When Will Brownsville Ever Learn?

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

Lucy Van Pelt turns to Charlie Brown and asks him to kick a football that she'll hold up for him. Charlie Brown says no, because she'll pull the ball away at the last second, causing Charlie Brown to fall on his rear end. Lucy promises not to do that this time. She eventually convinces Chuck to wind up and come charging at the ball. He has a full head of steam as he bears down on the ball. At the last second, Lucy pulls the ball away and Charlie Brown falls on his butt.

Again and again.

Brownsville is Charlie Brown, and businesses saying they'll come and invest are Lucy.

You'd think we'd learn by now, but we don't. We keep enticing these pie-in-the-sky businesses to come down, they promise money and jobs and a long term investment in the community only to change their business model or pull out completely.

Anova LNG is the most recent company to pull their tent stakes out of the ground, roll up their tent, and go back home — leaving us nothing in return.

The Houston based company, along with their Chicago based parent company, Excelon Corporation, cited "changes in the global LNG market," as their reason for leaving.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in demand for liquefued natural gas, a commodity that had been on the rise for the past six years. Anova LNG's CEO recently left the company to take a job in an energy company in Canada, although the CEO's departure had nothing to do with the decision according to Anova LNG.

This news has Brownsvillians wondering if the other two LNG companies committed to the project, Texas LNG and Next Decade LNG, will follow suit causing the project to collapse.

The news of Anova LNG pulling out is disappointing to local businesses who were told of the high paying jobs and millions of dollars in revenue that would be pumped into the local economy.

Disappointing to some, but not at all surprising to residents who have lived here their whole lives.

Anova LNG joins a list of several companies that have promised a lot but delivered very little. One needs only to mention Titan Tire to get eyerolls and groans in return.

The Illinois-Based tire manufacutrer built a huge warehouse and manufacturing facility on Paredes Line Road and said they'd create all kinds of manufacturing jobs. The CEO of the company was just using Brownsville as a tactic to keep union leaders in line in Illinois. No tires were ever produced at the plant. 

All the North Brownsville expansion was supposed to bring a whole bunch of restaurants where the Olive Garden was built. Two, or three, more restaurants were supposed to be built there, including a Longhorn Steakhouse. Those restaurants never got built.

Applebee's opened a new restaurant blocks away from the old restaurant only to close a few months into its operation.

An Italian heavy manufacturing company making tractor parts and equipment was supposed to set up shop off SH 550 bringing all kinds of high paying jobs to the area. It didn't happen.

Rolled steel manufacturing was supposed to happen by the Port with the construction of a big steel plant. Yet another manufacturing plant that didn't happen.

An industrial park close to the Port of Brownsville sits relatively unoccupied as tenants who promised to occupy the facilities never moved in.

And let's not forget the swindler Elon Musk promising 75,000 dollar a year jobs and monthly rocket launches that would attract thousands of people to eat, shop, and spend money in Brownsville. He convinced so many people the leaders of the Island built an amphitheater and observation platform so people could watch the rockets launch. It sits relatively unused. Musk changed the purpose of the facility to try and fulfill his pipe dream of launching a spaceship to Mars.

When will our city and county leaders learn and negotiate legitimate deals that will bring real jobs and real revenue to the city? When will we hold these companies accountable for lying to us and when will we stop giving these companies sweetheart deals to avoid paying taxes? 

When will Brownsville stop taking one step forward and three steps back?







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