Everything UTRGV's Ron Garza said at the recent CEO Group meeting

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. “I think we're 100 years past that,” Garza said. “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 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.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.