By Juan Montoya
![]()
The candidate forums held by the Brownsville Board of Realtors have always been a must-attend event for candidates for the City of Brownsville, the Brownsville Independent School District and even for those running in Cameron County and state office races.
As the early-voting period approaches (April 24), candidates schedule their campaigns around the event. However, there will be a candidate who will be a no-show at the Thursday, April 20 event.
That candidate is Rose Gowen, the incumbent for the At-Large "B" position she has held for the last eight years. Her response to the invite from the Board of Realtors indicates that she will be spring breaking with her hubby who she says is a teacher whose vacation is scheduled yearly for the week after Easter. She returns to Brownsville, she said, one day after the event on April 21 (Friday).
While that may be the case (and we have no reason to doubt it), the results of this race will in all likelihood strip Mayor Tony Martinez of his majority. As mayor, Martinez had been able to control the votes of Deborah Portillo, Gowen, and John Villarreal to control the direction of the city's finances, real-estate purchases and position vis-a-vis the county, state and
![]()
federal governments.
He, for example, has been the main obstacle to Brownsville merging its Metropolitan Planning Organization with that of Harlingen and Hidalgo County. Studies have shown that merging would result in more than $100 million in additional road construction funds for the city.
Also, with Gowen's help, Martinez was able to draft a response to the UT System for its Request For Proposals on what Brownsville could offer to keep its new UTRGV campus in the city. The list of tempting real-estate offers at basement bargain prices and incentives for the UT System is extensive.
In fact, given her association with the the University of Texas School of Public Health, her votes on the giveaways to the UT System might well constitute a conflict of interest. The Board of Realtors would love to hear her version these dealings, we're sure.
Blogger Jim Barton has documented her disdain for ethics in his populare BrownsvilleObsever blog. Braton writes:
"Gowen has shown no hesitancy to violate the city code and general ethics to further her agenda. In 2014, as a city commissioner, she voted to 'convey' Lincoln Park to the University of Texas, not disclosing that she was employed by UT. After the conflict of interest went public, City Manager Mark Sossi hastily reworked a resolution to look for 'alternative' sites to give to UT instead of Lincoln Park and Gowen, this time, abstained from voting.
Other examples of her largess of public assets to her former employer are: In the mayor's RFP to the UT System, they not only offered to sell huge tracts of publicly-owned land to the UT System at "fair market value," they also offered them other "incentives." Some of these were as follows:
* Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation - $2,500 to $5,000 for every University job associated with UTB's location downtown
* Brownsville Economic Development Corporation - BEDC will contribute tax revenue from increased sales, mixed beverage, and parking meter taxes to UTB for public realm improvements downtown.
*Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation - BCIC will provide funding and/or subsidies for "quality of life" projects, including cultural and athletic amenities in greater Downtown Brownsville
![]()
* Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization and BCIC - MPO and BCIC will increase bicycle infrastructure, including the extension of city hike and bike trails to better connect the UTB facilities with surrounding downtown neighborhoods and amenities
* Public Utility Board - PUB will provide reduced utility rates for new UTB buildings that are built to LEED accreditation standards
* Brownsville Metro - Brownsville Metro will increase their bus coverage area to better serve UTB's campus and to increase service frequency to UTB campus facilities
So now do we understand why Martinez, Gowen, Portillo, Villarreal and the rest of the old city commission didn't make a peep about all the money that Martinez spent on downtown real estate speculation, including the exorbitant $2.3 million for La Casa Del Nylon?
In fact, La Casa Del Nylon and the old Kress Building are depicted in the RFP as university facilities, the latter as a Gold's Gym.
This real estate speculation by Da Mayor with the assistance of Gowen and Villarreal – both of them up for reelection – would be of huge (excuse the Trumpism) interest to the Realtors. But Gowen won't be there to answer for her sins. In fact, we would also probably be pedaling away from answering these questions if we were her. Wouldn't you?
The candidate forums held by the Brownsville Board of Realtors have always been a must-attend event for candidates for the City of Brownsville, the Brownsville Independent School District and even for those running in Cameron County and state office races.As the early-voting period approaches (April 24), candidates schedule their campaigns around the event. However, there will be a candidate who will be a no-show at the Thursday, April 20 event.
That candidate is Rose Gowen, the incumbent for the At-Large "B" position she has held for the last eight years. Her response to the invite from the Board of Realtors indicates that she will be spring breaking with her hubby who she says is a teacher whose vacation is scheduled yearly for the week after Easter. She returns to Brownsville, she said, one day after the event on April 21 (Friday).
While that may be the case (and we have no reason to doubt it), the results of this race will in all likelihood strip Mayor Tony Martinez of his majority. As mayor, Martinez had been able to control the votes of Deborah Portillo, Gowen, and John Villarreal to control the direction of the city's finances, real-estate purchases and position vis-a-vis the county, state and
He, for example, has been the main obstacle to Brownsville merging its Metropolitan Planning Organization with that of Harlingen and Hidalgo County. Studies have shown that merging would result in more than $100 million in additional road construction funds for the city.
Also, with Gowen's help, Martinez was able to draft a response to the UT System for its Request For Proposals on what Brownsville could offer to keep its new UTRGV campus in the city. The list of tempting real-estate offers at basement bargain prices and incentives for the UT System is extensive.
In fact, given her association with the the University of Texas School of Public Health, her votes on the giveaways to the UT System might well constitute a conflict of interest. The Board of Realtors would love to hear her version these dealings, we're sure.
Blogger Jim Barton has documented her disdain for ethics in his populare BrownsvilleObsever blog. Braton writes:
"Gowen has shown no hesitancy to violate the city code and general ethics to further her agenda. In 2014, as a city commissioner, she voted to 'convey' Lincoln Park to the University of Texas, not disclosing that she was employed by UT. After the conflict of interest went public, City Manager Mark Sossi hastily reworked a resolution to look for 'alternative' sites to give to UT instead of Lincoln Park and Gowen, this time, abstained from voting.
Her clear conflict of interest had been exposed, but certainly not by her. The new resolution left the city still able to convey Lincoln Park, if they couldn't 'ind' an adequate alternative, without the problem of a conflict of interest on the initial vote."
Other examples of her largess of public assets to her former employer are: In the mayor's RFP to the UT System, they not only offered to sell huge tracts of publicly-owned land to the UT System at "fair market value," they also offered them other "incentives." Some of these were as follows:
* Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation - $2,500 to $5,000 for every University job associated with UTB's location downtown
* Brownsville Economic Development Corporation - BEDC will contribute tax revenue from increased sales, mixed beverage, and parking meter taxes to UTB for public realm improvements downtown.
*Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation - BCIC will provide funding and/or subsidies for "quality of life" projects, including cultural and athletic amenities in greater Downtown Brownsville
* Public Utility Board - PUB will provide reduced utility rates for new UTB buildings that are built to LEED accreditation standards
* Brownsville Metro - Brownsville Metro will increase their bus coverage area to better serve UTB's campus and to increase service frequency to UTB campus facilities
So now do we understand why Martinez, Gowen, Portillo, Villarreal and the rest of the old city commission didn't make a peep about all the money that Martinez spent on downtown real estate speculation, including the exorbitant $2.3 million for La Casa Del Nylon?
In fact, La Casa Del Nylon and the old Kress Building are depicted in the RFP as university facilities, the latter as a Gold's Gym.
This real estate speculation by Da Mayor with the assistance of Gowen and Villarreal – both of them up for reelection – would be of huge (excuse the Trumpism) interest to the Realtors. But Gowen won't be there to answer for her sins. In fact, we would also probably be pedaling away from answering these questions if we were her. Wouldn't you?