"LA CHISQUIDA" GOWEN'S RENTAL BIKES GONE FROM CITY PLAZA

                                                   

By Juan Montoya

Remember the rental bikes that commissioner Rose "La Chisquiada" Gowen unveiled with much fanfare (and expense to the city) on November 2016 in front of City Plaza? Well, they've been gone for a while and they weren't much of a hit with local residents. So the expense associated with their purchase, their implementation and then removal all cost local residents a pretty penny.

But, ah, well. Gowen has shown that she is only too happy to spend Other People's Money on her pet projects. And it doesn't help to know that she pays absolutely no city taxes on her historical residence.

If we remember correctly, the only time they were used was when some thieves took off with a couple of them and made it to the railroad tracks off FM 511 to jump on a train and make their way north. The bikes were discarded and abandoned by the thieves.

Thanks to the rental bikes installed in the downtown area, the city facilitated the transportation of at least three illegal immigrants – unless someone was riding double – to a site where they could go multi-modal and jump on a passing train for their trip northward.

Early Saturday, residents near the Rio Del Sol Subdivision out towards FM 511 came upon three abandoned bicycles that were part of the city campaign to encourage people to ride a bicycle instead of driving their cars.

This was perfect for the suspected illegal immigrants who easily disabled the security features on the bike racks and then simply jumped on them to go catch the train northward.
How do we know they may have been stolen by illegal immigrants?

Police found a gallon of flavored water in a gallon jug, a favored method for immigrants to carry water. Also, a pair of shorts left in one of the bike baskets were still wet from crossing the river. But there weren't just any old immigrants, witnesses say.

One of them left a backpack in the haste to scurry away that contained – among other things – a package of condoms for health protection.
All three bikes were abandoned by the railroad tracks by the Rio Del Sol subdivision many miles from downtown.

As far as anyone knew, no one had reported these bikes stolen or missing. According to the city you rent the bikes by the hour or day and opening the locks requires a cell-phone application. Are illegals app-savvy? And is there a fund to pay for the bikes' use or has the city figured out a way to charge the illegals?

There is no telling how many thousands of dollars have been spent promoting the use of bicycles, building bike trials, narrowing streets to provide bike lanes for the bike riders who haven't materialized, and choking off business downtown so suburbanites and their progeny can coast down Elizabeth and Washington on the closed streets.

In a way it's good to know that all the travel and wining and dining by city staff and officials in Austin San Antonio supposedly to get the feel and the low down to bring these bikes to our friendly city actually provided someone a service.

They don't call us the All-American city for nothing. We're so friendly we provide free transportation at taxpayers expense to illegals to transport themselves to their ride out of Brownsville to bigger cities with jobs. Multi-modal, indeed.