BEDC: Time for a Paradigm Change

In my travels around town, I invariably hear the mantra "Brownsville is different" when attempting to benchmark Brownsville to peer cities. The mantra is used as an intellectual gavel that usually ends all further discussion of the subject. So, for example, one cannot compare the performance of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation/ Brownsville Economic Development Council (BEDC) with the McAllen Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Why? We are different. After all, MEDC is a 4B and BEDC is a 4A. We are apples, McAllen is oranges. Why are utilities cheaper in McAllen(http://www.medc.org/cost_living.php ) ? Well, Brownsville has a city-owned utility. Why does McAllen have nine professional engineers on its staff and Brownsville only one? Well, we have a different city management. Why do McAllen's streets have fewer potholes? Brownsville has different soil composition. On and on it goes...

Let's take one of these and see if the mantra withstands scrutiny: MEDC vs. BEDC. Based on official reports filed with the State Comptroller's Office(https://ecpa.cpa.state.tx.us/edcr/EdcrSearch.jsp), MEDC and BEDC are BOTH APPLES (although admittedly different kinds: granny smith and red delicious apples). A summary of the self-generated reports at the Comptroller's website indicates:

1. MEDC is a "4B" corporation, GBIC/BEDC is a "4A" corporation.
2. Both have the same #1 economic development objective: job creation/job retention.
3. Both indicate essentially all their revenues is from sales taxes. (McAllen $ 13,362,264 vs. Brownsville $ 4,178,561.4).
4. The only real difference: McAllen spent $ 951,000 on job training.

BEDC's most recent "success", the T-Mobile Call Center, as posted elsewhere, will provide 700 near poverty-level jobs. The truth is that the board of GBIC needs to change its mission and shift their paradigm from viewing Brownsville as a border "maquila" town recruiting low-paying jobs for a cheap workforce, because China and India are always going to be cheaper. They also need to come under the authority of the Brownsville City Commission---like the 4 B "Quality of Life" Brownsville Community Incentives Corporation does --and let our elected representatives (not appointees) decide in open session what projects will be funded with our tax dollars. Not that it matters, but that is what state law requires.

To paraphrase what kids like to say today, maquilas are soooooooo last century. We can -- we must-- do better.