What part of "compromise" don't the retirees advocating for a trail-only use for the abandoned Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way between FM 802 and Alton Gloor understand?
Even their champion, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño told them that the city and county have already been in negotiations with major developers who want to bring their commercial developments to the area and need a road to move their goods in and out of the corridor.
Commissioner Rose Gowen, who rode into reelection on the bicycle handles of that constituency,
seems to accept it also.
So did Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Alex Dominguez, whose jurisdiction covers all of the area of contention.
But it came as a bucket of cold water to the mostly retired – and let's say it, white – bike and hike trail advocates who don't want a road anywhere near there who were thoroughly disappointed when they heard those they thought were on their side that no road would be built.
People were not only upset. They were crying.
It is as if they had been led to believe by Gowen and Treviño that they would chain themselves to the remaining railroad switches rather than give in to the road.
The local daily quoted a resident who summarized their feelings.
“I’m upset because I hear those words that are used, compromise, and when you hear those words, that means that it’s not a certain thing. You’re not fully behind us and what the (county) commissioners court just did, voting for tax abatements. I feel like all of this is kind of tied in, and there’s definitely some stuff that’s not being presented to light,” Brownsville resident Josette Cruz said.
Among the plans that were mentioned at the meeting were four-star hotel convention center,a lagoon where kayaking and aquatic sports would be encouraged, a Super HEB store that would need ingress-egress to do its business, and numerous other commercial ventures.
The hike and bike advocates seem to have convinced the county and city that the stretch between the railroad switch yards near Fronton Street will be designated as strictly a hike and bike trial up to 802 behind Oliveira Park and the VICC, the longest stretch along the 8-mile right-of-way.
Apparently, that is not enough for them.
7 comments:
So, does the ethnicity of the attendees matter? Is that how we are going to break things down in the future? Why isn't it just residents of the city? And why does it matter if they are retired or not (if indeed they were, I doubt you surveyed them). If they were older then these are some of the people that have been paying into the system the longest and though their say carries no more weight then anybody else it does carry as much weight as anybody else. But if we are now going to define things racially lets do it every time, like "Hispanic politician or Anglo politician XYZ arrested for corruption". Yes, lets see how divisive we can be.
I knew Trevino was a snake in the grass... not even in the grass, more like the middle of Elizabeth street in plain sight. What we all suspected, that Eddie Trevino was a sleazeball and his word was worth its weight in turds, was true after all. He with the rodent face assuring us docile white and brown residents, that everything was going to be all right and that he wasn't going to let greedy developers turn the trail into a strip mall. Fuck me once, shame on me. Hey Montoya, what's this crap about "mostly white?" What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Do you mean to say "mostly white" people are the only ones that give a shit about saving the ever disappearing natural landscape in west Brownsville, that "mostly white" people don't want (and browns do?) more traffic and development disrupting family neighborhoods. We just barely got rid of trains that every day for decades blocked traffic and blew their horns at all hours of the day and night. Maybe it's "mostly white" retired people who have the time to march at city hall and protest, something that brown people, by your implication, either won't do for X reason, or are not interested, or they don't have time to do because civic responsibility falls below jobs, bills, kids, school, family etc. Too bad Trevino stayed true to character and rat-faced lied when he was running for judge. "I will fight for your cause," he said then. Pure fart. Ironic you use a "brown" quote as you label this effort a "mostly white" issue... which is not. It's a neighborhood issue.
So, how surprised was anyone to learn that we have "chicken-shit" politicians who promise you the world or hand you a fajita taco for your vote. They have let many people down, including la chisquiada Gowen.
BUT, if the other option is to allow for more businesses to set up in the area and it is going to contribute to the economy of our city and possible jobs, would it not be better to find some kind of a compromise. After all, every employer could require everyone they hire to rent on of Gowen's-never-used bicycles to go to work. That could be a compromise, o no?
Honestly, has anyone taken a survey into the actual number of citizens using bikes to transport themselves? Recreation and exercise has never been at the top of a list above jobs.
The reason that reference is made to certain ethnicities is because if you ever check out the process, when there is a public hearing or forum, the other side never shows up but they are the first to complain, especially when some of their free handouts are being taken away. They only know how to complain to Juan in his blog and to top it off, using all sorts of profanity.
Frank Mar will somehow say it's Erasmo's fault
POLITICIANS ARE TOTALLY FULL OF SHIT.
Because it is! BIKE LANES, SHARROWS! GO HOUNDS!
How sad, the county turning west Brownsville into a ghetto. Eddie Lucio turning South Padre into an oil slick. More noise, more trucks, more car and gas fumes. Where low income squatters who can't do any better live, while people with money pack up and move to nicer areas with trees and trails and parks, everything you are throwing away.
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