CATY PRESAS-GARCIA: WHAT'S AT STAKE IN DISTRICT 2 RACE

Dear Citizens of Brownsville and District 2

I come before you to offer you my candidacy for District 2 City Commissioner for City of Brownsville and to ask you for your vote to represent you.

My main desire for running for this office is because I think that after a lifetime of living here and raising my family in our city, I am filled with a love of our town and residents that will motivate me to find solutions to the challenges facing our families.

I am proud of Brownsville because it is a beautiful city with resources that are the envy of other communities across South Texas. Unfortunately, we have not had the leadership that we need to work for us, the citizens.

It’s time we stop the abuse of corrupt politicians and elect people who respect us and our tax dollars. I am an independent thinker not aligned to any special interests. I abhor compadrismo that creates mediocrity and drives competent people away because they are not socially related or economically connected to a socioeconomic elite. I am of the people and for the people.

As a mother and wage earner, I understand the challenges we face. The PUB fiasco that has enriched some fat cats and resulted in artificially-high utility rates needs to be resolved. 

The Tenaska Funding Project Money is gone (our hard-earned money was misused), and conditions in our city remain in distress. Basic infrastructure like drainage and street repair are wanting while we have a city commission which insists on emulating cities like Austin and Dallas. We live in South Texas, in one of the most historically-significant communities in the United States, but unfortunately, we are seen as a Third-World Country.

Property taxes are high, but that wouldn’t matter if they were used to provide basic services to everyone. But this is not happening because we have not been able to reach a consensus on what kind of community we want to be or what kind of legacy we want to leave to our children.

We need to get to work and I am ready to work for all citizens. My parents taught me to not be afraid to work and through this letter l wish to share with you my intentions, to offer my background information, and to honestly state my opinions on key issues so you can be fully informed when you vote starting in early voting April 24 through May 2, 2023 and on election day May 6. .

I was born and raised in Brownsville, and have lived in District 2 for more than 20 years. I graduated from Porter High School and am currently a business owner and Texas-licensed Realtor. I served as a Brownsville Independent School District board member from 2008 through 2016, as a legislative chair for Brownsville Board of Realtors from 2019-2021, on their insurance committee from 2012-2014 , the budget committee from 2012-2014 and was also nominated to serve on the national Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) 2013-2014, the North Brownsville Little League Board 2002-2008, and the Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) from 2010-2015.

I have loved and relish the opportunity to work to improve our community and collaborate with our neighboring cities to improve the opportunities for our South Texas region families.

Like you, I have borne the pain of increased costs and prices of the properties in our city market. I am a strong opponent to the many city, county and state-imposed fees that stifle the economy and make home ownership more difficult for our citizens.

This being said, I believe there is a distinction between affordable housing and cheap housing. I wholeheartedly support anything that makes buying and building homes more affordable and aggressively oppose anything that cheapens the important elements of our town. Dense urban dwellings in the heart of Brownsville is an element that cheapens our city’s character and a factor that in the long term will make single-family detached housing available only to the wealthy.

Anyone who commutes daily knows that our roads need improvement. The traffic congestion in our town is a serious problem and we need to put pressure on our local and state governments to fix our roads. As a port city and an international crossroads, our contribution to the state and federal governments has not been returned.

Specifically, we need to widen certain streets near schools within our District 2. We must stop closing off roads that reduce circulation. Natural disasters like tropical storms have shown how woefully inadequate our traffic system is in an evacuation. Improving our roads goes beyond just shorting our commute, it may be a matter of life and death.

As an independent thinker I feel I owe it to my supporters not to shy away from civil, but forceful debate on issues of importance to our residents. We should celebrate and embellish some of the things that make our community unique and special such as:

 The protection of the beauty of our natural environment

 Accessible, affordable, and safe living in spite of the issues of border violence

 An environment friendly to local businesses

 Property rights and freedom from oppressive and intrusive bureaucracies

 A safe and clean community to raise a family

We can protect and improve all of these things if you and me – the citizens of Brownsville – speak with a strong and unified voice. I am optimistic that as your commissioner, I can lead the charge on these issues and usher in a future for Brownsville that will give our next generations a town just as special as the one where we all grew up and learned to love.

I thank you in advance for your time and kind consideration. I would be delighted to have your support in this election.