Double trouble for the bridge
over troubled waters

By María Eugenia Guerra

I'm no shrewd number cruncher, but I sure do believe that public discussion is in order for the duplicated expenditure of taxpayer funds by the City of Laredo and Webb County in their race to secure the Presidential Permit for the Fifth International Bridge. In the effort to be the owner of record for that bridge, Webb County has spent $2.1 million to date for consultants, assessments, surveys, fees, travel, and supplies.
Just across the street from the Webb County Courthouse where county commissioners ruminate over the possibility of owning and operating the fifth bridge, the City of Laredo has spent about $800,000 along the same effort.
Heady and noble stuff -- two taxpayer entities entertaining the building of a bridge that enhances the flow of traffic and the international business climates of sister cities -- yet representatives of either entity do not cross Flores Street to begin meaningful dialogue for how the project could be brought jointly to fruition.
The sharing of planning and construction costs, operation, and revenues would put an end to the foolhardy process of spending valuable millions in duplicate, millions that could ease budget shortfalls in these tenuous economic times. To continue to spend money in this fashion is irresponsible, reprehensible, and quite nearly criminal in the face of immense legislative cutbacks to local government.
Dual applications for a Presidential Permit could void the effort in full, and yet each side -- the City Council and the Webb County Commissioners -- persists in a capricho befitting a school yard stand-off. The Presidential Permit application of the County will cancel the City's and vice-versa because the State Department will not consider either unless one of them withdraws. The City and the County may, however, be partners in the bridge.
Let your local government representatives and your Mayor and your County Judge know how you feel about two entities spending what's in your pocket in duplicate. Tell them to stop their solo approaches to so costly a duplicated effort. Tell them you expect them to work together and to share, just as Cameron County shares international bridges with the cities of Brownsville, San Benito, and Harlingen. Tell them that you -- taxpayer and votante -- will consider this when you make electoral choices in the March county elections and in the May city elections. Tell them to take the high road and the first serious step toward working together in the best interest of all the citizens of Laredo and Webb County.
The business leaders, bankers, manufacturers, and freight forwarders of this community need, too, to make their opinions known, they with so keen an eye to the impact of taxes on the bottom line of their enterprise.
If ever you wanted a test for the depth of responsibility public servants have to you and an indicator of their fiscal aptitude, the fifth international bridge is that litmus test. Already you've witnessed the qué sí / qué no waffles of Webb County leadership regarding this proposed bridge.
Think of all the park and road improvements, library books, services to the elderly, and environmental and quality of life issues that could be addressed with the few million dollars that Webb County and City of Laredo government have thrown at the proposed fifth international bridge. Even their labored contemplations over who should own the bridge or whether it should be a joint project costs you money, as does the labor of countless City and County employees who have had a role in the administrative and clerical work for the planning of the project.
The burning question in this issue is, what's best -- 50% of something or 100% of nada?