So when the local daily starts to gauge the call from SpaceX's Elon Musk for engineering professionals to come on down to Brownsville who does it ask for a comment?
Does it ask someone with a track record on economic development for their opinion?
No. It asks the likes of former Brownsville Economic Development (BEDC) VP Gilbert Salinas and current Brownsville Community Development Corporation (or the jingoistic Come Dream Come Build) housing guru Nick Mitchell-Bennett on what they think about Musk's invite.
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Musk said : “Please consider moving to Starbase or greater Brownsville/South Padre area in Texas & encourage friends to do so! SpaceX’s hiring needs for engineers, technicians, builders and essential support personnel of all kinds are growing rapidly."
Musk's call for outside personnel to come here comes against a backdrop of failures on landing his Starship on the pad at Boca Chca. The last one sent debris and chemicals flying all over the beach, a "game changer", according to Salinas,
Salinas was the guy who kept his mouth shut while former BEDC CEO Jason Hilts and his executive board milked the city for its economic development dollars with jaunts all over the globe, mistresses in Colombia, and who championed importation of critically needed stuff like cyclobias (Rose Gowen) and the selling of SpaceX as the only "vertical commercial launching pad" that would give us 12 launches of satellites and employ 500 permanent good-paying jobs ($75,000 each).
None of that ever came true. Today SpaceX is using Boca Chica beach a testing site for rockets that may (if they ever get it right) eventually be used to launch rockets from Cape Canaveral. Nobody is going to Mars from here, junior.
And Mitchell-Bennet – who gets the nod to use millions from Housing and Urban Development dollars with little or no oversight – has now refined the art of real-estate speculation to compete against other city-sponsored endeavors.
Remember what he did even after he knew that the Imagine Brownsville land-use plan called for an industrial corridor between the Sports Park and the Port of Brownsville on FM 511? He said he got tired of waiting for the Greater Brownsville Corporation to build something there so he proposed to build a housing development between the Cameron County Corrections Rucker-Carrizales facility and a railroad switching yard.
Allied with former Mayor Tony Martinez and real-estate speculator (and Brownsville Housing Authority member) Patricio Sampayo, Mitchell-Bennet almost single-handedly destroyed the coming of SDI steel plant which would have hired 600 Brownsville workers at $75,000 salaries.
Two years ago Mitchell-Bennet said the housing project was "shovel ready" and that the GBIC plan was in his way. That must be a pretty long-handled shovel, because nothing is on the ground yet. But the jobs are gone. Sampayo had encumbered 100s of acres of real estate GBIC needed for the steel plant and then jacked up the price to make a neat profit.
Didn't work either, but the jobs are gone and Patricio is still sniffing around for otras tranzas at the expense of local residents.
MItchell-Bennet was hawking a plan for the GBIC – under his chisca sidekick Graham Sevier, then GBIC chair – to give him $500,00 to compete with payday lenders. He would pay GBIC at a 2 percent rate while charging his low-income borrowers an 18 percent rate. Sweet, uh?
He said people should be careful to heed Musk's call for people to come here because...there's no housing, of course. Hey Nick, they're not looking for your Section 8 housing. Pleeeze!
And Salinas says that the $10 million for downtown should't be done at the expense of the poor. Really?
What about the shutting down of all the Market Square cantinas and the attempted gentrification of the area under Martinez? The working-class clientele was shoved away without thinking about it twice. The process continues to this day under mayor Trey Mendez.
Get real, fellas. You had your chance and made a nice living from it. But what did we get?
18 comments:
It should be clear by now that local leaders are in it for themselves. What elected official can point to a signature accomplishment that benefited the city?
Ni uno, ese!
Ni el, ni ella, ni ellos!!!
You get the shaft, Montoya - usual for the poor.
Juanito:
Building lanes and sidewalks for children to walk to school, or senior citizens to walk across blvds like Central, Internation, 802, Alton Gloor, Boca Chica, Southmost and others and for wheel chair bound disabled citizens is OUT OF THE QUESTION, they worry more about the elitist the rich and famous.
I see more and more wheel chair users using the lanes designed for vehicle traffic senior citizen maneuvering between cars at high speed but to them its not important...
THEY ALL NEED TO BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE.
You might consider going out to the construction location. The infrastructure is well underway. The sewage electrical and water ate going in with the first roads about to go in.
Graham Sevier was in way over his head. Long, long way from bikes & pizzas to recruiting big business.
With any luck that failed stint was his last one at City Hall.
He exhibited horrible social skills in that Abbott comment.
Everybody in Brownsville who's had the Covid-19 shot should have a number tattooed on their forearm, the number corresponding to the ongoing number of shots given.
That way El Paya Jerry would have #41 tattooed on his arm.
Nick is a con man who takes advantage of gullible Hispanics
It's "pooh-pooh," Montoya. Where did you grow up - Mexico?
Take an ESL class, dude!
Viva Mexico, cabrones!
What’s the criteria for submitting “special to” mumbo-jumbo to this blog? Is being just plain stupid enough? It seems to be No. 1. Is there anything else?
A new adventure: McAllen unveils ‘Dinos and Dragons’ attraction
Here the attractions (for the FBI) are corrupt elected officials that are NOT very attractive to the public....
gentrification:
the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.
"an area undergoing rapid gentrification"
the process of making someone or something more refined, polite, or respectable.
Montoya: new word for me. Thank you.
There is nothing wrong with Brownsville people...downtown people are fine.
Bennett is your typical Brownsville sleazy self-promoter. He has long ago sold his soul to the demonic politicians that tout him as their fair haired white boy as long as he dances to their tune. Amoral and not to be trusted by anyone.
🤡👹
Cowboys pull off upset victory to advance to regional final
When they go to state I hope TEA stops all that racist shit these pigs
(the opposing team) always starts!
Another Mass shooting in South Carolina, in York County! Brain washing you with tons of fake government psyop mass shootings in order for Veggie Biden to pass gun restriction laws! It can't be any clearer! Wake up people no sean vacas Idiotas! Expect more fake shootings!
Dont elect or reelect any current city commissioner, it is crystal clear that they are all in for personal gain. Enough is enough, let's elect someone who will bring back transparency and honesty.
April 8, 2021 at 9:45 PM
Like who? Even the church personnel can not be trusted. Bring in el trumputo as mayor a very honest character.
"Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.".
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