An article in The Monitor last week discussed the possibility of the development of a River Walk-like theme park in McAllen (TX). If it goes through, the park would be built in the Boeye Reservoir area which is just off HWY 83, and close to the Airport.
This is obviously a pretty big deal that stirs up even bigger questions; Is right now really the best time to build a park? How many jobs will this create? Can McAllen’s infrastructure handle a large park? Does McAllen even need a theme park?
But the one question everyone seems to be focused on right now is; Is McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez abusing his power? This question revolves around the fact that the company at the front of the line to develop the park is McAllen Attractions Inc., a company in which the Mayor’s two sons are associated with.
The Mayor has legally removed himself from all of the decision making about the park to avoid any conflict of interest. But a follow-up article in The Monitor makes it pretty clear that a lot of people have some pretty strong opinions about the whole thing.
Personally, I’m not so sure if who builds this park should be the dominant issue. Every single one of us, at some point or another, got a job, was referred to a job, or entered into some kind of business arrangement completely dependent on who we know, or who we are related to. As long as everything is done legally, I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Hopefully, as the negotiations continue on the development of the park, the attention shifts from who builds it, to answering whether it should or shouldn’t be built in the first place.
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