Does the City Charter Need Revamping?

By Diego Garcia III ★ Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

One of the problems with the Texas Constitution is the sheer length of the document. Texas lawmakers often choose to add to the Constitution rather than amend and streamline the document. Coming in at just a few words shy of 87,000, the Texas Constitution is the second longest state constitution in the county.

Among some of the laws still on the Texas books include gems prohibiting the milking of your neighbor's cow or it being illegal to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel. 

The Texas Constitution and a rash of antiquated laws need to be revamped and updated.

The same can be said about Brownsville's city charter. While it may not be the phone book sized behemoth the Texas Constitution is, current city administrators and their actions are making Brownsvillians take a longer look into what is effectively the city's Constitution.

Two of the main issues currently revolve around the massive tax breaks people who own properties tagged with a historical designation enjoy and the quasi-absolute power the city manager has to shuffle, remove, and appoint city employees.

Our mayor and one city commissioner have recently come under fire for owning property that isn't taxed by the city, county, school district, or junior college district. Because the mayor's house, law office, and downtown restaurant are designated as historical buildings, they are tax exempt. The same thing applies to Commissioner Rose Gowen's home.

I'm not blaming the mayor and the commissioner for choising to live and work in historical homes and office buildings. I am a history major. I can appreciate what these historic buildings mean to the city. However, I believe the city should rethink the tax exemption status for these historical buildings.

I understand wealthy people have always found ways to manipulate the country's tax code to avoid paying a boatload of money to the different taxing entities that have to be paid, but in one the poorest communities in the country, Brownsville and Cameron County can no longer afford to rob itself of the tax dollars that could be collected for critical infrastructure and public safety improvements.

Cliff's Notes version: The more tax dollars we collect, the easier we can fix things like potholes and broken street lights.

The optics of the tax exempt status of city leaders is also an issue. How can city leaders push civic duty and responsibility when they're shirking their own? How can they say they're trying to make Brownsville a better place when they aren't paying into the system?

Yes, their tax exempt status is legal, but is it moral? 

City leaders should consider changing the tax exemption codes to bring more revenue into the public coffers, not less. Taxes shouldn't be a penalty only the poor pay. They should be a burden shared by the entire community.

Optics also play a role in the city manager's ability to realign city departments at-will. The city charter allows for the city manager to remove and appoint people to certain city positions as he sees fit. 

Noel Bernal recently fired Judge Bobby Lerma. Bernal is set to appoint city attorney Rene De Coss as municipal court judge. It is Bernal's job to make the appointment, but Bernal's shuffling of city administrators and filling positions with what some critics say are his cronies and friends have caused many to wonder if city offices should be appointed by a group of committee members rather than one individual.

Cliff's Notes version: The city charter gives the city manager too much unchecked power to move people around as he pleases.

Politicians love to throw around buzzwords that make them sound like they're trying to do the right thing. However, those words lose their effectiveness and their meaning when they're not being lived up to.

The city charter needs to stop creating a wider chasm between the haves and the have-nots of Brownsville.

Candidates for office in the next election cycle should ve asked if they support amending the city charter to remove the tax exemption for those who own property with a historical designation. They should also be asked if they support limiting the dictatorial power of the city manager.

It's hard to be responsible, accountable, and transparent when you're saying one thing and doing another.