People will accept higher rates

Taxpayers are not stupid and can accept paying taxes or increased rates, provided they can see they are getting something in return, like paved streets, good services and honest government. Self-serving individuals who put out information that is not true or misrepresent the facts to create a perception that is false and totally destructive for our community do much damage to our city.

Unfortunately we are living in fractious times created by those whose agenda is not our community. They tend to undermine good governance by showing or supporting disrespect when people disagree with them on the issues, or by being hostile and divisive after the votes have been cast (even when they prevail), or by being obsessed with one individual (me) out of pettiness, jealousy and just viciousness at the expense of our beautiful city.

This is becoming more evident from the disruption during commission meetings, attacks against citizens who support me, and even against people who volunteer their time to serve, as evidenced by the attacks against PUB board members who respectfully voted to forward the rate study to the City Commission for consideration. Without even hearing the rate study presentation, there is ranting that PUB board members need to be replaced and one commissioner will oppose and get others on the commission to do the same under the pretext that he is protecting Brownsville with claims that are not true about the rate study.

The facts are that the rate study is based on the land use and capital improvement studies the City Commission previously approved to raise the impact fees for developers, at which time the Impact Fee Committee made it known the water and wastewater rates would have to go up to make it all work to build a better city.

The rate study based on the land use and CPI requires a nominal amount of increases over the next five years, with $3.67 per month for the average household needed in 2010, followed by $2.80, $4.68, $4.16 and $5.11 in subsequent years. Even though I was the one who pushed for raising impact fees to $3,180 instead of the lower amount, I have worked with the lower amount by supporting the rate study and voting at PUB with the others to raise rates, because it is the wise thing to do.

In return ratepayers can expect PUB to keep rates down to a minimum, leverage the impact fees collected in the future to meet new growth, and not out raise rates by a huge lump sum sometime in the future, but rather spread the increases out over five years to cause minimal hardship.

There is a Senate bill that calls for cities to plan for the next 50 years to meet their water needs and for Brownsville, the Weir Project is the cheapest and best way to meet those needs. After working on this project for 2.5 years, we now have a viable project to pursue for construction. However, if the proposed rate increases are not approved by the commission, then PUB has no choice but to pursue rerouting money appropriated by Congress for the Weir to the Robindale sewer plant project in order for the city to be in compliance with state requirements.

We should pursue designing both the wastewater treatment plant and the Weir project to submit for stimulus funding consideration, but if we are forced to divert Weir money we will also be killing not just the Weir, but a river walk, downtown revitalization, removing the wall to the East Loop project and will kill jobs for Brownsville.

Then the question is, whose agenda are these people serving who constantly make it difficult to build a better Brownsville? Some who have refused to accept the idea that I won the race for mayor? "No comen y no dejan comer" — they don’t partake, and they don’t allow others to partake either.

I do not like being the bad guy supporting what the experts tell us we should do to build a better Brownsville, but as mayor and leader of our city, I am committed to doing what is best for Brownsville. In this instance raising water rates by a nominal sum to meet new growth is the right thing to do. Everything goes up in price, providing and treating water is no different.

The question is, do we let someone with an obsession and destructive agenda for our city, along with his supporters, decide our future? Or do we invest in ourselves to meet growth, create jobs and build a better community?

Write your commissioners, write the editor and publicly voice your position for or against the rate increases. State why you would like to support or not support a rate increase to go forward with these two vital projects. If against the proposed rate increase, please offer well-informed viable alternatives that can be adopted to make the projects possible.

This is our community; let’s work together to build a better Brownsville.

 Pat Ahumada is Brownsville mayor.