BEING RUN OUT OF TOWN, MARTINEZ NOW LEADS MPO PARADE

"It is the policy of this board not to pursue the merger. We continue to discuss this ad nauseum...It will obliterate the local control for Brownsville. We are being asked to give up the autonomy we have to control the destiny of our community." Mayor Tony Martinez in a letter October 2017 to TxDOT  District Engineer Pete Alvarez.

By Juan Montoya

After years off fending off the efforts to merge the Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization with those of  Harlingen/San Benito, and that of Hidalgo County, City of Brownsville, Mayor Tony Martinez - running for reelection and for his political life - is now painting himself as the champion of the merger in his  campaign propaganda.

Conveniently forgetting that he was the major obstacle to the merger despite protests from his MPO board, Martinez is now crowing he led the efforts to form the merger.

But it wasn't until City of Brownsville Commission members threatened to vote him off the board and joined Cameron County in passing resolutions in favor of the merger that he had to cave in.

If one reads Da Mayor's Facebook posts, it is clear that he is using the MPO merger as a cudgel to attack his challengers, but this is the

"Some people talk about being a full-time mayor,  but this is the real work that it takes,," Martinez posted, taking a jab at former city manager Charlie Cabler's "full-time mayor" motto.

His claims were immediately rebutted by readers like Juan Ramos (at right), who reminded Martinez of his opposition to the merger.

Even though estimates provided by Texas Dept. of Transportation District Engineer Pete Alvarez in previous MPO meetings showed that the city would receive additional millions in funds for projects such as the East Loop in southeast Brownsville and the second causeway to South Padre Island if the merger occurred. Martinez has been adamant about losing local control.

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As can  be plainly seen, it was not Martinez who led the city commission to enter into the MPO merger that will bring millions to local projects that will address long-standing problems such as the East Loop which has been on the books for at least three decades. 

That project will divert over-sized loads of hazardous materials from populated areas - most particularly International  Blvd. with schools, churches and neighborhoods and the Southmost barrio - and construct a loop from Los Tomates Bridge to the Port of Brownsville.

In the photo below, an 18-wheeler that transports highly flammable liquids barrels past J.T. Canales Elementary School, and Porter High school lies just a few blocks up International Blvd.

If Martinez's wishes had prevailed, that project would have left that situation stagnate, belying Martinez's reelection logo of "Brownsville Forward."