WESLACO, RGV - The push to merge the Rio Grande Valley’s three metropolitan planning organizations into one may come to nothing due to the stance taken by the City of Brownsville.
In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez says he sees no benefit for his city at this time in having the Brownsville MPO merge with the Harlingen-San Benito MPO and the Hidalgo County MPO.
“I am not convinced that this is the best thing for Brownsville. If I were to think of anything I would first of all start talking to Cameron County, Harlingen and San Benito, before I jump into a merger of all three MPOs,” Martinez said.
Cameron County Commissioner David Garza“This is thing is driven by a state perspective. Everybody likes things big and bold but, quite frankly, Brownsville is in a situation where it is definitely on the upswing. We truly need our autonomy and we truly need to concentrate on what we need, what the citizens of Brownsville need, what the citizens of the lower Rio Grande Valley need, before we start searching for all these pie in the sky things.”
The Valley’s three MPOs are the vehicles through which federal and state transportation dollars are distributed throughout the region. A nine-member task force set up by the three MPOs is currently considering the pros and cons of collapsing the three entities into one, to be titled the RGV Metropolitan Planning Organization. Each MPO has three members on the task force.
Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Tryon D. Lewis and state Senator Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation, recently visited the Valley and in a series of meetings, some public and some private, urged regional unity. After their visit, McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said Valley leaders would be writing to the Texas Department of Transportation to see if, by merging the region’s three MPOs, the Valley would get more discretionary transportation funding, a claim made by supporters of a united MPO.
Supporters believe this to be the case because a united Valley MPO could be big enough to warrant a seat at the ‘discretionary funding table’ TxDOT operates with the ‘Big Four’ Texas MPOs, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.
One of the biggest supporters of a united MPO is Cameron County Commissioner David Garza. At a recent coffee morning event at San Benito Chamber of Commerce, Garza said: “We have had folks from the Department of Transportation come down here and tell us, ‘If you would combine your MPOs, you would be the fourth largest MPO in the state of Texas. Right now you are getting less than one percent of the discretionary dollars that we spend in the state for transportation projects. If you are combined, we cannot tell you how much we are going to give you but we can tell you that the top four MPOs get probably 75 percent of all the discretionary money.’ Does that send a message? To me it does.”
Asked by a member of the audience if a united Valley MPO could muscle its way into the ‘Big Four’ MPOs, Garza said: “We would be very, very close. Put it this way, any transportation dollars that are spent at the state level are run through that committee. So at least we would get to sit at the table where the pie is cut. Not being on that committee, we get the leftovers.”
Mayor Martinez, however, is skeptical the Valley would get extra transportation dollars or a seat at the table when discretionary transportation funding is allocated. Asked if a united Valley MPO would have a seat at the table, Martinez said: “From what I understand that will not be forthcoming. I do not know why these (TxDOT) folks think that just because they talk to us, that everything is going to be done, just because they say so.
“I happen to be a lawyer by trade and I have been in this job (mayor of Brownsville) five years. I think I have learned a lot through on the job training. I am very, very, thorough in what I propose and what I do and Brownsville right now really needs to do the things that it is doing. It is doing great and I understand that. It is not that I think a merger will stop it from doing great. We just need to continue doing what we are doing until I get to a level where I feel comfortable that something like that is of benefit to the citizens of Brownsville.”
Martinez said he participated in some of the meetings with TTC Chairman Lewis. “What I told the commissioner when he came down is this: a child has to learn to crawl before it can walk and walk before it can run. What is the urgency? I think the mandate is coming from Austin and the Department of Transportation is really, really pushing it. And I am not one to be pushed around.”
Martinez said what is certain is that a united MPO can only happen with Brownsville’s buy-in and that is not on the cards.
“Without Brownsville it is not going to happen. I am a very pragmatic sort of guy. Being a lawyer and doing the trial work I do, you have to really evaluate what you have, what you are going to spend on it and whether you are going to have a good outcome. All of these logical, sequential steps, this is the way I think and for them (TxDOT) to think we can just come in here and bluster and say let’s do this because it looks good, I think I would rather feel good than look good.”
Editor's Note: The main image accompanying this story shows Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez being interviewed by reporters at his 3rd Annual State of the City Address & Symposium, held at the Brownsville Events Center on March, 22, 2016.
