McNair Wins, Petition to Change McNair Family Drive Fails to Gain Approval, 4-3

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

In the end, the pleas of residents living on the former East Fronton Street weren't enough to sway the majority of the city commission. Hiding behind a questionable street-naming process, city commissioners put on a shameful display of trying to justify why they couldn't, or wouldn't, support renaming McNair Family Drive back to its original name of East Fronton Street.

The public hearing started at around six o'clock this evening in the city commission chamber. Residents approached the podium and voiced their reasons why the commission should support the petition to change the name back to East Fronton Street. One resident mentioned how much the collective residents who live on the former East Fronton pump tens of thousands of dollars into the city's property tax coffers. Another woman made a passionate plea to the commission in Spanish, talking about the history and the significance of the street name and what it meant for her to live on East Fronton.

When the public hearing comments were closed, the mayor opened up the floor for a vote and any comments any of the commissioners wanted to make. It appeared as if the vote was going to come quick and it seemed as if the petition was well on its way to be approved as the motion was quickly introduced and seconded. District 4 Commissioner Ben Neece opened up the discussion. Neece mentioned he was all for the petition being approved since there was now clarification from the city's legal department — the commissioners were free of any legal entanglement preventing them from changing the name back to East Fronton Street.

The Commissioner Gowen stepped up to the plate. Commissioner Gowen mentiond she never wanted to have a part in another street naming/re-naming brouhaha — she had enough of the back and forth drama this entire situation had stirred up. She then started blaming the city's unclear policy on naming and re-naming streets. She then cited that lack of clarity as the reason why she would be voting "no." 

Groans and gasps could be heard from the crowd as Commissioner Munguia crept closer to the microphone. He also began citing the entanglement and confusion with the city's entire street naming process. He too, would be voting "no."

Commissioner Cowen then began to speak, He echoed Commissioner Munguia's sentimnents, adding there needs to be a more clear policy enacted when it comes to naming and re-naming streets, rather than just having adopted another city's "cookie-cutter" policy. He was also a "no" vote.

Then the final coup de grace was administered by District 2 Commissioner Jessica Tetreau. Never missing a moment to make herself sound more important than she actually is, she started off by reminding everybody in the chamber how she decided to run for office because she wanted to change things up and make things better on the city commission, She then launched into a jumble of "um's" and "likes" as she tried explaining how there was no way she was going to be able to please everybody; in one way, shape, or form someone was going to be upset and one side of the McNair-East Fronton supporter struggle was going to be disappointed. She continued to dance around an apology to those in attendance as she fumbled around her final remarks.

District 1 Commissioner Nurith Galonsky Pizana, doing the simple math in her head and realizing the petition was sunk, offered a more sincere apology than the half-hearted attempt Tetreau gave. She addressed those who spoke during the public hearing comments and told them she was sorry. She also mentioned how Harry McNair took advantage of the city's nonexistent street naming policy and if he really wanted to do things right, he should have build a new road somewhere that would have given him the right to name it whatever he saw fit. Instead, he took an existing, historical street name and manipulated the system to get what he wanted. The embarrassment and shame were clearly noticeable in her voice as the woman who had commented in Spanish earlier fired back at her saying the embarrassment, shame, and dishonor Galonsky felt was nothing compared to the way she, and other residents of the former East Fronton Street felt. Tetreau then clumsily chimed in, reminding those in attendance the Fronton Street name wasn't completely going away — Fronton Street would still exist west of Palm Boulevard. That comment was met with more groans and jeers. 

The mayor quickly asked Commissioner Galonsky to wrap up her comments for fear the chamber would get out of hand with those who would want to engage in further conversation with the commissioners. Ben Neece ended the comments by reminding the commissioners who had mentioned they were voting "no" that the vote had not yet happened, and he implored them to reconsider. He reminded them a legal interpretation of the policy had been conducted. He also mentioned the people who had submitted the petition had jumped through all the hoops they had been asked to jump through. He asked the commissioners to do their due diligence and asked them to listen to the wishes of the majority of the residents living on the former East Fronton Street.

Those comments fell on deaf ears, as the mayor called for a show of hands. When it was over, Joel Munguia, Rose Gowen, John Cowen, and Jessica Tetreau all voted "no." The petition failed to pass 4-3.

More groans were heard as the chamber began to empty out. Several people were there solely for this one item. The people left in disgust as another action item about redistricting and tax entities was brought to the attention of the commission.

It really is a pity this was the outcome. I am not the smartest man in the world, and I am not a politician, but I have always held the belief that politicians should do whatever the majority of their constituents want. That is the one bedrock principle of a representative republic style government. Everybody doesn't actually have a say in what happens in their community, The people elect representatives who are supposed to act in the best interests of the citizenry. In this one instance, the city commission, as a whole, failed the community. The city commission let the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many.

Earlier today, I wrote a brief article saying I hoped the street naming debacle would finally be put to bed. I wonder if it has. I really wasn't expecting this to be the outcome. When this action was tabled at the last meeting, it seemed as if the commission was only looking for clarification on the legal interpretation of the petition. It really did seem as if this meeting was merely going to be a formality in re-naming McNair Family Drive back to East Fronton Street.

I live within a stone's throw of downtown and within two stone's throws of McNair Family Drive. It really is disappointing the city commission did not listen to the wishes of the majority of the people. It really is a pity our city's history can be wiped clean at the behest of one member of one family. 

To the four city commissioners who voted to deny the petition, I can only say you had better hope you do something outstanding for the city with the remaining time you all have on your respective terrms, because I'm sure the people who you failed today will remember what it is you did.

They may eventually forgive you, but I highly doubt they'll forget.

Shame on you. You have dishonored and disgraced the very people you swore to represent.