple parking rates, cap the revenues at $350,000 annually with the balance going to a "Downtown Revitalization Fund."
That fund never materialized.
When Mayor Martinez decided he needed a downtown mayoral office, Ramiro went to work.
A building at 1101-A East Washington was leased for $500 per month. A $7,247 interactive video screen was ordered and $3,501.91 was spent on materials with city crews doing the repair work.
Yet, when we reported that Mayor Martinez had NEVER ONCE used the office he so desperately had to have, the powers that be decided it would now be Ramiro's office for promoting downtown revitalization, becoming the Downtown Revitalization Information Center.
When several months later I asked Ramiro if he'd ever actually used the office, he hemmed and hawed, finally admitting "maybe two or three times."
What a trooper that Ramiro!
Jim, go out on the trail around 5:30 - 7 pm over by the events center and tell me how many people you see...you'll be surprised.
ReplyDeleteIf you build it, they will come.
Ana and I have an apartment right on the Belten Trail and park our vehicle just a few feet away. There is very little traffic during the day, but a few, mostly walkers, in the evening. I don't oppose bike trails and admit there are certainly some users in our community.
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