It's getting a bit depressing to see that the board of commissioners of the Brownsville Navigation District – if voters don't make their voice heard in the May elections – will remain the clubby, insulated governmental entity that has served a select group of interest s in Brownsville.
That has been the complaint against this potentially energetic component of the local economy. Yet, despite all the hype surrounding its progress, it remains in the hands of a small group of people who have staked their personal interest in keeping it moving in a direction that they can control and from which they can profit.
The port has respondd not so much to the dynamic leadership on the board or its adminsitration, but to the vagaries of the border and Mexican economy. The port has so far only gone along for the ride where th tide takes it.
Leaving all personalities aside, one can only look at the members of the board and see that the majority have a huge personal interest in keeping it the way it is instead of opening the throttle to bring economic prosperity to all just as a tide lifts all boats.
That's why when we learned that Roser & J Cowen Logistical Services, Ltd. CFO Javier Vera had thrown his hat into the ring to replace Carlos Masso as commissioner on the BND board, we thought: Here we go again!
The so-called Cowen Group is headed by John Cowen Jr. lists US and Mexican Customs brokerage and commercial real estate among its main interests. They have been a barnacle on the USS Port of Brownsville since the senior John Cowen set up shop in 1978.
Cowen is also a director of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), a trustee of the Saint Joseph Academy Endowment, and vice chair at the Housing Authority of the City of Brownsville.
Do you think Vera would do anything to disrupt the entrenched Cowen interests at the port? He can't because one of the trustees there is Ralph Cowen, a family member of his boss. He will make sure that as CFO of the Cowen Group, their interests will not be harmed.
So far, the only other candidate who has filed for Masso's old position is Steve Guerra, a local businessman with extensive ties to businesses on both sides of the Rio Grande. As far as we know, he does not do business with the port and could prove an independent voice. There have been rumors that former Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez might throw his hat in the ring, but his baggage would probably prevent his election.
We have also heard that former city commissioner Ernesto de Leon Sr. is thinking about filing for that office. We'll keep you posted.