by Legislative Media | Sep 9, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Agustín García, Jr., Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; Councilmember Richard Molina; Mark Iglesias, President, EEDC Board of Directors; and Mayor Richard García, Member, EEDC Board of Directors, in the Edinburg City Council Chambers at Edinburg City Hall on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
The combined value of permits issued for construction and related building activities in Edinburg from January through July 2015 totaled more than $78 million, compared with almost $74 million during the same period last year, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. A building permit includes the estimated value of the work, but does not include the price of the lot. In general, a building permit is legal permission given by the City of Edinburg to erect, construct, renovate, maintain, or conduct any other specified activity on any building or structure, or on any installations or facilities therein. The term “building permit” includes but is not limited to building permits, electrical permits, mechanical permits, and plumbing permits. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Rupert as Members. The latest figures do not include the more than $107 million for new construction projects, approved by the University of Texas System Board of Regents, which are scheduled to begin this year or which have been authorized this year. UT-RGV, formerly known as UT-Pan American, is a state entity, so the city does not issue building permits or include the value of any construction at the university campus in the data put together by Edinburg’s Code Enforcement Department. “On Thursday, May 14, the UT System Board of Regents gave final permission for the release of funding and of design development for a $70 million, 115,000-square-foot addition to the Science Building at UT-RGV in Edinburg, and that facility, which will be the largest on campus, is set to begin construction this December,” said Mayor García. “A few weeks ago, on Wednesday, August 19, the UT System Board of Regents agreed to begin the process that will lead to the construction of a $37.6 million, 77,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Engineering and Academic Studies Building for the Edinburg campus.” In addition, the UT System Board of Regents on August 19 gave the go-ahead for UT System officials to negotiate the purchase of 53 acres, located at the southeast quadrant of North Sugar Road and West Chapin Street in Edinburg, from Norquest Family Holdings, Ltd., for “future campus expansion”, the mayor noted. EEDC Board President Iglesias said the Edinburg City Council and the EEDC Board of Directors continue to significantly influence the growth of the local economy with their legislative and public policy strategies, such as lobbying the UT System Board of Regents and the Texas Legislature for more state resources for UT-RGV and the UT-RGV School of Medicine in Edinburg. “The EEDC Board of Directors, the Mayor and City Council work as partners, not only with each other, but with our legislative delegations in Austin and Washington, D.C., with our business and community leaders in our city, and especially with our citizens to set high goals and surpass them,” said Iglesias. “With more economic prosperity and investments, such as these incredible advances in higher education, we will continue to see key growth in construction of homes and businesses in Edinburg.” EEDC Executive Director Agustín García, Jr. (no relation to the mayor), said part of Edinburg’s successes is the determination of the elected and appointed leadership in the community to shape state and national policies, on their own or with other regional and statewide groups, for the benefit of the local economy. “Border security, health care, immigration, job creation, they are all important for the city’s prosperity and quality-of-life, and wherever the decisions on such issues are being made that affect us, from the county courthouse to the state and U.S. capitols, we make sure that we are part of the solution,” said the EEDC Executive Director. “That vision and direction come from the EEDC Board of Directors, the Mayor and the Edinburg City Council, who consult with our citizens, and we see the fruits of their labor throughout Edinburg.” From January through July 2015, building permits valued at $78,554,684 were issued by the city, compared with $73,830,585 for the same period in 2014. The top categories in Edinburg from January to July 2015 were: $25,396,282 – Single-Family Residences New Construction; $22,062,622 – Non-Taxable New Alterations (government, religious, but not including UT-RGV) $12,258,728 – Commercial New Construction; $10,011,285 – Commercial Alterations; $4,909,356 – Multi-Family Residences New Construction; and $3,916,411 – Residential Alterations.
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by Legislative Media | Sep 4, 2015 | Politics
Featured: First row, from left: Martin V. “Marty” Baylor, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen; Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; former Rep. Verónica Gonzáles, D-McAllen, Vice President for Government and Community Relations, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Elva Jackson Garza, Vice President and Marketing & Business Development Manager, Edwards Abstract & Title Company; Lucy G. Canales, Partner, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP; Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission; Alex Ríos, District Director, Rep. Terry Canales; and Robert McGurk, Senior Vice President, Elsa State Bank & Trust Company. Back row, from left: Edinburg Fire Chief Shawn Snider; Jacob De León, Funeral Director, Memorial Funeral Home; Edinburg City Councilmember David Torres; and Michael Williamson, Market President, PlainsCapital Bank. This portrait was taken at the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce’s Public Affairs Legislative Luncheon held on Thursday, August 27, 2015 at the ECHO Hotel and Conference Center.
Photograph By RONNIE LARRALDE
Chalk up Hidalgo County as the first region in Texas that allows attorneys in all criminal cases to file pleadings and documents electronically – known as e-filing – as a result of a state law passed two years ago by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which will continue to bring the state’s court system into the paperless generation. Effective Tuesday, September 1, the eyes of the state judicial system began looking at the use of e-filing in criminal cases in Hidalgo County, as the rest of the Texas prepares to follow Hidalgo County’s lead beginning on November 1 in implementing a new system designed to improve justice for all. Canales is confident that his measure – House Bill 349, which was sponsored by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, two years ago – will be a resounding success. HB 349 is designed to improve the delivery of justice in Hidalgo County, reduce costs to county taxpayers, attorneys and litigants, and take advantage of the latest technological advances in the state’s legal system, the House District 40 lawmaker contends. “Courts have long been burdened with processing paper, a problem that continues to grow exponentially and largely unabated,” said Canales. “After more than 167 years of processing traditional filing, Texas Court Clerks are awash in the state’s judicial paper trail. Electronic filing offers a means to stem the paper tide.” Hinojosa, citing data provided by the Office of the Hidalgo County District Clerk, reported that in 2014, there were 5,170 criminal cases filed, in addition to 19,341 civil and family cases. “One of the key advantages of the e-filing system, both in civil and criminal cases, is it allows attorneys more time during the day to submit their motions, rather than face a 5 p.m. deadline,” the state senator explained. “The statewide e-filing portal (efiletexas.gov) allows filers to file documents until midnight during regular business days in both civil and criminal cases. As a result, attorneys have more flexibility and are no longer rushed to file documents at the courthouse before closing hour at 5 p.m.” There would be no cost to the county government to use the e-filing system for civil or criminal cases, and there would be no cost to litigants who are too poor to pay for the service, Canales added. Later this fall, Hidalgo County District Clerk Laura Hinojosa (no relation to Sen. Hinojosa) will organize a question-and-answer session for the area’s attorneys to help them better understand the e-filing system for criminal cases. The details of that event will soon be announced by District Clerk Hinojosa. Also under the new state law, Hidalgo County can still allow traditional paper filing as well. Canales predicts that the future is at hand. ‘The era of big paper is over,” Canales said. According to dictionary.law.com, a motion is a formal request made to a judge for an order or judgment. Motions are made in court all the time for many purposes: to continue (postpone) a trial to a later date, to get a modification of an order, for temporary child support, for a judgment, for dismissal of the opposing party’s case, for a rehearing, for sanctions (payment of the moving party’s costs or attorney’s fees), or for dozens of other purposes. Most motions require a written petition, a written brief of legal reasons for granting the motion (often called “points and authorities”), written notice to the attorney for the opposing party and a hearing before a judge. However, during a trial or a hearing, an oral motion may be permitted
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by Legislative Media | Aug 31, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Carlos Sánchez, editor, The Monitor, and Guy Bailey, the founding president of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Thursday, August 27, during the kick-off of the second season of The Monitor’s Newsmaker Breakfast Series, held at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
Photograph By DAVID PIKE
Guy Bailey, founding president of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, has put more than 37,000 miles on his pickup truck since July 1, 2014, driving from one end of the Valley to the other to ensure a stellar launch for this distributed university on Monday, August 31. For Bailey, the trips across the Valley are worth it, as it all will lead to success for everyone involved in the creation of this new, one-of-a-kind university that will include a School of Medicine – from students to the community in general, he said. “It is also rewarding because we understand that our mission is Valley-wide,” Bailey said. Bailey will be joined at the Edinburg and Brownsville events by numerous state legislators, county and city elected officials, economic development leaders, with William McRaven, the chancellor of the University of Texas System, to be a featured speaker. McRaven, Bailey and other area leaders will be featured leaders during a Flag-Raising Ceremony from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at the flagpole on the north side of the Student Services Building at the UT-RGV Edinburg campus on August 31. Those same leaders will then travel to the UT-RGV campus in Brownsville for a Proclamation Ceremony at the Main Building in the Plumeria Courtyard from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. “We are ready and we are excited about it, too,” Bailey told an audience of South Texas dignitaries and residents on Thursday, August 27, during the kickoff of the second season of The Monitor’s Newsmaker Breakfast Series. The interview format series is a partnership between the McAllen Chamber of Commerce and The Monitor and is sponsored by IBC Bank. Bailey was interviewed by Monitor Editor Carlos Sánchez. The Edinburg Mayor, the Edinburg City Council, and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation were key players in lobbying for the state legislation in 2013 that resulted in the creation of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Ruppert as Members. Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Rep. René Oliveira, D-Brownsville, were the author and sponsor, respectively, of Senate Bill 24, approved by the Texas Legislature in May 2013, which combines the resources of UT-Pan American, UT-Brownsville, and the Regional Academic Health Centers in Edinburg, Harlingen, and Brownsville into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, were joint authors of Hinojosa’s SB 24. Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, Rep. Armando “Mando” Martínez, D-Weslaco, Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, Rep. Eddie Lucio, III, D-San Benito, Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya, Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen, Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville, and Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, were joint sponsors of SB 24. Another major aspect of SB 24 is that the new law gives the UT System the authority to draw much-needed revenue from the Permanent University Fund, which uses money from more than $14 billion in assets to help pay for crucial construction programs throughout the UT System.
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by Legislative Media | Aug 21, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Dalia Molina and husband, City Councilmember Richard Molina, and Councilmember David Torres and wife Ellie M. Torres, the newest member of the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, at Edinburg City Hall on Wednesday, May 13, 2o15. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Mayor and Edinburg City Council.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Edinburg’s retail economy from January through June 2015 continues to prosper, with a 6.21 percent rate of improvement over the first half of 2014, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Rupert as Members. For the month of June 2015, the city’s retail economy registered a 6.32 percent rate of improvement over the same month last year, the EEDC added, according to data released on Wednesday, August 12, by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. For the first six months of 2015, Edinburg’s retail economy has produced $13,591,448.24 in local sales taxes, compared with $12,795,992.32 for January through June 2014. During June 2015, the city’s retail economy generated $1,843,334.30 in local sales taxes, compared with $1,733,714.45 for June 2014, also according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. EEDC Board President Iglesias noted that Edinburg’s retail economy continues to perform favorably when compared with statewide figures. “Year-to-date, the city economy’s 6.21 percent rate of improvement is ahead of the average for all cities in Texas, which is 5.1 percent for the period of January through June 2015, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts,” said Iglesias. The amount of local sales taxes collected helps reflect the strength of an economy, along with construction activities, per capita income, education, historical performances, and related trends, said Mayor García. “The city’s retail economy also will benefit in the coming months from the impact of four planned different housing developments, representing a combined value of $110.4 million, which will bring 448 apartment units and a 150-home subdivision to Edinburg,” the mayor reported. On Wednesday, August 5, the Mayor and City Council approved the $110.4 million in new residential complexes for Edinburg. That action follows previous city approvals for other developers to build 594 apartment units – three of those residential complexes located along the city’s medical corridor, and the fourth residential complex coming up on Sugar Road near the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. “The housing demand has increased in Edinburg since the announcement in May 2013 that UT-Pan American will be transformed into The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, beginning with the Fall 2015 semester,” Mayor García explained. “Very important, for this first time, as a result of the creation of UT-RGV, higher education in the Valley now has access to the multi-billion dollar Permanent University Fund.” On June 30, 2015 the market value and book value of the PUF was $17.8 billion and $14.9 billion, respectively, exclusive of land acreage. “Along with the creation of The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, the School of Medicine is set to open by the Fall of 2016, with a major component in Edinburg,” added Mayor García. “People are looking to move closer to the campus, and for the financial and job opportunities within the medical industry expected to materialize once the UT medical school is complete.” The Permanent University Fund (PUF) is a public endowment contributing to the support of institutions of The University of Texas System (UT System) and the Texas A&M University System (A&M System). The Constitution of 1876 established the PUF through the appropriation of land grants previously given to The University of Texas plus one million acres. Additional land grants to the PUF were completed in 1883 with the contribution of another one million acres. Today the PUF contains 2.1 million acres located in 24 counties primarily in West Texas. “We find ourselves in the same situation San Antonio experienced when they got their medical school (UT Health Science Center at San Antonio), and look at their size now. Mark my words, the population in Edinburg will very soon be more than 100,000,” Mayor García predicted. “Our location as the gateway to Hidalgo County, which the U.S. Census Bureau estimates had more than 830,000 people as of 2014, and the fact that there is room to grow in all directions in Edinburg also is attracting entrepreneurs looking for a location proven to be successful.”
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by Legislative Media | Aug 18, 2015 | Politics
Featured: The following proposed seal for the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley will be up for approval by the UT System Board of Regents when it meets in Austin on Wednesday, August 19, and Thursday, August 20, 2015 for its regular board meeting. The motto, Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis, is an approximate Latin translation of a famous quote by Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar, who proclaimed, “A cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy.”
Graphics: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg could expand by 53 acres, and a $37.6 million Interdisciplinary Engineering and Academic Studies Building could grace the existing campus under key items set for action by the UT System Board of Regents when it meets in Austin on Wednesday, August 19, and Thursday, August 20, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC, of which Agustín García, Jr. is Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The EEDC Board of Directors is comprised of Mark Iglesias as President, Harvey Rodríguez as Vice President, Ellie M. Torres as Secretary/Treasurer, and Mayor Richard García and Richard Rupert as Members. Those two items, along with the appropriation of $10 million for the UT-RGV School of Medicine and the new proposed official seal for UT-RGV and, are among local interests being monitored by the EEDC and the Edinburg City Council, which championed those measures last spring through the Texas Legislature. The measures relating to UT-RGV are part of the regular board meeting of the UT System Board of Regents, which will be held on the ninth floor of Ashbel Smith Hall, 201 W. 7th Street in downtown Austin. The agenda book and links to the live webcast for the meeting are posted online by logging onto: https://www.utsystem.edu/board-of-regents/meetings/board-meeting-2015-08-19. At the Austin meeting, the regents will be asked to authorize the recommended purchase of unimproved real property, totaling approximately 53 acres, located at the southeast quadrant of North Sugar Road and West Chapin Street, in Edinburg, from Norquest Family Holdings, Ltd., for “future campus expansion”. According to the regents’ agenda packet, the purchasing price will be determined by fair market value as established by independent appraisals, plus all due diligence expenses, closing costs, and expenses to complete the acquisition as deemed necessary by the Executive Director of Real Estate. The appraisals are confidential pursuant to Texas Education Code Section 51.951. More is known about the $37.6 million Interdisciplinary Engineering and Academic Studies Building. According to the synopsis provided by the UT System: This project will construct an approximately 77,000 GSF (gross square feet) building on the Edinburg campus for interdisciplinary space necessary to support enrollment growth in the rapidly growing region; the facility will include a large, 250-seat lecture auditorium, 150-seat lecture hall, 60-seat classrooms, and offices. Although particular emphasis will be placed on preparation of engineering students, this facility will also address flexible space requirements for other disciplines as needed. Additionally, the project will include an outdoor pavilion to be used as a gathering area and study space to relieve pressure on more expensive indoor space and also to support academic events. Design development plans and authorization of expenditure of funding will be presented to the Board of Regents for approval at a later date. EEDC’s Iglesias, who on Saturday, August 15, was unanimously elected President of the EEDC Board of Directors, welcomed the latest planned advances at the Edinburg UTRGV campus. “During our joint workshop with the Edinburg City Council over this past weekend, we reviewed what the EEDC, the Mayor, and the City Council, along with our state lawmakers, have done over the years to help get us to this point, and how very important UTRGV and its School of Medicine are for the economic growth and quality-of-life for our city and region,” said Iglesias. “We are dedicated to helping create one of the best public university systems in the nation.” Mayor Richard García, during his three terms as the city’s top elected leader, has played vital roles before the UT System Board of Regents and the Texas Legislature in rallying political and financial support for UT-RGV in Edinburg. “The UT System leadership recognizes that the future of Texas is right here in South Texas, which has one of the largest and youngest populations in the nation,” the mayor noted. “Just as important, the expansion plans by the UT System for UT-RGV are further proof that we do, indeed, have the brainpower, willpower, and strength of character to overcome all challenges and succeed. This is the message being sent to the world.”
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by Legislative Media | Aug 12, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Sandra Bland (Undated photograph posted on her Facebook)
The tragic death of Sandra Bland on Monday, July 13, 2o15, while confined in the Waller County Jail, requires decisive and landmark action by the Texas Legislature to guarantee that every jail cell in Texas is being monitored by a video surveillance system. Bland, 28, a graduate of Prairie View A&M who had come back after accepting a new job at her alma mater, was reportedly alone in a Waller County Jail cell, out-of-sight of a nearby county jail video camera, when she allegedly committed suicide by hanging. Darryl Johnson, a legislative consultant with more than 35 years experience in the Texas Legislature, who resides in Prairie View, is proposing legislation, to be known as “The Sandra Bland Justice for All Act”, be filed when the Texas Legislature begins its regular session in January 2017. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Houston and Speaker of the House Joe Straus of San Antonio should immediately appoint a joint Senate-House legislative committee to come up with ways to require all jails in Texas to maintain an effective video monitoring system so that no one who is being held in a cell is hidden from the protective and unbiased view of a video camera, he recommended. “In light of the terrible controversy and negative worldwide image of Texas that is resulting from this sorrow, now is the time to show the world that we in Waller County will help lead the way on what would be a major improvement of our state’s criminal justice system,” said Johnson. “More important, it is right and just that Sandra Bland, whose life calling courageously revolved around battling injustice, should have her honorable name, through ‘The Sandra Bland Justice for All Act’, be forever linked to protecting the innocent.”
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