Police Station In Edinburg.... We're Finally Getting Things Done

There was a recent article in the Monitor which touched on the current state of construction projects in the City. Namely the Police Station.

It was plain to me that prior to my election, Velasco had terminated his work on the job, (This is public record for anyone interested). Everyone must keep in mind that prior to the contractor terminating the job, there were numerous delays and hold ups.

Once the new Mayor and I were elected, the Mayor and I immediately called to start having Open, Public, Televised work sessions, where the new council and the public could hear what was happening. (It's all public record for anyone interested)

Suddenly the newspapers started publishing facts, council members started blaming each other for mistakes, our city manager quit, the public was finally made aware of the fiasco. Coincidence? NO WAY!

There is a story here folks, one that will cost the taxpayers dearly, cost someone else an election, and others jail time. (if I had it my way)

Why was this not addressed before the election in May? If I had known about it, it would have been at the forefront of my campaign.

My position is that an omission of the truth might was well be a lie when it comes to public taxpayer money. A needless million dollar mistake cost to the taxpayer should have been addressed.

I ask you...Should I not say anything, should I keep my mouth shut? That I could easily do. You see, it would be so easy to keep it from the public, to get along, to help my fellow council and ask for a political favor later.

But quess what I wasn't raised to decieve other or keep quiet. What's right is right folks!

BOTTOM LINE... the public needs to know that the previous administration should have screamed to the high heavens! Not keep it from us. I don't know mayby they were afraid they might lose the Mayoral election, or my predecessors election. I will leave that question to you to decide. For now, I will remain ever vigilant in letting you know exactly what I know.

Now some may try and sugar coat this, or say that it was being addressed.

I will say it now and again, THAT SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE! What we as citizens and I as a public official must realize is that the PD problem could have been fixed a long long time ago. It should not have taken the new Mayor and Myself screaming, yelling, and begging for something to get done.

Now that we have done so, others criticize.


Here we have a potential two million dollar mistake, and no one knew about it, and yet the Roadrunners were behind in rent payments by an amount that does't equate to 10% of the PD Fiasco, but we kicked them out of town, filed charges, sued them and let the door hit them on the way out.

What is wrong with that scenario? I ask the public not believe the political rhetoric by me or anyone else. Just look it up, it's all public record, and its your right!

What the public needs to ask themselves is...

What would have happened if the Mayor and I had not won our elections. Sometimes it's good to have checks and balances, if anything it keeps us honest.

Have fun with this one Councilman!

First Hartford High on New Project!

I just back from San Antonio today, Councilmen Garza,Espinosa and I had an opportunity to meet with the First Hartford group (the developer) for the proposed mall in Edinburg. It was very enlightening. First Hartford is getting alot of positive responses from several retailers. I specifically asked when we could expect to see construction on Trenton and 281. First Hartford is hoping to break ground in January. Needless to say I was very excited to hear this.

The conceptual design plan for the proposed mall is put together very nicely. It is still too early to give details on what stores will be in the mall, but First Hartford representatives assured me that they were very close to convincing at least one high end large department store on committing to the Edinburg Mall.

According to the Project Manager, First Hartford is hoping to breakground in January, of course alot of this will depend on the level of commitment they get from this weeks conference. The conference was an opportunity for Developers to court large and small retailers to their Shopping center. First Hartford should have a better idea on the Malls progress once the conference is over.

I will be contacting First Hartford on a regular basis and be updating everyone accordingly.

Protecting our Children....

I hope everyone saw the public news broadcast on Channel 5 this week. Apparently a man has been spotted stalking children walking home from School at Stephen F. Austin Elementary. Police have interviewed two parents and their children who have stated that a man in a brown car stopped them on their way home asking them "if they needed a ride home".

This is extremely disturbing, as many of you may know, we have a real issue in our city with sex offenders. I have been working with our local police Chief (Quirino Munoz), and the local Media on finding a way to inform the public how we can curtail these predators from victimizing our children.

Very soon the Chief and I will be broadcasting a special on Channel 12. We will be working with several local organizations on how we can educate and help our children protect themselves. These "pedophiles" are constantly finding ways to violate our laws.


Stay tuned for more information.. I will be in touch soon.

A Few Words from your commissioner...
As of late, I noticed a little buzz on my questioning of the bidding process for minor and major construction projects in the city. It's very simple everyone, the City of Edinburg is paying some extremely high prices, prices well above the industry and even other local municipalities. Sometimes 3 and 4 times the going rate. Now some might say that "That's just the way it is". I strongly disagree, the cost of bonding (which I researched thoroughly) does not justify what we have been paying. I implore you to do your own research, look into the matter. At the last council meeting I questioned prices on "how much we paid for a 8" SDR 26 PVC sewer line put in at Lift station 17. The city paid $75 dollars a linear foot (installed) at an 8' to 10' foot depth for 770 linear feet, and $99 dollars a linear foot (installed) at same depth for a 18" SDR 26 PVC sewer line but this one was for 2600 linear feet. My price as a private developer is respectively somewhere between 13 and 35 ($13 a foot for the 8" and $35 for the 18") That equates on those two line items alone to $214,140.00 dollars more than what a private developer pays. Why the marked difference, well if you notice on the council meetings, the issue of bonding continually comes into question. On average, a contractor pays 5% of the project cost to bond. That would mean that a $443K project, would bond out at about 22K. (443K being what the engineer originally estimated the project to cost).

8" SDR PVC $13.00 LF $75.00 LF 770 LF

18" SDR PVC $35.00 LF $99.00 LF 2600 LF

What does this mean, it means that the project should have come in somewhere in the neighborhood of about 465K. Well, the winning bid was 777K, 312K more than what the engineer budgeted (bond included). We obviously have a problem. Don't take my word for it, all you have to do is call a contractor or an engineer, any engineer (except those that have won bids at our city (conflict of interest)) and ask how much the two line items I specified would run. Keep in mind that the contractor would have to pay an additional 5% percent to bond the project.

I think you will be amazed at what you find. After you get the results call the councilmen who voted in favor of the price and let them know what you think.

Good luck all. I am looking forward to the responses.

GUS GARCIA'S BLOG