Does McHale Have a Point?
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
When I grow up, I want to be like Jerry McHale. At least, I want to be read as much as he is. I have written several articles referencing my admiration and respect for Brownsville's Blogfather.
The only time I cringe when reading The McHale Report is when I see him call Brownsville the Third World Capital of the United States. I love my hometown. I love that I'm a Texan, I love that I'm from the Rio Grande Valley, and I love that I am from Brownsville. When I lived in San Antonio for a year I never said I was from San Antonio. When I lived in Austin, I never said I was from Austin. I always swelled with pride when people asked me where I was from.
"Brownsville, the Rio Grande Valley," I would zealously exclaim.
I never hid the fact I was from the Valley. I never pretended to be from anywhere else.
I would always take exception with McHale's assessment of Brownsville being America's Third World Capital, but to be perfectly honest, the city government and its administrators are doing everything in their power to make his assessment come true.
Brownsville has a massive bureaucracy. Among its many departments is the Public Health department. The Public Health department is broken down into several different subsections, one of which is the Ordinance Enforcement division, formerly known as "Code Enforcement."
According to the city's website, the Ordinance Enforcement division's goal is to, "improve the quality of life and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community through education and enforcement."
I don't know who they're trying to fool, but there is very little enforcement going on in the Ordinance Enforcement division.
One of the goals of the Ordinance Enforcement division is to curtail illegal dumping. If you drive through Brownsville, you'll see alleys and roadways littered with all kinds of things from mattresses to toilet bowls; old fiberglass boat hulls to old construction and building materials, and everything in between. These items pile up along curbs and alleys, and they never seem to go away. In the alley behind my house, there is an old toilet bowl and a pile of cinder blocks that have been there for the better part of two years. On my way to work, there are piles of debris along roadways that never seem to be collected.
Another issue is heavy brush collection. Many people clog up alleyways with tree limbs and foliage they dump after doing yard work and landscaping. A brush truck will come by, collect the brush, and haul it away. In many instances, the brush trucks block the entrances of alleys while they clear the brush from adjacent and neighboring alleyways. They also leave a huge string of debris in their wake, often times making more of a mess than they clean up. There was one instance when I had to go to work and I couldn't leave my house because the brush truck had piled up a large mountain of tree limbs at the entrance of one of the alleyways. I called Republic and the city. I also messaged a city commissioner, to no avail.
Yet another thing Ordinance Enforcement is supposed to do is ensure people are keeping their grass from getting too high and creating obstructions. There are several abandoned lots that look like jungles because people don't bother to clean them or mow the grass. When I was young, my family owned a vacant lot on East Fronton Street (no, not on McNair Family Drive). My grandfather would take me to the lot every weekend to mow the grass. There was not one time where we let the grass get out of control. Now, even lots that have houses and are occupied let their grass grow uncontrollably.
The Ordinance Enforcement division drops the ball on other occasions as well. I don't know how many people work for that division, but if they're hiring, and they're willing to match my current salary, I'll gladly drive around handing out violations to people who violate the city ordinances.
I know now why McHale calls us the Third World Capital of the United States. Some neighborhoods look terrible with their unkempt yards, garbage and debris in the alley, junk and abandoned vehicles in lots, and with garage and yard sales every weekend (yes, that's also a no-no that Ordinance Enforcement doesn't really enforce).
With election season here, we will also see another problem arise — the post-apocalyptic landscape of the abandoned political advertisements. How long will the citizenry have to endure seeing political signs on Central Boulevard across from the Brownsville Public Library before the candidates are asked to take them down? There is a certain number of days candidates have to remove their signs, but that is also hardly ever enforced. We'll just have to wait and see how long past November these signs will remain where they are.
At the end of the day, it appears we are our own worst enemy, and the city's Ordinance Enforcement division doesn't seem too interested in doing anything about it.
I, for one, would very much like Brownsville to move away from looking like a Third World city. What ever happened to "Keep Brownsville Beautiful?" Why is it the simplest things to do are always the ones we abandon?
Perhaps it is time to demand city leaders take beautification and cleanliness more seriously. And I'm not just talking around the hike and bike trails, either.
We all deserve to have our corner of the city looking good. From Old Downtown to Southmost, from North Brownsville to Four Corners, and from Boca Chica to Military Highway, the city should do more to make us all look better.
When I grow up, I want to be like Jerry McHale. At least, I want to be read as much as he is. I have written several articles referencing my admiration and respect for Brownsville's Blogfather.
The only time I cringe when reading The McHale Report is when I see him call Brownsville the Third World Capital of the United States. I love my hometown. I love that I'm a Texan, I love that I'm from the Rio Grande Valley, and I love that I am from Brownsville. When I lived in San Antonio for a year I never said I was from San Antonio. When I lived in Austin, I never said I was from Austin. I always swelled with pride when people asked me where I was from.
"Brownsville, the Rio Grande Valley," I would zealously exclaim.
I never hid the fact I was from the Valley. I never pretended to be from anywhere else.
I would always take exception with McHale's assessment of Brownsville being America's Third World Capital, but to be perfectly honest, the city government and its administrators are doing everything in their power to make his assessment come true.
Brownsville has a massive bureaucracy. Among its many departments is the Public Health department. The Public Health department is broken down into several different subsections, one of which is the Ordinance Enforcement division, formerly known as "Code Enforcement."
According to the city's website, the Ordinance Enforcement division's goal is to, "improve the quality of life and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community through education and enforcement."
I don't know who they're trying to fool, but there is very little enforcement going on in the Ordinance Enforcement division.
One of the goals of the Ordinance Enforcement division is to curtail illegal dumping. If you drive through Brownsville, you'll see alleys and roadways littered with all kinds of things from mattresses to toilet bowls; old fiberglass boat hulls to old construction and building materials, and everything in between. These items pile up along curbs and alleys, and they never seem to go away. In the alley behind my house, there is an old toilet bowl and a pile of cinder blocks that have been there for the better part of two years. On my way to work, there are piles of debris along roadways that never seem to be collected.
Another issue is heavy brush collection. Many people clog up alleyways with tree limbs and foliage they dump after doing yard work and landscaping. A brush truck will come by, collect the brush, and haul it away. In many instances, the brush trucks block the entrances of alleys while they clear the brush from adjacent and neighboring alleyways. They also leave a huge string of debris in their wake, often times making more of a mess than they clean up. There was one instance when I had to go to work and I couldn't leave my house because the brush truck had piled up a large mountain of tree limbs at the entrance of one of the alleyways. I called Republic and the city. I also messaged a city commissioner, to no avail.
Yet another thing Ordinance Enforcement is supposed to do is ensure people are keeping their grass from getting too high and creating obstructions. There are several abandoned lots that look like jungles because people don't bother to clean them or mow the grass. When I was young, my family owned a vacant lot on East Fronton Street (no, not on McNair Family Drive). My grandfather would take me to the lot every weekend to mow the grass. There was not one time where we let the grass get out of control. Now, even lots that have houses and are occupied let their grass grow uncontrollably.
The Ordinance Enforcement division drops the ball on other occasions as well. I don't know how many people work for that division, but if they're hiring, and they're willing to match my current salary, I'll gladly drive around handing out violations to people who violate the city ordinances.
I know now why McHale calls us the Third World Capital of the United States. Some neighborhoods look terrible with their unkempt yards, garbage and debris in the alley, junk and abandoned vehicles in lots, and with garage and yard sales every weekend (yes, that's also a no-no that Ordinance Enforcement doesn't really enforce).
With election season here, we will also see another problem arise — the post-apocalyptic landscape of the abandoned political advertisements. How long will the citizenry have to endure seeing political signs on Central Boulevard across from the Brownsville Public Library before the candidates are asked to take them down? There is a certain number of days candidates have to remove their signs, but that is also hardly ever enforced. We'll just have to wait and see how long past November these signs will remain where they are.
At the end of the day, it appears we are our own worst enemy, and the city's Ordinance Enforcement division doesn't seem too interested in doing anything about it.
I, for one, would very much like Brownsville to move away from looking like a Third World city. What ever happened to "Keep Brownsville Beautiful?" Why is it the simplest things to do are always the ones we abandon?
Perhaps it is time to demand city leaders take beautification and cleanliness more seriously. And I'm not just talking around the hike and bike trails, either.
We all deserve to have our corner of the city looking good. From Old Downtown to Southmost, from North Brownsville to Four Corners, and from Boca Chica to Military Highway, the city should do more to make us all look better.
Comments
Post a Comment