PORT RAILROAD FRANCHISE TO BROE GROUP ON FAST TRACK

By Juan Montoya
Don't look now, but the plan by the current trustees of the Brownsville Navigation District and the Brownsville Rio Grande International Railroad to grant a  franchise of the railroad to the Colorado-based Broe Group through its OmniTrax corporation has been put on the fast track.
On Wednesday, April 9, the port commissioners authorized CEO Eddie Campirano to publish a notice of the possible granting of the franchise to OmniTrax for the railroad and development of other port properties.
And tomorrow – exactly a week later – OmniTrax will make a presentation on its proposal to the members of the BRG board of directors.
The meeting will be held at noon Wednesday at the main offices of the IBC Bank on Ruben Torres Blvd.
Railroad CEO Norma Torres at first denied that the Broe Group had approached the board with any proposal, but a few days later, she recalled that its representatives had indeed addressed the board with a presentation of the company.
However, she said that the information given them was just a general introduction to their firm.
And when we approached Port administrator Debbie Duke, she said that the BND board had not known about the Broe Group or had been approached at all.
Now, less than a month before the port board elections, the move is on by the current board to quickly approve the franchise with OmniTrax.
And the port's meeting agenda for Wednesday at 6 p.m., the company will also bring its dog-and-pony show to tell those board members about its plans for the railroad and the development of an industrial park.

And to demonstrate just how fast these boys are moving to get their hands on the railroad before new commissioners arrive is the item (#6) on the agenda setting special meetings for April 23, May 1 and May 8 to finalize the deal.

That is just two days before the May 10 board elections. After that, it doesn't matter who comes on board because it will have been a done deal.
Interestingly, Item #7 deals with amending the notice of election-day polling places to include the Cameron County Courthouse, a site that – along with Cameron Park – was not included in the list handed to candidates when they filed to run for office. We understand that it was at the insistence of Pct. 1 commissioner Sofia Benavides  a John Wood supporter – that the amended list of polling places was changed.
For the first time in recent history, it will not be the Cameron County Elections Office running the election. We also understand that administrator Chris Davis did not plan to have a polling place at the office, but is now having to comply with the new change. Will the company that is running the election pay for Davis' staff to run the polling place, or will the county pick up the tab?
It is instructive to note that one of the BRG board members is none other than IBC President Fred Rusteberg. The current members are like a list of the usual suspects: Dr. Martin Garcia is the chairman, Grady Deaton is vice-chair, BND commissioner John Reed is a trustee, and building contractor Terry Ray is also a trustee.
Rusteberg is also one of three co-chairs of United Brownsville's so-called Coordinating Committee, a non-elected body that is not accountable to anyone, but which has managed to funnel public monies from at least eight publicly-funded entities to fund its non-profit and its staff and carry out its principals' plan for economic development in the area.
This has all the earmarks of a back-room deal pushed along by people who are seeing a bonanza for themselves dealing withe a publicly-owned asset. We have requested a copy of the proposed franchise agreement from the port an what commitments the Port has given The Broe Group and in return for what.
These people are not here for their health. We can picture railroad rates escalating as they try to squeeze every last drop of profits.
With any luck, we will receive a response from Ms. Duke before the port commits itself to turn over the railroad to this group. After all, the public deserves to know just what it is being asked to give this outside group and what we will get in return.