By now we know that ever since the current board on the Texas Southmost College board was campaigning to get into office one of the anchor planks on their platform was that they would not give away any of the land or assets of the 75-year-old community college.
Not real estate, not money, not bank deposits. In short, not anything that this community college that has been nurtured by local taxpayers in this poverty-stricken, high unemployment region for the last 75 years will be "given" away or sold to the UT System, the third-richest institution of higher education in the United States.
UTB President Juliet Garcia's plan to do just that crashed to the ground with a resounding thud that was emphasized by the election of the "no giveaway" candidates who swamped the UTB's president's ticket in past elections.
So why does Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez insist on painting the TSC board as an obstacle to the resurrection of downtown Brownsville because they won't budge on the issue knowing that it was one of the promises they made the electorate who put them in office?
In today's Brownsville Herald (characteristic of previous coverage), the loaded words ascribing negative overtones to the decision of the TSC board permeate reporter Steve Clark's story.The UT System's decision to move the campus away from the TSC site is ascribed to the "failure to find resolution with the Texas Southmost College trustees over land issues."
His advisers' plan to move UTB downtown "exclude any possibility that TSC will change its stance regarding selling the property."
UTB's plans to get a new campus is necessary because "TSC refused to agree to sell property to the UTB."
And he says that his cadre of out-of-town development gurus are working on how to satisfy any "financial shortfalls UT might confront in locating downtown."
In other words, if the TSC trustees would just go back on their word to the electorate and lie down and roll over for the UTB System, everything would be so easy.
Always the Sunshine Boy, DA Mayor says that the chance that the University of Texas at Brownsville will move then campus downtown, as opposed to UTB building a new main campus somewhere else, has gotten its “foot in the door” in terms of the UT Board of Regents’ willingness to consider it alongside other options.
And guess what? Remember that "rapidly closing window" of the Aug. 22 UT System Regents meeting where the final decision would be made regarding the move downtown? Well, it wasn't such an emergency after all, we now hear.
And guess what? Remember that "rapidly closing window" of the Aug. 22 UT System Regents meeting where the final decision would be made regarding the move downtown? Well, it wasn't such an emergency after all, we now hear.
None less than Brent Brown, the head of the self-appointed community workshop group BCWorkshop now says that perhaps it wasn't such a "drop-dead" deadline as he had said before after all.
Brown had been operating under an "assumption" that the UT Board of Regents would make a final decision regarding downtown at that meeting. However, now Da Mayor says that he believes the regents would "keep everything open" while considering land acquisition.
No effort will be spared, he said, to address UTB's concerns about locating downtown.
We've been to this rodeo before, haven't we?
Remember when Garcia and her academia gunslinger Michael Putegant tried the same line oh, so many times? There seemed to be some sort of mortal deadline at every turn. If the trustees didn't get everyhting they wanted ($200 million in college assets including – but not limited to – real estate, bank deposits, buildings, your dreams, etc.) UTB would [gasp] leave Brownsville.
That was some three or four years ago and guess what? They're still here trying the same old ruses that didn't work for them before. However, now we have Hizzoner Da Mayor trying to twist arms and make the TSC trustees cough up the goods for the UT System.
They should just cut the crap and have the UT System cough up the money as they have done in the other 15 system facilities across the state and forget about strong-arming the local community college taxpayers to continue subsidizing them as they have for the last 20 years.
Bill Hudson didn't buy it. Mary Yturria didn't buy it either. Neither did the rest of the mere mortals who support the college district with their property taxes. Martinez should cut the losses to his diminishing political stock and fold up his dog and pony show as well because no one is buying.
Yet, he seems unperturbed, at least for the consumption of the Brownsville Herald's readers.
“I’m not at all deterred," said Martinez. This has brought a lot of things to light, and I’m liking what I see.”
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