30-YEAR PORT RAILROAD FRANCHISE PASSES FIRST READING; COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE INCLUDED IN EARLY VOTING SITES

By Juan Montoya
The move to award a 30-year franchise of the Brownsville Rio Grande Railroad owned by the Port of Brownsville to Colorado-based OmniTrax Inc passed at yesterday's port commissioners meeting.

That was the only action item that was posted on the port commissioners' agenda that complied with the 72-hour notice requirement. However, those attending were surprised to learn that yet another item was to be discussed and acted upon which added the Cameron County Elections Office to the list of early voting sites. Since the county is not conducting the elections, that site had been left out of the early voting places.
The supplemental notice was added on the very day the meeting took place and was filed with the county clerk's office at 1:23 p.m. Wednesday. The notice, signed by Port CEO Eddie Campirano states this was an emergency situation.
"An urgent necessity requires posting of this notice under the provisions of (the law) because of a reasonably unforeseen situation," the notice reads.
"The district is holding a joint election with Texas Southmost College, which has designated the (county elections office) as an early voting site on its Order of Election. Information preciously conveyed to the district indicated that early voting would not be held (there).
"Information now available indicates that TSC will hold early voting (there) and that persons who vote in the TSC election...may not be eligible to vote in the (port) election. To navoid possibly disenfranchising any voter, which constitutes an urgent public necessity, and to allow for timely programming of voting equipment before the commencement of early voting, the District is required to consider this action without the standard 72-hour notice."
 The vote by the port commissioners to include the county elections office drew sharp rebukes by supporters of Steve Guerra, who said the change to the early voting sites were made to favor his challenger John Wood,a  former county commissioner and candidate for county judge four years ago against Carlos Cascos. They said that the change was the result of pressure exerted by at least one county commissioner who protested the exclusion of the county site.
"This favors Wood because he expects to get the support of his former employees at the court," said one. "That will just make us work much harder."
When commissioners voted on the original agenda to allow the port to grant the 30-year franchise to OmniTrax, some speakers rose to oppose it as did others who spoke in its favor.
The granting of the franchise has been put on the fast track. The first reading was Wednesday and the second is scheduled for special meetings May 1 and May 8.
Some candidates like Guerra and others like Joe Wallace Garcia and Henry Najera who are running against incumbent Carlos Masso have said that the port should have waited until after the election to consider the item since it commits the port to a 30-year franchise with the private railroad.
And at least one former port board chairman, businessman Mario Villarreal, has said it is a bad deal for the taxpayers. In an ad that will appear in the local newspaper, Villarreal urges the port to consider slowing down the process so that local residents can examine the franchise agreement in detail. His ad, scheduled to appear in the local newspaper, is displayed below. (Click on ad to enlarge)