By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Four members of the Amistad Community Action Group gave city council members an earful of opposition Tuesday to the city’s planned second international bridge and the routes connecting it with area highways.
The four made their comments during the city council’s most recent meeting.
County resident Jon Grace told the council he had read the same remarks earlier in the day during a meeting of the city’s International Bridge Board and said he wanted to read them again to council members.
Grace told the council, “I would just like to remind everyone who this new port of entry is being built for. It’s not being built for the benefit of the residents of Del Rio, Val Verde County, the state of Texas or the United States. This new bridge is being built solely for the monetary benefit of the following: number one, landowners of the maquiladoras in Acuña; number two, landowners of the industrial parks in Del Rio; number three, business owners of the maquiladoras in Acuña; and number four, the business owners of the industrial parks in Del Rio; and number five, land speculators who bought land in the Vega Verde and along Las Brisas Boulevard, hoping to sell it for a nice profit to the city of Del Rio when the bridge and the port are constructed.
“It is my opinion that this project is being pushed through so aggressively because the above-mentioned individuals and businesses have a lot of power and influence over our city and over our local government. The true goal of this project is not to support the Ports-to-Plains route or a future interstate or international commerce or increased safety or reduced pollution by increasing efficiency or reduced wait times or any of the other misleading bullet points that are on the PowerPoint attached to (tonight’s) agenda.
“If the city of Del Rio truly wants to accomplish these goals, then they have chosen the absolute worst location that they could find (for the proposed second bridge). The downriver location, (with a connecting route) going through the (old) Moody Ranch would be far more successful if you truly wanted to see these benefits come true.
“The current proposed upriver location, from Vega Verde, will make it very difficult to accomplish the advertised goals of this new port of entry.
“Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not against people or businesses trying to make money and see a profit. That is what we are all striving for in this life. The problem that I have with this project is that our elected officials think it’s okay to bulldoze homes, ruin residential neighborhoods, threaten Lake Amistad and increase our already high taxes just so a very selected few individuals and businesses can prosper.
“Making money is a good idea, but not at the cost of exploiting the very people who you are elected to represent,” Grace finished.
Arreola next recognized county resident Lori Reyes, another member of the group.
Reyes told the council, “I would like to call your attention to slide 17 in tonight’s bridge presentation. Slide 17 states that one of the purposes of the second (international) bridge is ‘increase safety on both sides of the border by moving commercial traffic to outside of the populated areas.’
“The area between Del Rio and Lake Amistad is a populated area. If you actually wanted the route (between the proposed bridge site and area highways) to go through an unpopulated area, you would be looking south of Del Rio on the old Moody Ranch.
“Before you say I’m against progress, let me make something very clear. I am against destruction of homes, especially when there’s a perfectly good (alternate) location nearby. If you want to be part of Ports-to-Plains, the location south of Del Rio would allow a more direct, shorter and safer connection and would not require bulldozing any homes,” Reyes said.
“Numerous times officials from the city of Del Rio have stated they are working with TxDOT, and that one of the (future) steps (toward obtaining a presidential permit for the proposed new bridge) is obtaining a permit from TxDOT. In response to our inquiries, TxDOT has stated, ‘TxDOT is not involved in the proposed project. This is a project that will be undertaken, managed and developed solely by the city of Del Rio.’
“Since TxDOT will not be subsidizing this project, how does the city of Del Rio expect to pay for it? The increases in taxes are already running people out of town. The citizens of Del Rio have no more money to give towards your vanity project,” she said.
“Commercial vehicles crossings (of the existing international bridge) are down, 3.0 percent for May, and crossings through May of this year are 29,656, down from 30,453 through May of 2023. Crossings are going down. How do you expect to pay for another bridge when we don’t have enough trucks crossing the bridge we already have?” Reyes finished.
Arreola recognized a third member of the group, George Solis.
Solis told the council, “I spoke to the mayor and the bridge board this morning. One of the first things I stated was I had served in the Air Force and the U.S. Border Patrol for 32 years. I’ve been serving my country. I’ve been shot at for my country. My daughter has been shot at for my country. Both my grandparents were in World War II. . .And I say that because why are we trying to take people’s private property?
“I did not serve, my daughter did not serve, my grandfathers did not serve, so we could take people’s private property. It’s not right. After I left the meeting this morning, I did dome research this morning on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments (to the U.S. Constitution).
“The Fifth Amendment, specifically, contains a taking clause. And that’s something the city attorney better be looking into, because there are two cases this year that were won by private property owners. One of them here in Texas that’s going to make a huge hurdle for the city to jump if they try and take people’s private property.
“Another thing, why are we accommodating Mexico? Not too long ago, we had 15,000 to 20,000 Haitians under the (existing international) bridge because of Mexico. They allowed these people to infiltrate our country. And almost every day now, you hear about some child, some woman, some person killed or being raped by these people.
“But you want to accommodate Mexico. There’s a Bible verse that Jesus said: ‘He who is with you is not against you.’ Well, the opposite is true. If they’re doing this, they’re not acting like a friend. They’re no acting like an ally. They are against us. And that’s troublesome that you guys want to help them with that.
“And another thing, what Lori (Reyes) was talking about. There’s another route you can take. Go through the south of Del Rio. I looked up the infrastructure on Google Earth. It’s very easy to look at, and they have Highway 29 and Highway 2, and it goes all the way to Piedras (Negras, Coah., Mexico), so we can connect to that, easy. You want to take a southern route and not take these people out of their homes.
“But why do that in the first place? They are building a third bridge in Piedras. We don’t need one here. I’ve been around places where they’ve introduced new infrastructure. I was a Border Patrol agent for 22 years. You’re going to change the environment, the greatness of the city, and these beautiful people, by bringing in this bridge because these commercial truckers are going to come in and with commercial truckers come commercial elements, and they’re going to infiltrate this area. The criminal organizations, they come and exploit the truck stops and the transients are going to come into all our neighborhoods.
“What are you going to do about the extra accidents, the extra hazmat that’s going to come through? Think about that stuff. Be more farsighted, is all I’m asking you,” Solis finished.
The last member of the group to speak was Jordan Ediger.
He told the council, “Tonight you have on the agenda an update on the second international bridge. I requested that you have with your constituents an open dialogue to discuss this topic when this topic comes up. Your citizens have been demanding that this topic be reassessed and the topic of the north (of Del Rio) international bridge to completely cease.
“You have lied to your citizens regarding support for this topic, and you continue on without any evidence of that support. Mr. Mayor, a few weeks ago, you invited me to go with you to Ciudad Acuña to visit the maquiladoras, and I told you you would need a big bus. Then you mentioned that you wanted to bring me because ‘I am their voice.’
“To everyone in Del Rio, this should be a very concerning statement from their mayor. To say that someone else is ‘their voice’ indicated that the current city mayor does not see himself as the voice of the city should alarm all citizens who care about the future of Del Rio.
“However, it is perhaps the most honest statement coming from our mayor. Given the substantial outpouring from the citizens regarding this project and the blatant disregard for their petition, from not only the mayor but also the entire city council, this city should be concerned for these actions, as I also do.
“Mr. Mayor, you have a choice to continue on this path of blatant disregard or you can recognize that your position must represent all citizens and not just a powerful few. A powerful few who know that their actions are wrong and who have refrained from publicly stating support for this topic because they also know inside that it is, in fact, wrong. Choose right. Twelve hundred city and county constituents aren’t wrong on this matter,” Ediger finished.
The writer at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
