Founded in 1970 by the local government of the nine county Middle Rio Grande Region, designated as a State Planning Region by Governor Preston Smith, the Middle Rio Grande Development Council has grown into one of the most important governmental institutions in South and Southwest Texas. In the twenty-five years of its existence, the council has made a single contribution to the life of the region, the structure and substance of its economy, and the lives of its residents. Its history can be divided into three distinct periods that roughly coincide with the three decades in which it has existed.
The seventies can be said to have been the decade of organization and formation. This was the period in which the Council was first established, and began to sort out the scope of its mission and the role it would play in the region. The impulse that led to its formation arose from two parallel sets of concern on the part of the region's governmental officials: 1) the need to attract public resources to meet local service needs, and 2) the desire to more effectively impact the operation within the region.
The council's first effort focused on the proper planning and coordination of local public services, and governmental programs. Economic development, criminal justice, and transportation were among the first areas in which the council took concern. The Criminal Justice Advisory Committee was the first of the many advisory committees and councils created by the Council to assure the widest possible local input into the region's law enforcement and criminal justice efforts. In 1973, three years after its founding, the Council was designated as an Economic Development District by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and embarked upon a twenty-year economic development effort. Other, more focused and transient planning efforts were conducted in the areas of transportation and water resource development.
In the mid-1970s, with the advent of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and the Older Americans Act, the Council entered the arena of human resources and human services programs for the first time. It was designated as the regional sponsor and administrative overseer of the first time. It was designated as the regional sponsor and administrative overseer of the CETA program and as the Area Agency on Aging, responsible for the delivery of Older American Act programs and services in the entire area.
The initial headquarters for Council operations was in Del Rio, and by the end of the decade, its initial staff of two had grown to almost sixty, and the aggregate funding from all of its contracts had reached $3,000,000/annum. Its policy making and central administrative structure was essentially in place, and it had become a force in local affairs throughout the region.
In general, the Eighties can be characterized as a period of survival, consolidation, and dramatic growth. The late 1970s and early 1980s was a transition period in the life of the Council, and a period of considerable political and economic turmoil in the region in general, and within the council in particular. It featured the only significant rupture in the structure of the council, with the withdrawal of two of its most important local government members, and the transfer of its headquarters from Del Rio to Carrizo Springs. By 1981, the very existence of the Council and its designation as a Council of Governments under the provisions of the Texas Local Government Code were at grave risk.
1982-1983 represented the turning point in the life of the Council. The 1983 elections saw a turnover in a majority of the members of the Board of Directors, as seven of the nine counties and a majority of the regions municipalities elected new chief elected officials. 1983 saw the return of the city of Del Rio to full membership status.
Working closely and cooperatively wit each other and with Council staff, the new Board of Directors developed and implemented a new set of program policies and processes the moved the region from an approach based on competition to one based on cooperation. The region's communities worked together to establish a series of cooperative formulas through which available resources could be allocated throughout the region on an equitable basis, eliminating the previous annual funding fights.
In 1983 this formula allocation approach was applied to the Elderly Services programs, and for the first time these services were made available uniformly in eight of the region's nine counties. In 1984, this principle was applied to the Community Development Block Grant program, and the "Gentlemen's Agreement" that has governed CDBG allocations since it was executed.
1984 also saw the establishment of the Middle Rio Grande Private Industry Council to oversee the implementation of the Jobs Training Partnership Act in the region, and for the first time local private sector was brought into the Council's deliberations in a substantive way. The Council was designated as Grant Recipient and Administrative Entity for the JTPA program, roles it has maintained to the present day. The available resources were allocated throughout the region by the same type of formula approach previously applied to the Aging and CDBG programs, and the JTPA program was implemented in the region with a minimum of turmoil.
The latter half of the Eighties was devoted to the growth of the Council's available service offerings. GED preparation and adult and youth educational remediation were added to the JTPA service menu, and direct economic development efforts. JTPA Services and Education Centers were established in every county in the region. Finally, in the Council entered the fields of solid waste management planning and 911 emergency response services.
By the end of this eventful decade, the Council's staff had grown to ninety, and its aggregate contract resource base had increased to almost $7,000,000. It had operations and offices in each of the nine counties, its headquarters remained in Carrizo Springs, and it had developed a large and sophisticated planning and program development effort in Uvalde.
If the theme of the Eighties can be defined as turmoil and growth, that of the Nineties can be said to be consolidation and diversification. The general cooperative approach to decision making remained the same, but the last ten years have seen a concentrated effort on the Council's part to diversity its resource base, and to broaden the rang eof programs it managed and services it delivered to the governments and the citizens of the regions.
It has extended its 911 effort into the mapping and addressing of every residence, government, and business location in the region. It has extended its solid waste planning program into the design and attempted construction of a Middle Rio Grande Waste Management District. It has created the Middle Rio Grande Development Foundation and employed it to provide vehicles to all of the region's elderly service centers and to its only Indian tribe.
In the area of Workforce Development, the Nineties saw the development of an extensive network of partnerships with local school districts for the provision of developmental education and GED preparation services to the region's "at-risk" youth. We have also seen the creation of mobile education and driver training labs, and cooperative efforts to rain new business entrepreneurs and commercial truck rivers with Southwest Texas Junior College and Star Career Training Centers.
In a large sense, the Council has come to be one of the primary representatives of the region and its interests in state and national administrative, regulatory, and legislative forums. It joined others in the region to, including many local governments in successful efforts to oppose the disposal of hazardous, toxic, and radioactive materials. It consistently and effectively represents the region in Legislative and Congressional sessions, aggressively pursuing the adoption of legislation that related to the needs and interests if the region's communities and citize4ns, particularly in the fields of transportation, health, and education.
The future of the Council, like that of the region, is not yet set. The political and governmental revolutions that are currently under way in Austin and Washington, the economic revolution associated with the North American Free Trade Agreement that is currently under way in all of North America and particularly here along the U.S./Mexico Border, represent challenges that both pose problems and offer opportunities for the region and for the Council.
The future of both depend, as they have since the Council's inception in 1970, upon the continuing wisdom and leadership of the region's elected officials, acting through the MRGDC Board of Directors, and upon the vision and efforts of the Council's staff, under the direction of the Executive Director.
The Middle Rio Grande Development Council is an equal opportunity employer/program/service provider. Auxiliary aids and services may be made available upon request to individuals with disabilities. For information please contact Relay Texas at (800) 735-2989, our direct voice telephone number (830) 876-3533 or our TDD telephone number (830) 876-1260. The contents of this web site are the property of the Middle Rio Grande Development Council, please do not reproduce them without the express written consent of the Council - 2008
Today Is: Saturday » May 10, 2008
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