Xavier Aguilar 
BROWNSVILLE – Mayor Trey Mendez is closing his chapter as the Mayor of the City of Brownsville after four years.
Mendez provided updates that have come to the city of Brownsville since the start of his term in 2019.
Projects such as the revitalization of downtown Brownsville, Brownsville’s BTX fiber broadband, the passing of the fair practice ordinance, and the updates to the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport were some of the improvements and innovations mentioned at Mendez’s State of the City Address.
“Today, we learned what has happened in the past four years and what’s to come for the great city of Brownsville,” said Esmerelda Villarreal, president, and CEO of the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, “We continue to prepare businesses so they can go ahead and be prepared when it comes down to talent, retention, industry.”
In his speech, Mendez mentioned how the City of Brownsville saw growth in investments in 2022. A total of $425 million in permits for residential and commercial construction, almost triple the $155 million from 2019 and double the $212 million in 2021.
This also came with the approval of 2,337 new residential lots and 101 new commercial lots.
Brownsville has also seen a decrease in property taxes over the last three years and an increase in sales tax revenue, 44.9 percent overall since Mendez took office in 2019.
As Mayor Mendez closes out his tenure, he said he looks forward to seeing Brownsville continue to grow.
“I really hope that they continue the upward trajectory, right, to continue your vision, continue to be innovative, continue to put in the work and effort that you need to be mayor,” said Mendez “It’s a full-time job most of the time, more than a full-time job. It really takes somebody that has a vision that can execute it, that cares about the city and has no special interests.”
Mendez mentioned his biggest project, B-T-X fiber as one of his proudest accomplishments helping Brownsville move from being the least connected city to now the best connected in the U.S.
He added that he is looking forward to adjusting back to being a private citizen and continuing his law practice.
