COUNTY GIVES FREEBIE TO FIL JR., THE FREELOADER; BALKS PAYING CITY, SEEKING FREE COUNTY SPACE IN BROWNTOWN

By Juan Montoya
When the furor erupted over Mayor Tony Martinez trying to provide newly-elected U.S. congressman Fil Vela Jr. with free office space ($1 a year), no one noticed that a similar item was placed in the Cameron County Commissioners Court agenda.
And if the $1-a-year freebie for Fil raised the hackles of city watchdogs, the rental rates in the county contract given to Darling Fil will most certainly inspire their ire. On December 28, County Judge Carlos Cascos did the bidding of the majority of the commission and signed off on a two-year agreement between the county and the congressman to rent 500 square feet of space at the Joe Rivera and Aurora De la Garza Annex Building in San Benito for zero dollars.
That's right, for nothing.
The freebie will include two assigned parking spaces to Fil and staff and his office will have access to another 60 spaces that are unassigned.
Now, we are sure that the county commission – four Democrats and Cascos the lone Republican – undoubtedly think that having the congressman's office in a county building will give them unfettered access to the U.S. Congress. But as we have seen, Blake Farenthold rented the same building from Bill Hudson out on Ruben Torres Road and proved to be hugely accessible through his staff under the leadership of Texas Southmost College trustee Adela Garza, his district's southern area manager.
And now we have learned from sources close to the commissioners in the county that they are looking for office space in the Oscar Dancy county building to give Fil a presence in Brownsville after he balked at paying the $1.40 per square foot deemed market value by the city commission. If you can get it for free from the county, why pay the city, right?
We have been told time and time again by the Chamber of Commerce and eco development gurus that one outside dollar is converted to seven through the multiplier effect. So the $2,000 or so that Farenthold (and Solomon Ortiz before him) spent on rent and utilities was multiplied by seven when it entered the local economy.
We don't know how much Fil was negotiating  to rent space from the city at the Municipal Court on Levee Street. The last we heard, his representatives and the city were haggling over the price. Now that they hear that the county has given it up for free, will that give the congressman an upper hand in the bargaining? Well, apparently, Fil will scorn the city's offer and take the freebie from the county instead.
There is no mention of utilities, communication facilities (Wii, Internet, cable television, etc.) in the county agreement for the offices in San Benito. In fact, it appears that Fil will be a free boarder (loader) for the duration of the agreement. He will probably work out the same agreement at the Dance Building.
Now, we understand that Vela Jr. carried the county with 50,111 votes compared to the combined 25,030 that Republican Jessica Bradshaw and Libertarian Ziggy Shanklin drew last November. However, does that mean that those 25,000 people must now not only pay his salary and the costs of his office but must also provide the congressman with free digs which will allow him to divert those funds earmarked for rental of district offices for his personal use as a kind of slush fund?
When they elected Fil, the voters filled the ballot with the expectations that he would be doing something for them, not the other way around. At this rate, expect the Vela name to be plastered every public building and warehouse that hasn't been named yet. He will have his cake and eat it, too, by the mere virtue of his daddy and mommy's coattails.