By Juan Montoya
For some reason or other, politicians in Brownsville think that a conspicuous act of largess, the grand gesture, will divert attention from the obvious shortcoming of this city.
The naming of Brownsville as the poorest city in the United States set off a spate of acts designed to diver attention to the moniker and to blind the public to the obvious.
We became the city in the Guinness World Record with the most people dancing zumba, the city with the most kids with a fishing line in the brown waters of our resaca (Hooked for Life), and the city who has striven to give out subsidies to millionaires and wealthy corporations.
Take for example, the generosity of City of Brownsville Tony Martinez since he has been mayor. He now ants a third term in this this May's election. Why?
Who else, for example, would give out millions in subsidies and tax abatements (combined with the state) to billionaire Elon Musk? Who else would bend over backwards to give millions in real estate (including Southmost's Lincoln Park) and subsidies to the oil-and-gas wealthy University of Texas System so they could put their campus in downtown Brownsville?
And who else would pledge $350 million in cash (plus tax abatements) to Tenaska to build a $500 million natural gas, electric generating plant and be content to take one-fourth of the 800 MWs produced? That is, the Public Utility Board ratepayers would put up 70 percent of the cost and keep 25 percent of the energy produced (200 MWs).
And to add insult to injury, since 2013, the ratepayers have been stuck with a 35 percent increase in utility costs and the money they pay (estimated at more than $100 million) has continued to pile up at the PUB because Tenaska does not have customers to seel their 600 MWs because there is a glut of electricity on the grid.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, as it were, none of these efforts have come to fruition.
The UT System moved its main offices to Edinburg (UTRGV) and keeps a satellite office in Brownsville (UTRGV-Brownsville), the Tenaska plant won;t be built in the foreseeable future, and SpaceX hasn't launched one satellite when they pledged to have a blast off every month since 2013.
And don't get us going about jobs for local people. We're too busy giving away our meager resources to people and corporations that don't need it.