RUSTEBERG: THE POWER BEHIND UNITED B'VILLE SMOKE

By Juan Montoya
Whether it's the takeover of local government by his creation called United Brownsville, the grooming of small-time sycophants to his coterie of admirers,  or the sale of the Port of Brownsville Railroad to corporate raiders, the power behind the takeovers has always been IBC President Fred Rusteberg.
Rusteberg was the friendly banker that loaned former UTB President Julieta Garcai the $150,000 to buy the old PanAm president's house after the boys in the legislature passed a bill to allow the state to sell it to her, an unheard occurrence in Texas.
He is also – along with his former school mate Julieta – one of the three members of the United Brownsville Coordinating Board.

United Brownsville is a domestic nonprofit corporation whose Coordinating Board is made up of three non-elected members. They are Rusteberg, Garcia and UTB vice-president Irv Downing. This self-styled "coordinating board" directs how the pie is cut using – not their money – but the money they have managed to hoodwink elected bodies and other publicly-funded entities to fork over as $25,000 "memberships" to be part of United Brownsville.
These entities – as we have pointed out before – are: the City of Brownsville, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), the Brownsville Independent School District, the Brownsville Navigation District, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College."
Since 2009, this group and their willingly co-opted public officials have gone to the public-treasury well to strong-arm eight public entities for their $25,000 "annual membership" payment.
From 2009 to 2012 the public had shelled out $810,000. That doesn't include the $200,00 from 2013 and the $200,000 to be collected for 2014.  All told, the taxpayers of Brownsville will have shelled out more than $1,210,000 to United Brownsville for the privilege of having a troika accountable to no one "implement" their dubious "plan.
Rusteberg was also on the board of the Brownsville Rio Grande Railroad who signed off on the 30-year franchise agreement that virtually gave the Broe Group's OmniTrax control of a profitable working railroad before it is required to plunk down any money on a promised Industrial Park and "small-business incubator." The company wanted – and got – lease to 1,200 acres from the port and use 227 acres for the incubator.
But none of this will happen until the company finalizes its Master Plan a year after the agreement was signed.
Additionally, OmniTrax promises in the proposed agreement to "contribute and attract franchise consideration of not less than $8.5 million (Franchise Consideration) of direct capital investment in the common elements in the Industrial Park area. (OmniTrax) will provide Franchise Consideration during the period of five years following acceptance of the Master plan."
Until then, the only thing the port can expect from the Colorado-based railroad is:
– $3,693 a month for the (1,200 acres) of real estate
– $10,714 per month rent on the railroad's buildings and locomotive pit for seven years. Upon payment of 7 years rent ($900,000), OmniTrax will own free and clear, all rights and title to real estate listed, not including the land itself. Those are valued on the 2013 Long  and Chilton audit at $987,600.
It also got to buy the railroad's capital assets (machinery and equipment, tools, etc.) for $2.5 million with $500,000 30 days after the agreement is signed and the rest ($2 million) to be paid over seven years.
At first the negotiations for the railroad were done in secret, going as far as denying a public information request of any dealings between the BRG and the Broe Group. When the details of the dealings finally came to light, the vote was set and the taxpayers of the port woke up to a done deal.

The aim is for this cadre of players to decide how they want the area to develop and to move the public assets to achieve their goals. Being astute (and scheming) business types, it is not surprising that the direction the area's assets are being moved will ultimately profit them and their friends.
The Long and Chilton audit of United Brownsville indicates that United Brownsville has done very well indeed living off the public's largess.
The audit listed their cash and money market "value" at at the end of 2014 at $102,610. That's a nice little nest egg compliments of the poorest community in the United States.Their "accounts receivable" consists of the $200,000 in annual memberships they collect on their annual trek for alms from the various entities.
We were taught in school that the people elected public officials to act on their behalf in the various levels of government. These officials, in turn, were held accountable for their acts.
You cannot fire Rusteberg, Garcia or Downing. Ultimately, this trio and their supportive players on the board of United Brownsville that includes a select number of hand-picked, like-minded social climbers who are members of the city commission, the port, PUB, the university and college, and the economic development entities shuffle the cards and deal themselves a wining hand every time.
There's Carlos Marin's VIDA, Oscar Garcia Jr.'s Jacobs Management Group, Marin's Ambiotec, and, of course, the UT System and Julieta Garcia's new University of the America's. One could also mention the Mexican component which is seeking to divert the region's economic development toward the disastrous maquiladora industry.
These raiders of the public treasury have found a pot of gold at the end of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, using the $4.5 million each get from their share of a half-penny in sales taxes as their personal ATM machine. Garcia Jr., for example, already got two shots of $185,000 and is seeking another $407,000 for his company to perform yet another study of a study of a study.
The nonprofit shadow government of United Brownsville has as its purpose "to provide a forum for local governmental officials to communicate regarding public projects, and public-private partnerships in the greater Brownsville area, thereby promoting the effectiveness of said projects and thereby lessening the burdens of government..."
The last time we looked, there had been no government officials asking to be unburdened of their governmental duties and seeking succor from the likes of Rusteberg, Garcia and Downing. This invention of theirs to hijack the assets of local governments and their publicly-funded entities so they can "seat at the table" amounts to nothing more than strong-arm extortion and a protection racket worthy of the Cosa Nostra. But at least the Cosa Nostra provided some service in return.