New T-Mobile Call Center Perpetuates Last Century's "Maquila" Model

Recently, City and BEDC leaders celebrated the arrival of the new T-Mobile call center with wages of $9-12/hour. (see http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/brownsville_76761___article.html/mobile_company.html). On first blush that sounds like good news. But let's look a little deeper.

According to the most recent data from the Census/American Fact Finder (factfinder.census.gov) the average Brownsville family has four (4) people with a median income of $24, 207/year, just above the poverty level for a family of four at $20,650/year (according to the 2007 HHS Poverty Guidelines).

The T-Mobile wages of $10/hour = $20,800/year. Assuming that a call center employee is the sole provider in his/her home, that home is still essentially at or below the poverty level. What that means is most likely there will have to be public assistance for that family, or both parents will have to work, or get a nanny for the children. Moreover, after deducting the $5,000 per T-Mobile job that Brownsville residents will pay in sales tax incentives from BEDC ($3.5 million of incentives divided by 700 jobs created) the city is actually getting jobs at $7.20/hour ($15,000/year) -- right around the new minimum wage.

Realistically, what kind of residents will work at the T-Mobile call center? If Convergys is any indication, they will be single (or single-parent), less-educated residents. What's the implied message the City is sending to UTB students? That, after spending tens of thousands of dollars and working for six years towards their bachelors degree, they can look forward to making maybe $12/hour?

Make PUB Obsolete

Why all the fuss about PUB rates, impact fees, developers vs. ratepayers??? Why not propose something that could unite the city, transcend the pettyness and create real wealth for the community? Why not take advantage of the WIND that blows by our city everyday, 365/24/7?

Instead of spending $40 million on stock in a coal-fired plant in Oklahoma (and more in the future), why not propose a city bond to build a "Wind Farm" here in our area (on the way to the Island or by ITECC/old mall) that would be owned and operated by the city?

This wind farm, powered by 300 foot tall windmills, could provide multi-megawatts of free, renewable energy to most of the city for the rest of our lives. Imagine BISD, the CITY, the UTB, all with free energy. We could sell the extra energy, and/or use the savings to hire a staff of professional engineers, teacher raises, new schools, etc.

Here's a recent story in the Herald about this:
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/wind_76162___article.html/texas_birds.html

And read about Texas renewable energy here: http://www.infinitepower.org/projects.htm

We need to REALLY INNOVATE ideas, direction, and leadership, because there is so little creativity at city hall.

City's Website is Amateurish.

Our city website has an amateurish look and feel. It provides a lot of information but it’s not well designed. It is like a poorly written textbook and it doesn’t serve as an adaptable tool to interact with citizens. We should be able to pay bills, fines, overdue library fees, renew books, print major reports and studies, such as the coming impact fee study, and submit suggestions and input on issues. We should be able to report a crime, request a street be reviewed for repair, or search an online code of ordinances. Instead, some links are visually cluttered, some are lacking information, and some functions, such as the search engine, don’t work.

Think about how professional and beautiful a website for a historic and interesting city such as Brownsville could be. Take a look at the city websites for McAllen and Corpus Christi. It’s frustrating to think that the best we can hope for in Brownsville is always following in the footsteps of other valley cities. I think not only can we match them but our website can exceed them. A well designed, comprehensive website can also serve as a tool to teach civics to high school students. There could be a more detailed but clear explanation of how our local government works and then they can explore the rest of the website to learn about the specifics of each department. Maybe the Center for Civic Engagement can get together with social studies teachers and develop lesson plans that utilize the website. For example, students can read the descriptions and responsibilities of the boards and write about which board they would like to serve on and why. They could come up with an idea for a business and then have to find out which departments they will have to deal with. I’m sure others can come up with more interesting ideas for activities, but you get the point. However, judging from the limited number of Brownsville related sites and the poor quality and lack of upkeep of the ones that do exist, it’s clear that most elected leaders and local business people still see the internet as an add-on. Well, for those cities that are thriving, internet-based services and communities are no longer add-ons but integral parts in improving government efficiency, encouraging civic participation, and providing important information to the public. Everyone should check out some of the cities listed at http://www.centerdigitalgov.com/surveys.php?survey=cities and then navigate our own city website.

When promoting Brownsville, our city website may be what makes the first impression on a prospective Winter Texan or a business looking to relocate. The same goes for other websites such as BISD, BND, and the airport. We should invest in a professionally designed website and the training for its maintenance. I know that in a city with so many low-income people and still limited access to the Internet, it may not seem worth it to spend money on this. However, we are growing rapidly and the role of technology is also increasing. Before they start adding more administrative positions, the city should try to improve efficiency through online services. Maybe a new website can be a way to promote the new Imagine project and they can increase awareness by having a contest to design a new city logo to be revealed during the launch of the new website. I hope the new mayor has the vision to not only implement the Imagine project but also to actively improve our image.

We Need A First Class Airport!

You have neglected to view The Brownsville Airport as one of the most important transportation aspects of the city of Brownsville Texas.

You need a first class airport to compete with not only Harlingen and McAllen, but the rest of Texas. The city or someone should take over and have a serious upgrade to the airport or face more business leave Brownsville for Harlingen. Freight business comes to mind.

You expect the Feds to give you money for the airport improvements. Slow and at the mercy of the feds. Wake up and smell the jet fumes. You need to have a professional airport manager and appropriate money for a new modern terminal and expand the runway to at least 10,000. Then and only then will you have cargo to make the airport viable and have more than one airline.

Talk is cheap about trying to get a second airline, but do what you did for Continental.

Hire A Whole Staff of In-House Professional Engineers.

I just caught the last 2 items of tonight's city commission meeting. The second to last item dealt with the proposed multi-modal bus terminal. During this item, Paul Calapa, the City's Purchasing Director recommended that the Commission delegate the task of Construction Management to the design consultant Carter and Burgess of Fort Worth. The total design and construction inspection fee is projected to be $1.3 million dollars. How much of that is for a construction manager? Although I am not against professional oversight, I just wonder how much the City would save if it had a professional, in house, that could manage this project. How much are they paying Spaw Glass to oversee the construction of the new sports park?

During the last item, the Mr. Calapa mentioned a change to the professional services contract governing the City Landfill. Mr. Calapa stated that due to the stricter rules handed down by the EPA and the TCEQ, the City would need to expand this year's contract to RGR (not sure about the exact name) Engineers of Houston. He recommended that the Commission approve a $169,000 change to the contract because of the new rules and monitoring requirements for air and water quality.

Again, I am not against bringing in experts, but.... why not hire a couple of engineers who can handle, or at least administer part of this work. It would pay for itself! Finally, Mr. Calapa informed the Commission that the estimates for this contract over the next four years will be 2 million dollars. That's 500,000 dollars per year. That's just for the landfill! We are spending our City budget away by hiring professional engineering consu! ltants.

Why not just hire a whole staff of competent in house engineers? All that money could then stay in Brownsville. Right now it's pretty much all going to pay for salaries of residents of Houston and Ft. Worth. It's boosting their economies! Brownsville loses again!

Both items were voted on, unanimously, without any discussion or questions from the commissioners. Who's looking out for you?????

Is There Criteria For City Management?

Can you please find out the criteria the City uses to find new executive level employees? It seems very rare that they recruit new talent. They seem to always shift employees around.

My question is, do they actively advertise outside of Brownsville? Do they ever advertise on sites such as the Texas Municipal League, of which Brownsville is a member? Do they seek out talent from smaller cities, such as Harlingen, or Kingsville? Do they seek out top level assistants from larger cities, such as San Antonio, to fill the Director positions here? What is the process? It seems to me, that with there are very few "outsiders" working for the City. These people bring ideas. These people bring experience. These people bring connections to other cities, and other legislators. Most big businesses have people from different backgrounds.

Why does Brownsville not seek out the best? Why don't we taxpayers deserve the best? I think it's great that they consider existing employees when hiring directors, but.... do they compare them against a pool of outside applicants and then make the best decision??? Then, when they move these "insiders" up to the top, how do they fill the voids they leave at the lower level? Do they hire new, inexperienced employees to fill their shoes? Do they spend years training these new guys? Or do they go out to other smaller cities to recruit the lower level talent? Probably not, if they don't do it for the executive positions? Please investigate this process!!!