Latest news with #Bojorquez
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starbase, the SpaceX site, is likely Texas' next city. What happens next?
McALLEN — Nearly 10 years after SpaceX, Elon Musk's effort to colonize Mars, began operating in a small community in Cameron County just a few miles inland of the Gulf Coast, employees who live there and other residents will vote next month to incorporate their Starbase community as Texas' newest city. If the majority of them vote yes on May 3, the leaders they elect at the same time will have the responsibility of creating a city from the ground up. What does it take to have a fully functioning city? A few of Starbase's first steps as a newborn city can be anticipated because state law sets certain requirements for raising and spending public money and how governing bodies can operate. Texas generally gives municipalities a lot of discretion on how to manage and govern themselves, according to Alan Bojorquez, an attorney who specializes in city governance. 'The reality is, Texas cities under the law are not required to do much," Bojorquez said. He emphasized that much of what the new city of Starbase will do will ultimately depend on what services and programs city officials and residents want the city to provide. Before Starbase can officially incorporate, the election results must be certified by Cameron County. Incorporation will be effective on the day that Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño enters an order stating the community has incorporated, according to the Texas law. As a Type C municipality, Starbase will have a commission form of government — a mayor and two commissioners — who will be elected by the voters on the same day they vote to incorporate. Their terms in office last two years unlike the typical four-year terms held by officials in larger cities. City leaders are required under Texas law to hold elections and public meetings at least once a month. The city is also required to archive records and provide them for public inspection under the Texas Public Information Act. The mayor will be tasked with running the city's daily operations, unless voters later approve hiring a city manager. Many Texas cities and towns have a city manager who reports to elected leaders. They have broad responsibilities including hiring and firing other leaders like police and fire chiefs. Leonardo Olivares, a former city manager to multiple cities in the Rio Grande Valley, including Rio Grande City, Weslaco, La Joya and Palmview, said the city commissioners must set priorities quickly. 'What are the needs of the community in terms of development, commercial, industrial development?' Olivares said. Cities also need a budget if they want to spend money, which they will have to do if they provide services such as water, sewer, police or fire. "I think the initial challenge for the first commission of Starbase is going to be to share with the electorate what they are going to be doing," Bojorquez said. SpaceX leaders have made no secret of their plans to grow Starbase. In a letter to Treviño, the county's top elected official, submitted with the petition to incorporate, Starbase Manager Kathryn Lueders wrote that the community wished to incorporate so it could continue to grow. 'Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world class place to live—for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity's future in space,' Lueders wrote. She added that through agreements with the county, SpaceX performs several civil functions such as management of the roads and utilities. They have also established a school and a medical clinic. Incorporation would allow SpaceX to take over the management of those functions. The company has already made moves to commercially develop the area as well. SpaceX is building a $15 million shopping center and restaurant there and a $100 million office facility and industrial factory. The city has to figure out how to pay for the services it plans to offer. The major sources of revenue for cities are property taxes and sales taxes. City leaders can approve an initial assessment of property taxes but sales and use taxes must be approved by voters through another election. There are limits. For property taxes, a Type C city is limited to $1.50 per $100 of valuation, depending on population. For sales tax, cities are capped at two cents per dollar. They may allocate one cent toward general revenue, up to half a cent may go toward economic development and they could dedicate up to half a cent toward property tax relief. 'There's going to be continual activity out there so I think it's a responsible thing to do — plan for that continued growth,' Olivares said. 'You've just got to manage it right. You've got to get some good people out there who know what they're doing.' In essence, Starbase will be a company town — an idea that evokes the image of early 20th century workers settling down around the coal companies or mills that employ them. One of the most well-known in Texas is Sugar Land, which was home to sugar plantations beginning in the mid-1800s that later became the Imperial Sugar Company. The city was incorporated in 1959. Company towns have persisted and the SpaceX employees living in Starbase appear poised to establish the newest one. What they hope to accomplish through incorporation will likely have a lot to do with the company's activities, Bojorquez said. 'Because this is a project that is closely affiliated with SpaceX, you can imagine that the goals for the municipality are probably in pretty close alignment with the needs of SpaceX," Bojorquez said. There have already been signs of that, and, at times, those goals were incompatible with the regulations of the county. While Cameron County officials have welcomed SpaceX — touting investment and job creation — and allowed the company to conduct its operations with seemingly little pushback, there have been instances where the two have been at odds. In November, SpaceX requested a variance for the county's lot frontage requirements to maximize what Starbase could build on four available lots at Boca Chica Village, a small residential neighborhood near the SpaceX offices where Elon Musk owns a home. The hope, a SpaceX engineer told the county commissioners, is that they would be able to recruit more employees to live there. The county, however, denied their request. In addition to being able to adopt more permissive rules, the city could also gain control over the closure of Boca Chica beach on weekdays for launches. The Texas Senate approved a bill that would transfer that authority to them from the county, a move that the county judge and the commissioners publicly opposed. The Texas House has yet to vote on the bill, which is needed for the proposal to become law. Other benefits to becoming a city include the ability to acquire real estate through eminent domain, a process by which governmental bodies can force the transfer of property, for fair market value, if it's for a public purpose. Bojorquez said the process is often used to build roads, water infrastructure and drainage. "I think it's clear in this example that most of the reasons are being provided by SpaceX," Bojorquez said of the possible motivations behind seeking incorporation. "I have no opinion about whether it's right or wrong. It's just unique." Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Yahoo
Man to spend 40 years in prison, convicted of sexual exploitation of a child
A man will spend the next 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual exploitation of a child, according to the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Indiana. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Moises Bojorquez, 29, pleaded guilty on March 31 to sexual exploitation of a child, distribution of child sexual abuse material and possession of matter containing child sexual abuse material. TRENDING STORIES: Miami Valley communities join in nationwide 'Hands Off' protests Local man accused of passing bad checks facing charges 9-year-old boy dies after being swept away by floodwaters while walking to bus stop Bojorquez sexually abused a child who was in his custody, according to the US Attorney's Office. Bojorquez also sent images and videos to a woman via Telegram, a cloud-based messaging service. The US Attorney's Office says they had a months-long conversation where they shared child sexual abuse material. Bojorquez had over 1000 images and videos on his phones that depicted infants and toddlers engaged in sexually explicit conduct, or other depictions of violence, according to the US Attorney's Office. Bojorquez has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervision after release. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The economic impacts of shifting immigration policy and how it impacts you
Immigration is a huge focus of President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office. But as much as immigration is a political issue, it's also an economic one. We worked with our sister stations around the country and spoke with small business owners and attorneys. They say we will all feel the impacts of shifting immigration policy in one way or another. 'You can see the street here is empty,' said restaurant owner Daniel Bojorquez. An empty Broadway in Somerville is creating concern for the businesses that surround it. Bojorquez has owned La Brasa restaurant on Broadway for 11 years. 'It requires people it requires workers who work people on the streets, requires people to activate the economy,' Bojorquez said. Bojorquez believes many people in the East Somerville community, which is home to many immigrants, are too afraid to come out. He says there's been a noticeable shift in street traffic since the beginning of the year. And he's heard from fellow business owners in the area who aren't sure they'll survive this period. The concern so great, he brought it to the attention of the Somerville City Council. 'They are talking about potential closures,' Bojorquez said when addressing the council during a meeting on February 13th. 'I feel like a lot of people are kind of holding pattern,' Borjorquez told Boston 25′s Kerry Kavanaugh. 'They're basically going to give it until March, April. But if the pattern is still the same basically that people are going to close because it's not sustainable, basically,' That fear not isolated to Somerville. 'They're starting to be afraid because they don't feel as invited or as welcome as they used to be,' said Felipe Andre, owner of Gostoso Bakery in Orlando, Florida. Specializing in Brazilian baked goods since 2004, they have predominantly immigrant workers and customers, many of whom are tourists. 'They don't have documents. They're not coming to Orlando. People from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, New York, they are afraid to come and drive here,' Andre said. That means fewer customers, according to Andre. 'People are an economic engine, and they drive they drive the economy,' said Boston-based immigration attorney Matthew Maiona. He's also an adjunct professor of business immigration law at Suffolk University Law School and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Maiona says immigration crackdowns aren't just costing customers but also workers, from restaurants and hospitality to construction to healthcare. 'So, you can expect, I think, prices to go up when employees are harder to find to perform certain tasks,' he said. 'Maybe your grandparents don't get their Meals on Wheels delivery or maybe don't get there their home health aide because that person is no longer working or even afraid to work.' Maiona says he also works with doctors, and scientists, and researchers stuck in what he calls a broken immigration system. 'People are trying to do their best, right? And companies are trying to stay open. You know, restaurants are trying to stay open,' Maiona says, 'Like a lot of these people who are doing this, some jobs are immigrants. And if that goes away, that's going to have another effect as well,' Bojorquez said. Maiona believes there simply aren't enough legal pathways to immigration and for years has been advocating for comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
