IT TOOK OUTSIDERS TO SET BROWNTOWN STRAIGHT

"A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house."
Matthew 13:57

By Juan Montoya
That admonishment by Jesus to his disciples comes to mind after reading the account of the visit to our fair city by 8-80 Cities Executive Director Guillermo Peñalosa when he pointed out that Brownsville was, well, unfair to pedestrians and cyclists.

At the top of his list to encourage "vibrant cities" was Peñalosa's plan to people to "walk, bike and use public transportation as well as enjoy parks and other public spaces."

He said his initial impressions were that “there has not been respect for the pedestrian.”

This is news to us?

How many times have we pointed out the shameful way that the elderly and children have to wait in 95-plus degree heat to wait for the infrequent buses for transportation? The reason people walk down the side of the roads and street ways – even without sidewalks – is because they have no income to buy and maintain a car or even to pay for the bus fares.

And in the case of bicycles, it's like taking your life into your hands to traverse the city. Bike lanes are basically restricted to the newer roadways in more affluent neighborhoods. Don't try to ride downtown or in the Southmost barrio on a bike. We've heard about Suicide By Cop. This would be Suicide by Chisca.

“There are very few sidewalks that are in good condition,” Peñalosa told a group yesterday. “I saw in many residential areas there are not even sidewalks, which is shameful.”

The local daily reported that in comments to its reporters last week, Peñalosa said he supported Mayor Tony Martinez's efforts to entice the UT System to locate its UTB main campus downtown.

“I think one of the most important decisions in Brownsville would be to convince the university to set up headquarters downtown,” he said. “The city should try to put all of the pressure that they can to make it happen...Being a public university – whatever they settle – it has huge implications that go way beyond the cash flow of the university,” he said. “So, they need to be good citizens.”

For starters, they can stop trying to coerce the community college (TSC) to sell its real estate at cut-rate prices to the third-wealthiest university system in the United States, wean itself off from the $50 million in "contractual transfers" it gets from the local district and taxpayers each year, and – at the very least – pay the college the $12 to $15 million in rental arrears it owes it.

He probably hasn't heard of the effort by the UTB and its president Juliet Garcia to gobble up more than $250 million in community college assets that included all its real estate, buildings and bank deposits as a "gift" while leaving them the bond indebtedness that helped fuel the building boom on the "partnership" campus.

And if he did, we're sure that Martinez and his UTB-favored United Brownsville would have dissuaded him of making any statements on the matter.

How long have there been local cycling and public transportation advocates asking that there be more sidewalks built, more bus shelters to protect local bus riders from the elements, and more pedestrian walkways built for those local residents who wish to exercise?

Why did it have to take an expert from Canada by way of Colombia to drive home the message and get front-page coverage from the local daily?

But for now, anyway, an expert from the "outside" has echoed the repeated complaints that local citizens have voiced against the city and the university. Since these complaints from the locals seem to have fallen on deaf ears of city and university officials, will they listen to the outside "prophet" now?