To those attending the first State of the City address under new City of Brownsville Mayor Juan "Trey" Mendez, it seemed like deja vu all over again.
Here was the mayor at the Brownsville Events Center in front a well-heeled banquet crowd decked out in jeans, a white shirt, a blue sports coat, but thankfully, no white carnation.
Was it the reincarnation of Tony Martinez?
Looking around the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce , anyone who was anyone - and who had probably attended Martinez's next-to-last SOC presentation at the center and had plunked their $45 admission fee - sat and listened as Mendez, only five months into his term, gave a rundown on the present and future facing Brownsville.
Everyone, of course, except Texas Sen. Eddie Lucio who was let in gratis on the basis of the exemplary work done by his orthodontist.
The working stiffs were at work and since the event was held at noon, few, if any, attended the affair, their absence probably explained by the $45 entry fee.He said the presentation was all for the young people of Brownsville although they were conspicuous for their absence and coined the new city slogan, not Igniting the Future of Texas, but something along the same SpaceX vein: On the Border, By the Sea, and Beyond, a la Toy Story's Trey "Lightyear" Mendez," oops, Buzz Lightyear. Sorry.
Waiters in black slacks and white waistcoats worked the tables among city commissioners Nurith Galonsky, John Cowen, Ben Neece (with two sons in tow) , Texas Southmost College administrators and trustees including chair Adela Garza sporting a new 'do, Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino minus Xochitl Llamas, the pleasantly stout City Health Director Arturo Rodriguez who didn't ride a bike to the event, and other city administrators.
Mendez spoke at length about the future completion of the $50 million in improvements to the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport that started a few years ago, the upcoming renovation of El Jardin Hotel in the coming months by the Brownsville Housing Authority, etc.
These projects have been limping along for the past few years, but with only five months into his four-year term it's understandable that he could only enumerate the ongoing projects launched by his predecessors on the city commission.
Also conspicuous by their absence were any delegation from the Matamoros mayor or the Tamaulipas governor or their representatives. Last month the Tamaulipas chambers of commerce staged a bi-national business conference and the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce was invited.
The next SOS (or is it SOC?) will be one year from now, when Mendez will have bitten into the business of running a city and hopefully the event will be held in a popular venue without an entry fee and be coordinated with someone with some inkling of protocol (domestic and international) that is not the chamber or Gonzalez.
State of the City: "Mas o Menos, Mejor, En la Frontera, By the Sea, and Beyond..."