Transcripts of Harlingen City Commission Meeting That Resulted In Two Criminal Charges Against Commissioner Marra Being Filed!

Editors Note: This is the official minutes of the September 1, 2010 Harlingen City Commission Meeting in which Commissioner Leftwich and Commissioner Marra get into a heated debate about the merits of taxing the business owners of downtown Harlingen.  This Agenda Item below is what brought about the 2 Criminal Charges that were filed against Commissioner Marra by a Special Prosecutor for the Cameron County District Attorneys Office today.  You should read the whole discussion below to get an idea what is going on, where the discussion gets heated, and the discussion that probably brought about the criminal charges against Commissioner Marra. The conversations are highlighted as follows:

Commissioner Marra's words are highlighted in yellow 

Commissioner Letwich's words are highlighted in green

City Attorney Controneo's words are highlighted in blue

REGULAR MEETING CITY COMMISSION, HARLINGEN, TEXAS  SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
A Regular Meeting of the Harlingen Elective Commission was held on Wednesday,
September 1, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. in Town Hall, City Hall, 118 E. Tyler Street, Harlingen, Texas.
Those in attendance were:
Mayor and City Commission
Mayor Chris Boswell
Joey Trevino, Mayor Pro Tem
Gustavo C. Ruiz, Commissioner District 1
Robert Leftwich, Commissioner District 2
Kori Marra, Commissioner District 3
Jerry Prepejchal, Commissioner District 4
Staff Present:
Gabriel Gonzalez, Interim City Manager
Roxann P. Cotroneo, City Attorney
Sylvia R. Trevino, City Secretary

PRESENTATION OF A PETITION BY DOWNTOWN PROPERTY OWNERS IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH CHAPTER 372 OF THE TEXAS LOCAL 
GOVERNMENT CODE TO REAUTHORIZE A PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT 
ASSESSMENT DISTRICT.  APPLICANT:  DOWNTOWN PROPERTY 
OWNERS, CITY OF HARLINGEN (PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT)
Cheryl LaBerge, Downtown District Director, went over a power point presentation and
outlined the progress that has occurred in downtown since the 70s and 80s when the
downtown was abandoned due to the opening of the Mall.
She noted that today Downtown has a remarkable 87.79 % occupancy, which is huge,
and it has been recognized as a leader on the state and on the national level. Ms. LaBerge
stated that she has been told that the occupancy downtown is better than the occupancy at
the mall, locally, and it is better than the occupancy rate in many other parts of town.  She
showed slides of buildings that are vacant in other parts of the town but these buildings
are not in the downtown district, as it currently exists.  Ms. LaBerge explained that retail
moved out to strip centers and malls in the 70’s and 80’s and this happened all over the
United States, not just in Harlingen or Texas. But the leadership in this community was
extremely smart in jumping on the bandwagon with the Texas Main Street program.
Texas was one of the first states in the United States to become a Main Street program
and Harlingen under the late Mayor Card, in 1989 was selected for the Main Street
program and through the combined efforts of a lot of the Mayors and Commissioners,
citizens, property owners and business owners, staff and this community worked very
hard over the years to make it a success.
She continued to explain that there was a lot of discussion about adding green to the
downtown’s mission. Downtown revitalization is very much so a green initiative.
Renovating, recycling, and repurposing buildings are what the downtown revitalization
program is about. So it’s a real cornerstone for that green initiative that you’re pursuing.
There are a lot of green features to main street; some of the things like the transom
windows in the historic buildings, the walkability in the downtown, and property owner
seminars with regard to renewable energy for the property owners in the downtown
district have also been held. Ms. LaBerge spoke about repurposing buildings and gave the
Thompson Mortuary building, built almost a century ago on Jackson St. as an example,
which today is functioning as the Tony Schaub Art Studio, with living space upstairs and
an Art Gallery and an Art Studio downstairs.
She stated that downtown is a very diverse business district.  The downtown vision was
to make sure that it wasn’t abandoned, that it didn’t just blow away and die like it has
happened in a lot of communities across the country. There currently are 235 businesses
or organizations that operate downtown as a mix with only about 17% retail. There are
also services, offices, and non-profit organizations. Antique shops is where the Jackson
St district started and the revitalization effort because the Antique stores are easy to get in
with very little overhead when you have abandoned buildings. It started as an antique
district but today on the Jackson St. side there’s actually very few Antique shops because
that whole market nitch has changed.  On the West side, there used to be a lot of bars or
“cantinas” in La Placita. The good news today is that it’s a very strong, attractive, and
safe service business district. These are our entrepreneurs, mom and pop businesses that
are operating in that district on a daily basis. And if you look at the business mix on that
side, there is actually very few bars today, over 75% of business that operate there are
automotive or other kind of businesses. Contrary to what some people believe, there is
not one person that owns most of the property. There are 160 different property owners in
the downtown district. The appraised values for the commercial property does not include
the city owned property; this does not include the residential property. Commercial real
estate has been slow to move lately.
She continued to state that Loaves and Fishes property sold recently on West Harrison,
also the property here at 412 West Harrison that is being worked on currently, 110 East
Jackson, which the roof collapsed during Hurricane Dolly has sold twice but the
renovations continue. One of the stellar projects, a huge investment for downtown, is the
Reese Plaza which is a wonderful mixed use project that is coming online this fall with an
Italian restaurant, condos, offices and event space. She explained that through downtown
they are able to help people through professional design services and showed various
slides of different buildings where staff has helped people for free with design services
that are available through our program. This is because the downtown district is part of
the main street network and staff from Austin that are professionals help with all areas
that are needed for downtown revitalization. They assist the staff here in managing the
program and working with the property and business owners. Ms. LaBerge further
explained that they have many partnerships and have worked very closely with various
groups in our community, taking advantage of the University talent like the architecture
program at UTB, helping the farmers market to get started downtown and also working
with groups like the entrepreneurship at Harlingen High School South so that they can be
the future owners and business operators in the downtown and also in Harlingen.
Events are the key to the programs and she noted such events as the movie nights, market
days, car show, fajita rita and many other events. Because we’re an assessment district,
people pay for extra services and they get extra services and so these are some of the
projects that have been underway.  Ms. LaBerge stated that they were finally able to get
EDC funding to clean up the historic building that burned down and was turned  into the
wonderful Lozano Plaza which has been a wonderful gathering place for a lot of different
groups. Staff also works closely with Public Works and outside vendors to improve the
parking lots, both for safety and appearance, both on the East and the West side, adding
in the historic Los Caminos del Rio monument which is part of the regional, binational
program. The Centennial park project, which had been in the making since 2003 and with
ISTEA funding from TXDOT, was finally completed in time for the Centennial
celebration this year.
Ms. LaBerge informed the Commission of the petition brought before them tonight.  She
stated that this is the 4th time (sic) that property owners have asked to pay extra for extra
services in the district. It’s renewed through the petition of the property owners to the
City Commission. There has been a conversation that there is a possibility that there
would be a continuation of the downtown department with no assessment.  This would
result in reducing staff and reducing services. There are a lot of rumors and there is talk
that a lot of merchants, customers and people in the community have launched their own
petitions to show their support for downtown because quite honestly, a lot of them are
very concerned that there may not be a downtown district at all.
In closing with her power point presentation, Ms. LaBerge commented that it is important
to remember that this kind of progress does not happen overnight, it takes a lot of
determination, it takes the work of a lot of people, so that the community continues to
have a great asset for future generations.
Paul Menzies, Director of Planning, referred to the petition and explained that the petition
is for the continuation of the east side.  Staff is aware that there are two petition drives.
Referring to the petition in the agenda packet, Mr. Menzies explained that in order to be a
valid petition under Chapter 372 of the Local Government Code, there are some
formatting issues that need to be met and those have been met. The petition also has
concluded the signatures of at least 50% of the appraised value of those affected by the
assessment. And then one of the two---either 50% of the total number of property owners
or 50% of the geographic area.  Mr. Menzies stated that late yesterday afternoon he
received a copy of the another signature----Bank of America so the numbers
that he provided in the agenda packet have changed. Of the appraised value, the
signatures represent 89% of the geographic area, the signatures represent 82%, and of the
property owners it represents 67%, so the thresholds have all been met should the
Commission choose to move forward.
Mr. Menzies reiterated that the appraised value was 89%. The petition that has been
submitted is a valid position submitted to the Commission for consideration. If the
Commission so chooses a public hearing can be scheduled for September 15th and a
resolution that would authorize the district for another 5 years.
Commissioner Prepejchal asked for clarification if the 89% was plus the 50. Mr. Menzies
replied no sir.  Commissioner Prepejchal then asked if it was 50 plus 58 as far as the
assessment.  Mr. Menzies replied he was talking about the signatures on the petition.
They represent 89% of the total appraised value that will be subject to the assessment.
Commissioner Prepejchal then asked if the people who actually live downtown or work
downtown on buildings downtown realize that their taxes are going to go to $1.08 per
hundred?
Mr. Menzies replied that question needs to be asked of the property owners and he stated
that they are requesting a rate of $.50 cents per $100 in value over and above what they
are paying now.
Commissioner Leftwich stated that, basically, the property owners are looking to raise
their own taxes---that is what they are asking, that the Commission raise their taxes to
$1.09 or $1.08, when you combine that with the current ad valorem tax that the City
assesses now.  He asked how does that compare with other downtowns throughout the
Valley in terms of taxes?
Mr. Menzies replied he could not answer that question.
Commissioner Trevino asked if there are other assessed districts in the Valley or
something comparable in the State.  Mr. Menzies replied he did not know.
Commissioner Leftwich replied that he heard that McAllen does not have a downtown
assessment and their tax rate is $.42.
Commissioner Prepejchal commented that what he does not want are people complaining
because of the amount of taxes.
Mayor Boswell explained that this is a little bit different. #1 is we’re talking about a
reduced area of downtown correct? We are talking about the area East of “A” St. or
Commerce St. The owners on that side have some pretty incredible numbers ---89% in
property value and 82% of the affected area wanting to have assessment whereby they
could use those funds for the purposes that they traditionally have been using them for
and that is to beautify their store fronts.
Mr. Bodenhamer, who resides at 1117 East Taylor, stated that he has a little café
downtown.  He informed the Commission that he spoke to them when the Commission
decided to limit the assessment or lower it last year and stated that they could do anything
they wanted but to at least have a plan and let the property owners know what that plan is
so we can go forward.  But they have gotten nothing from the City Commission so they
do it themselves through our improvement district and through Cheryl. Now we’re
talking about doing away with the district possibly and the people with the properties
have been asked for this district to come back and it is obvious that they want it. It’s up to
the Commission whether the assessment continues or not.  Mr. Bodenhamer stated that he
had a petition drawn up and he read the following. “We the following signees, do appeal
and petition Harlingen City Commissioners for the continuing support of Downtown
Harlingen improvement district for the next 5 years. We support the district’s property
owners’ desire to pay additional taxes to fund the working of the downtown Harlingen
area and we also understand they may do so by their own petition”  Mr. Bodenhamer
asked that the Commission please save the best downtown in the Rio Grande Valley.  He
stated that he had the petition signed by people from all over the Valley and by people
from out of state.  He had 2,300 signatures of people who know what the property owners
are facing and that they’re going to pay a higher tax that they are willing to pay.  They
don’t want their district to go away and to have no leadership, no plan, and have no idea
of what’s going to happen. We have no plan. The downtown district is their plan so if the
Commission has another plan they better come up with it.
Yolanda Shoffeitt, PO Box 697, stated that many years ago she came before the City
Commission to talk about the Blaschka Tower.  It is full of broken windows, doors
hanging out, everything hanging out the windows, no windows and there’s nothing but
junk.  It is an eyesore. With 40 violations at the time he was the Chief Building Inspector
for the City. He would violate everybody’s civil rights but his. The point is that right now
he says that there are 23 people that signed the petition, are all of them owners of the
downtown district? No, they’re just people that signed the petition. In order to have a
downtown district you must not shove it down somebody’s throat, that they have to be
within the district and if they want to have an assessment.  If they want to pay double the
assessment, that is their choice. They might think they have the money but I know
everybody is hurting because of the economy.  She commented that incentives have to be
offered in this district but forcing everybody to pay is not fair.  She stated that she been
verbally attacked downtown.  She has stopped going downtown because there are no
public bathroom facilities and nothing out there intrigues her to go there.  She
commented that she could come up with a hundred of things that are wrong and to think
that everybody is going to shove it down your throat and you are going to pay assessment
tax I don’t think so.
Mayor Boswell called for the next speaker:
Raymond Reyes, 706 Nantucket Dr., stated that he is one of the business owners on the
West side. He commented that he has heard that the downtown district is going to move
away but he did not think that all those buildings were going to get up and move. They
are not going anywhere. He commented that there are a lot of cities that don’t actually
have an established downtown district, and are doing very good. Mr. Reyes was of the
opinion that with previous administrations, wrong moves, wrong decisions were made for
personal gain. He recalled a couple of years back when he requested basic information
asking where the money was going.  If there’s a baseline of what business were in
existence because when my father bought the business on the West side back in 1974
from what he could tell all the stores were basically full. Due to other decisions that were
made they got forced out. I received a letter from Cheryl Laberge stating that they were
not required to keep track of how many businesses have opened and closed. You need a
baseline. The City or this district needs to be run as a business not as a get a plaque on the
wall for all the good things I did for the city when I was in office or whatever you want to
call it. The letter stated that they are not required to keep track of how many businesses
have opened and closed.  So as a business owner he felt like he was throwing all this
money into this assessment but the people that are receiving this money couldn’t even tell
me we had 130 businesses when the assessment started. Now, because we have done such
a good job, we have 240 businesses open. They were not required to keep track of that.
That’s not good business especially when you’re giving them assessment and fees. That’s
why the owners were in an uproar and the assessment got changed. Now supposedly,
there are 2,300 signatures of all this support.  He commented that he would like to see if
that could be validated because petitions that have been submitted before were
questionable. Mr. Reyes asked that the Commission just make the right decision.
Mayor Boswell at this time stated that this was just a presentation of the petition tonight.
It was not a public hearing.
Ron Lozano approached the podium and asked Ms. LaBerge a question was he was asked
to address the Commission only.  He commented that his question was better asked of
Ms. LaBerge since Paul has no idea what goes on in other downtowns in the Valley.
We’re just a little Valley and he has no knowledge, so why can’t we ask that of Ms.
Laberge. Is that alright? That way we get the information that the Commissioner seeks.
He proceeded to ask Ms. LaBerge if she knew of any other downtown districts.
Mayor Boswell informed Mr. Lozano that staff would gather that information for the
public.
Mr. Lozano commented he is not sure that 160 property owners are what are depicted
now because a previous petition was questionable as to its validation—the petition
contained a ‘deceased’ signee.  It was an invalid petition in the past.  so right now we’re
saying that they have over 80% based on Paul’s figures that happened in this district as
proposed. Further, again just for clarification, Mr. Lozano alluded to Card’s
administration, which did not start until 1988. He stated that sometimes this camp does
want the end so bad, they don’t care how they get there. Falsity is not the first time that
it’s been done.
Commissioner Marra affirmed that 89% of the owners have signed this and it’s been 
validated. 89% appraised value, excuse me, let me make sure I get that correct, have 
voted to self-tax. 89% of the appraised value owners have voted to self tax themselves in 
Downtown Harlingen.  You need to think for a moment, for those of you that decide you 
might not want this to happen, where is that money going to come from? Those of you 
that don’t own property in Downtown will have to pick up the difference. As business 
owners people who do business have figured out that it is worth our time and sense to self 
tax ourselves because we are proud of what we own downtown, of what is happening 
downtown. This town has changed in ten years; some people don’t want to give any 
praise to the Police Department.  She referred to several incidents that occurred and just 
recently in the last ten years. Those things were constant and the gang task force has 
changed things down there and the downtown improvement district has come up with 
some great things.  Referring to one of the buildings displayed on Ms. Laberge's power 
point, she commented that the building was horrible. The windows were broken out of it 
and there was plywood on there. It is expensive to replace glass that is fire proof and the 
extras that came with that building were expensive and the cost was about $125,000 for 
the asbestos removal. Who is going to pay for that? The owners voted to self-tax, that’s 
what we want. Those that don’t own a building downtown are going to pay for it so that 
is something important to think about. Do we really want to tell people in the districts, 
these great cities, we go to their downtown, we go to Austin, we go to Fredericksburg, 
there are certain restrictions, special colors, special windows, those are very important, 
that is how you build a district, but you can destroy it just as quickly as you get it. For 
those that don’t want to participate, don’t participate. Commissioner Marra commented 
that for those of us that are business owners and choose to participate we should be 
allowed to choose to self-tax ourselves. For the Commission or anyone else to tell her 
that she cannot run the business the way that she wants it to be run, is completely unAmerican.
The City Attorney at this point asked for clarification purposes if Commissioner Marra 
was speaking as a property owner and not as a Commissioner?  
Commissioner Marra replied ‘absolutely.’
Commissioner Leftwich then commented that the next time there is a conflict of interest, 
the individual is supposed to exit and if they want to speak they need to speak from the 
podium. 
Commissioner Marra then read the section from the conflict of interest form that states 
“… a special economic effect on the value of the property, distinguishable to the effect on 
the public. She then questioned is there a distinguishable effect of from what I have or 
what will effect the rest of the public from Harlingen? She explained that she voted to 
self-tax herself so, therefore, she was not gaining anything by speaking to self-tax.  She 
stated that she is actually helping the citizens of Harlingen and that she would not vote 
when it comes down to it but that she would continue to speak on behalf of her business 
and her three children and how she puts food on her table. There is not a distinguishable 
effect between her and what’s happening in the public. She stated that she is voting to tax 
herself and that is actually a benefit to the citizens of Harlingen.
Commissioner Leftwich countered by stating that the fact is that she is voting to assess 
others for the opportunity of seeking grants or other money that could be used to benefit 
her property and he did not think that discussion should be allowed in terms of this 
conflict of interest. 
Commissioner Marra stated that she was not going to vote but that she would discuss.
Commissioner Leftwich, addressing Ms. LaBerge asked if the 87% occupancy is a
decrease or decline over the prior year?
Ms. LaBerge replied that it is an increase.  However, she could not speak to way back
since she moved here in 1997, so she could not know about years prior to that.
Commissioner Leftwich commented then the downtown district is actually seen more
occupancy over the last 12 months when they were not being assessed.
Ms. LaBerge explained that she would have to go back and examine the figures.  She has
been trying to gather the information together but she had presented information that she
was confident about and she would be happy to do further research.
Commissioner Leftwich further stated that the fact is that last year when we talked about
decreasing the tax for the assessment portion of the property tax, it was brought up that
there was a nonprofit available for the downtown area for people who wanted to
voluntarily donate the equivalent of their assessment to that nonprofit so they could in
turn re-flourish the downtown district funds if they felt like they need to. I’d like to know
if any of those volunteer taxes or assessment equivalence were paid to that nonprofit and
the utilization of those funds were by the downtown improvement district.
Ms. LaBerge replied that the only nonprofit that she is aware of is the Jackson Street
Market Days organization. She does not have a copy of their bylaws but believed that
they’re an event production group. They would have to speak to that, but that’s an
entirely separate organization.
Commissioner Leftwich then asked if the Downtown improvement district does any
event productions.
Ms. LaBerge replied we work with a lot of partners.
Commissioner Leftwich then asked if that would be an eligible expense to that non-profit
to offset some of the revenue expenses by the downtown improvement district?
If somebody were to give their voluntary assessment equivalent to your nonprofit, would
they have the opportunity to accept money and donations?  He asked Ms. LaBerge if she
was a member of the Board.  
Ms. LaBerge replied no, she is a City employee.  There are a group of volunteers for the
Jackson Street Market Days, which is incorporated as a nonprofit, and they run Market Days.
Commissioner Leftwich with no further questions stated that he wanted to elaborate on
the fact that it was already established last year that McAllen’s downtown is paying $.42
cents per $100 valuation; Brownsville somewhere in the low 60’s, whatever their
equivalent property tax rate is for the rest of the City. The fact is that at $1.09 per $100
valuation we would put ourselves in a position to where not only will our properties be at
a disadvantage because you reduce the amount of the qualified purchasers because
you’ve now increased the cost of that property based on the expense of the tax. That was
one of the considerations that I had last year when I supported reducing the assessment. I
felt like it created a burden for the downtown. We’ve heard that there’s been an increase
or reduction in vacancies, an increase in occupancy over the last year when people did
not have to pay this assessment.  As for the mention on a plan, the fact is that he did not
think that the plan was to do away with the Downtown Improvement District.  That was
never his intention. He always wanted to bring in some fresh money but the fact is that
when we reduce the assessment from $.50, which was generating approximately $75,000
- $80,000 annually, that money did not leave the downtown. That assessment money that
property owners were paying stayed with the property owners for their own capital
reinvestment and he didn’t see a problem with that.  He also did not think that anybody in
the City of Harlingen is opposed to sacrificing the $.02 off of their property tax rate or
sharing a little bit of sales tax money to help offset some of the revenue so that the
downtown’s property owners don’t have to dig into their pockets to help fund themselves
whenever something needs to get done. The fact is that if we don’t step in as a
community then we are putting the sole burden on the downtown property owners.
Mayor Boswell then stated that first of all, I think that everybody who has worked so
hard to make the downtown what it is, should be congratulated, and commended.  I think
that, in my mind, and questionably what has happened in downtown and was happening
down here is an unqualified success. I think we should not be afraid of success or saying
“I think we’ve gotten something right”. Certainly for one of our business folks in town or
our citizens, to make the kind of capital investment that is being made in Reese Plaza
development, is an indicator of the level of the success that we’ve had downtown. To see
what the owners of Jackson Square have done just in the couple of years, another success
story. He stated that there is a lot of success that has happened downtown and all of you
should be congratulated. We have a great blossoming downtown and it could be even
better if we keep doing the right things to nurture it.  He agreed with Commissioner
Leftwich in that he does not think that the Commission has ever taken the position that it
is eliminating the Downtown district, manager, or support staff. But they did effectively
eliminate most of the kind of discretionary money for the storefronts. They replaced it out
of fund balance for last year but we can’t do that every year. We can’t replace that
$78,000 out of the fund balance every year because we don’t have that. That’s one-time
money. So if you want to perpetuate the kinds of things that have, traditionally, been
done with the assessment for the last 15 years that the assessment has been in place we’ve
gotten to 89 or 87% occupancy right? 83%. It has gone up a few percentage points in the
last year but we want to keep on that trajectory.  Mayor Boswell was of the opinion that
the Commission ought to listen to what the people in the downtown and the businesses
downtown are saying. He stated that he understands the philosophical difference but
when confronted with 2/3rds of the people who own property downtown and 89% of the
property valuation downtown, he felt that they should listen to that. Because as a public
official, as an elected public official, I should listen to that and yes, there is maybe a
minority that we should listen to as well but I think that when the majority speaks that
loudly and clearly, we should listen to that constituency and that’s really what I think we
have an obligation to do as elected officials.  It’s to listen and to try to act in accordance
with the people who are directly affected by any decision we make.
Commissioner Trevino commented that he appreciates the downtown owners coming and
saying, “Self tax us”. The point is he lives in a gated community and has a neighborhood
association that he pays extra dues into for street maintenance, landscaping, lighting,
everything. To his knowledge his association does not answer to the City. So
Commissioner Trevino felt that there are tools out there for the Downtown to do this
without the City.  Commissioner Trevino felt it was a good idea to set up a 501( c )(3) to
take control of this and get an association going.  It is a good idea to get the downtown
owners buyoff and put their money into something that they want there.
Beth Brinster, 1509 Little Creek, stated that she has a business downtown and has been
there for 11 years.  She is one of the people on board with Market Days.  She explained
that Market Days was formed to promote downtown. It is a non-profit and they come up
with the money.  They are also working with the Farmers Market to move downtown.
She is downtown because she wants to be there. Her landlord is Jan Wyrick and she has
no problem paying this assessment.  She commented that she does not understand why
the Commission has a problem when everybody else wants this. The downtown was
dying. We are not McAllen or Brownsville---their downtowns have survived. McAllen is
now becoming an entertainment center with their downtown. Do we want that? No, we
want the downtown to stay with the little businesses, with the Market Days, the Farmers
Market.  Everybody comes downtown. We have restaurants down there; we have
businesses, if the landlords want to do this, what is the problem? Do you want us to fold
up and close? It’s all about improving the downtown, and it is the landlord’s right and the
building owners if they want to do this.
Commissioner Leftwich, in making a point, stated that the fact is that, what we heard
Mayor Boswell say is that we took out for this budget to match what was taken away
through last year’s assessment---$78,000. He said that perpetually we couldn’t sustain
that. The fact is that you, the downtown property owners, were able to retain the
equivalent of that assessment so that means that the downtown actually netted an
additional $80,000 from the City. That’s a far stone throw from letting the downtown fold
up. We actually interjected $80,000 of additional money by letting you keep your
assessment money or your landlord or your property owners keeping their $80.000 and
we came up and added more money to the downtown in what was there the prior year by
coming in there and funding it through an outside funding source. So to question the fact
that we don’t want to support the downtown, that’s not the case. It is obviously the
opposite. We supported the downtown with an additional $80,000 this last budget year by
letting you keep your assessment and by coming in with outside money. Now, what
you’re asking us to do is to keep our money and you’ll just bring your money back to the
table. Think about what you’re asking for, you are going to reduce your net income to the
downtown by that equivalent amount of the assessment by telling us to keep our money
and you bringing your money back out to the table.
Mayor Boswell stated that that money is not in the budget this year.
Commissioner Leftwich commented that was the direction of the Commission last year.
Bill DeBrooke countered by stating that was not your money. That money was in our
reserve fund from taxes that we paid in over the years. Some had been collected late but
that was assessment money that the Commission gave us back. I understand the intent but
it was our own money that you allowed us to use. Addressing Commissioner Trevino
comments on his gated community, Mr. DeBrooke commented that if you want to live in
a gated community, they don’t give you an option about paying those fees.  Nobody is
going to volunteer to pay something that they don’t have to pay.
Nobody wants to pay extra taxes, I certainly don’t, and I don’t know anybody that does.
And when we were getting signatures on the assessment a lot of people can’t even afford
it. One person I talked to said “I don’t want to do this” and I said, “Unless the
Commission will tell us what they have in mind, there’s no better idea”. If you guys want
to do something different, if you want to fund this differently, if you want to have a plan
for the downtown, we are willing to listen.  We are not married to paying extra taxes,
trust me, you have to tell us. We deserve it; we have been working at this for a long time.
Commissioner Prepejchal stated that people downtown, if they want to join the group,
they could.  He has no problem with that. If they want to come up with an assessment to
charge the people in their group, he has no problem with that either. But he will not force
a building owner down there or a renter or anybody to pay extra taxes if they don’t want
to, above what the real property tax calls for.  He will not do that, especially in this day
and age with the economy the way it is. I’m not going to force people to pay extra.
Mayor Boswell pointed out that they don’t see this as you helping them. They see this as
you not listening to them and that’s really what is going on. Item 8.
Gabriel Gonzalez, Interim City Manager, explained that staff needed to get direction from
the Council and it appears that the Commission, as a whole, does not want this so staff
will not proceed with any further action on the assessments unless the Commission itself
brings it back.
Mayor Boswell stated that he would bring the item back for a Commission vote.
Commissioner Leftwich suggested a workshop be held between the downtown district 
and the City Commission. 
Commissioner Marra did not feel there was a need for a workshop. 
Commissioner Trevino asked about having a ‘vision’ workshop. There’s a rumor that
there is no vision. I said that, I’m not afraid to say that, I’m a planner, I don’t see a vision.
You said that your plan was to revive the downtown.  OK, we revived the downtown,
what’s our next step? Let’s go forward people, let’s get a vision and that’s a workshop.
Commissioner Marra felt that the downtown owners should be able to have their own 
workshop without the Commission who obviously doesn’t care what happens to us. Let’s 
do our own. I don’t need another Commissioner to tell me how to run my business. 
Mayor Boswell again stated that he would put this item back on the agenda because he
wants the Commission to vote on it.

AT NEXT MEETING OF CITY COMMISSION, COMMISSIONER MARRA IS ABSENT!
REGULAR MEETING  CITY COMMISSION, HARLINGEN, TEXAS
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010
A Regular Meeting of the Harlingen Elective Commission was held on Wednesday,
September 15, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. in Town Hall, City Hall, 118 E. Tyler Street, Harlingen,
Texas.
Those in attendance were:
Mayor and City Commission
Mayor Chris Boswell
Joey Trevino, Mayor Pro Tem
Gustavo C. Ruiz, Commissioner District 1
Robert Leftwich, Commissioner District 2
Jerry Prepejchal, Commissioner District 4
Absent:
Kori Marra, Commissioner District 3 
Staff Present:
Carlos Yerena, City Manager
Roxann P. Cotroneo, City Attorney
Sylvia R. Trevino, City Secretary

PUBLIC HEARING HELD AND RESOLUTION ADOPTED AUTHORIZING A 
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT ASSESSMENT DISTRICT FOR FIVE YEARS 
PURSUANT TO A PETITION SUBMITTED BY DOWNTOWN PROPERTY 
OWNERS 
Paul Menzies explained that the petition by the property owners was presented at the last
meeting and it is mostly for the east side (Downtown) and does not include La Placita
(west side).  The assessment remains the same at $.50 per $1.00.
Mayor Boswell declared the public hearing open.
Blas Cantu, referring to this agenda Item (#7) and the following Item (#8) addressed the
Commission and stated that the Commission supports economic development, job
retention, job creation and downtown is doing just that.  There has been more growth in
downtown as indicated by the 87% occupancy.  Downtown was hurting when the Airbase
moved out and it would not be in the best interest of the community to do away with the
assessment that has generated economic development, job retention, maintained the tax
base and derived good revenue from the sale taxes.  He encouraged the Commission to
vote for the continued assessment downtown.
Steve Aune, 214 E. Jackson, asked for the Commission’ support and commented that he
was able to get his entire block of property owners to sign the petition because they have
all benefited at one time or another from the assessment.
Bill DeBrooke, 306 E. Jackson, stated that this has been a 21-year partnership with
previous Mayors and previous Commissioners.  He thanked the city staff and everyone
who has sat on the Commission table for supporting the downtown for so many years.
Jo Wagner, property owner of the Reese Wilmond, stated that through her development,
she will be hiring about 60 employees that will have good jobs with good benefits and it
was the downtown that inspired her to invest in the renovation of the building.
Lydia Romero stated that she has been in Harlingen for 39 years and all this talk is about
Jackson Street only.  What about the small businesses on the side of Jackson Street?  She
felt it was not fair.  The assessment has not benefited the city as a whole only those on
Jackson Street.
Joe Rubio, 2309 Hacienda Road, commented that petition rules have to be met and
questioned the validity of the petition and wondered if it met the requirements of a
petition of such kind.  He asked why not form their own group and commented that he
was against the assessment.
There being no further comments Mayor Boswell declared the public hearing closed.
Commissioner Leftwich made a motion to approve the resolution but as a compromise
and because a large group is supporting the assessment, he offered the rate of $.15 per
$100 and to consider looking into other funding sources to make up the difference.
Commissioner Prepejchal seconded the motion.
Mayor Boswell commented that would create the district with a board and would
continue as before but with 2/3rds less funding – about $45,000 less instead of $59,000.
Commissioner Leftwich corrected the amount and stated that it would be less than
$20,000.
Commissioner Prepejchal suggested to Ms. LaBerge that she take this information to the
property owners on La Placita side and see if they would support the assessment at the
new proposed rate.
Commissioner Leftwich commented that it was still about $.25 increase when combined
with the school tax increase.
Commissioner Trevino asked that a vision be created for the downtown and to seek
private/public partnerships.
Voting on the motion was unanimous