Could RGV cities consolidate? We’re 100 years behind that, says UTRGV’s Ron Garza

MCALLEN, Texas – Could you ever see our Rio Grande Valley cities consolidating?

Ron Garza, associate vice president for workforce and economic development at UT-Rio Grande Valley, says he sometimes gets asked that question by his students.

His response: “I think we’re 100 years past that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t operate within the same policies.”

Garza gave what he said is a good example of cities operating under the same policies.

“One very hard example: the cities of Edinburg, McAllen, Pharr and Mission, just a few years ago, when I was still city manager (of Edinburg), collectively adopted the same ordinance for stormwater detention. Prior to that, every city you went to, if you were a developer, you had to navigate different things. So, that at least standardized one platform.”

Garza said more can be done.

“Could you imagine if we took more of the codes, the planning and zoning codes, and actually unified some of the standardized (ones), so at least we’re working off a base? It could be done.:

Garza said what’s needed is political will.

“Yes, there needs to be a lot of political will to that, but there’s been a lot of examples, UTRGV, the MPO (RGV Metropolitan Planning Organization), and other collaborative efforts of political will coming together and creating more resources.”

Garza, who has decades of experience in economic and workforce development, as well as municipal government administration, made these remarks during a presentation he gave recently to the CEO Group at the McAllen Country Club.

He said the private sector in the Valley and Northern Tamaulipas is now coming together. “The public sector needs to do the same thing,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Here is an audio recording of Ron Garza’s presentation to the CEO Group:

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If only we could work together

Another person who believes in more regional cooperation in the Valley is Olivia Gomez, a realtor at VP Realty and vice president of external affairs at South Texas College.

Speaking in her own capacity, Gomez recently wrote about regional cooperation on Facebook.

“There was a time, not that long ago, when “regionalism” wasn’t popular and so three millennials working for different municipalities would meet for coffee to discuss this prohibited topic and the potential that our beautiful region had if we could only work together as partners, not separate communities,” Gomez wrote.

She was referring to Alex Meade, Daniel Silva and herself and posted a picture after recently meeting up with them again.

Alex Meade, Olivia Gomez, and Daniel Silva are pictured at the Center for Education & Economic Development Corporation. (Photo credit: Olivia Gomez)

“Here we are a little over a decade later…… celebrating not only regionalism but bi-national partnerships. Alex Meade and Daniel Silva were the visionaries behind the CEED (Center for Education & Economic Development) building, a co-working space that is home to many of the thriving businesses in our region.

It was so nice catching up with a couple of my favorite economic developers.”

Meade is now executive vice president at Texas Regional Bank and Silva is president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. Back in the day, both worked for Mission Economic Development Corporation while Gomez worked for McAllen Economic Development Corporation.

Gomez’s post triggered this response from Jessica Delgado, chief operating officer at Delgado Collective:

“This is too awesome. Let’s start a movement for a campaign for the entire region of the RGV, and all the cities and towns, to be one. This could take a lifetime to achieve, but there is so much support and desire for this to happen. If presented beautifully, this could be a real game changer.”

RGV’s Silva responded: “I love it. It might be a tough task to get all to be one, but through the RGV Partnership we are starting a One Region, One Voice Marketing campaign that will market the four counties together as one. We will promote the assets of the region and help the Valley attract people and businesses. Keep an eye out.”

Gomez also responded to Delgado. She said: “Yes, Jessica, Daniel is on it.”

To which Delgado replied: “Can’t wait to support all that is to com.”

Former UT-Pan American President Blandina “Bambi” Cardenas also responded to Gomez’s original post. She said:

“Glad you are doing this but FYI we were working on regional initiatives 18 years ago at UTPA, from Laredo to Brownsville. It is a tough agenda. Friday Night football mentality runs deep and many of the old local political leaders had a hard time budging.”

Cardenas was referring to the part she played in getting the North American Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education Initiative started. It included universities and colleges, economic development corporations, and workforce boards in both Laredo and the Valley.

The idea was to develop a rapid response manufacturing facility and create a sustainable premier manufacturing infrastructure in South Texas. McAllen EDC was to build a North American Research and Education World Premier Park in south McAllen.

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded NAAMREI more than $5 million to support a Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Project. And Texas Workforce Commission committed $3 million in training funds to bolster the project.

However, the park never got built in south McAllen and few people mention NAAMREI today.

Continuing her response to Gomez, Cardenas said:

“It takes courageous leadership and sticking with it when it gets tough. The RGV has developed so much in the last 20 years, it certainly has a better chance to move forward now. A good person to have coffee with would be Keith Patridge, recently retired from MEDC. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, and you can learn from previous mistakes.”

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