PORT NIXES M.O.U. WITH A&M, TSTC OVER TSC "EXCLUSION"

By Juan Montoya
What went wrong?

For days now, social media has been abuzz over the Brownsville Navigation District's plan to sign memorandum of Understanding between Texas A&M University System and Harlingen's Texas State Technical College to establish workforce training programs at the port.

On Wednesday, the BND board was set to approve the proposal, only to have it tabled on a motion by commissioner Steve Guerra and a second by Tito Lopez that resulted in a unanimous vote.

The hangup? The apparent exclusion of Texas Southmost College from the MOU, despite last-minute efforts to aimed it to include the community college district.

On Wednesday, local media reported that TSC officials held a press conference in which TSC President Jesus Roberto Rodriguez argued that his institution “should be the Port of Brownsville’s primary partner for workforce training” based on the community college’s “experience, capacity and local expertise.”

New Brownsville mayor and former TSC trustee Trey Mendez also spoke on behalf of TSC during the press conference.

The Brownsville Herald reported that Mendez said his understanding is that talks are underway regarding construction of training facilities to be paid for by the port and built on port land. Since TSC and the port both rely on local tax dollars to one degree or another, TSC should at least be considered by the port as a training partner, Mendez said.

“I believe that prudence dictates that they should also have discussions with the local community college first,” he said. “I’m not going to second guess the members of the (BND) board, because they’re elected to make their own decisions. I just want them to consider all the options before making a decision.”

BND chairman John Reed was said to have been the lead port official who forged the MOU between the port and A&M and TSTC. Reed's style, keeping details on the agreement close to his vest, didn't help any, said some port staffers.

"The devil was in the details and no one knew the cost or who was going to pay for it," said one. "That's just his style. He expects everyone to just go along with his decisions."

BND's Guerra, who said that time had run out on those attempting to bring all sides together, said that the idea to work together should not be abandoned and that there is still time to address the concerns of the City of Brownsville and TSC.

"There is no reason why we can't bring everyone together to make something good happen for everyone, Brownsville and and the entire region."

However, Guerra acknowledged that having the port provide the land, pay between $1.5 and $8 million for the eventual construction of the center and other associated costs for professional services should not have been placed on the port's taxpayers alone, the majority of them from Brownsville.The workforce training would be for industrial companies that are located at the port or might be in the future. He did not rule out bringing an amended MOU to the board that would include the three institutions as equal partners.

"We just ran out of time," to fix the MOU, he said.

A&M Regent Mike Hernandez- a driving force for the center - was one of its main movers. As a regent, he was in a unique position to bring the prestige and technical know how of a major university to the port. The idea to build a center there emerged during a recent workforce summit at the port attended by Texas A&M, which according to the agreement would provide training through its Texas Engineering Extension Service.

For the past three years, his Cameron County Educational Initiative has been providing vocational-technical training to local students, often without cost to the students. The center would have brought the resources and expertise of the A&M System to the port. Despite TSC supporters' contention that the college had not been invited, his supporters say they had been, but had not responded to the invites.

Now that the proposal has been tabled, it's unknown whether Hernandez will be willing to continue his efforts at the port. Some of his closest advisers say that Hernandez was deeply disappointed in the port's board caving in to the TSC complaints as well as those from Mayor Mendez.

"I doubt that he would reconsider," said one. "Brownsville lost UT and now it's losing A&M. They want to be in control all the time."

Later in the day, Hernandez said that: TAMUS through TEEX had offered the Port of Brownsville a workforce training partnership with Texas State Technical College to address the pressing workforce training needs but the local community college who we were willing to include in the partnership did not want TSTC, the top technical training provider in Texas, to be involved. Therefore, we feel it’s best to step away from the Port of Brownsville to consider other possible alternatives. We thank Chairman Reed for his vision and support."

Campirano, a former TSC trustee and now a member of the A&M Advisory Board in McAllen, told the Herald prior to the meeting that the MOU “isn’t exclusionary or exclusive,” meaning it doesn’t preclude TSC from also pursuing agreements to provide training to companies at the port.

“We have an MOU,” he said. “It’s fairly simple. It’s straightforward: To engage in a discussion of workforce training. It’s on the agenda for consideration. We’ll see what happens. It’s really not much more than that.”

Campirano denied that signing an MOU with TSTC and Texas A&M does not mean TSC is locked out of training opportunities at the port.

“There is nothing that says (TSC) will not be considered or they can’t participate,” he said. “There’s nothing in the agreement that excludes them.”

However, TSC board members and its administration - including former trustee Mendez - apparently were not convinced.

"One of the proposed amendments when they saw the opposition to having Harlingen placed above TSC was for us to provide the training they (TSTC) didn't provide," said a TSC supporter. "That was like offering us leftovers. You don't do that to the taxpayers who have supported you since you started."