CALEXICO — The critical need to improve Calexico’s ports of entry and various roadblocks to doing so were spotlighted once again during a state hearing on border infrastructure and economic development at Calexico City Hall on Wednesday.
As anyone who crosses the border on a regular basis knows, Imperial County’s ports of entry need to be updated to expedite the process and in turn, strengthen the area’s economy.
The General Services Administration had planned expansion of the Calexico downtown Port of Entry until funding was pulled in 2011, and federal law doesn’t allow funding via a public-private partnership at this time,
Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy, along with Assemblyman Ben Hueso, chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on California/Mexico Bi-National Affairs, held the state oversight hearing in hopes of underscoring the need for a solution to both the state and Washington, D.C.
“Given the growing importance of the Coachella-Imperial-Mexicali economic corridor, financing high-quality infrastructure will be pivotal to the region’s long-term success,” Pérez said.
The first panel included discussion by GSA senior asset manager Jon Ballard, Imperial County Transportation Commission executive director Mark Baza, and Jeff Kinsell, president of Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios Inc., an investment company interested in a public-private partnership solution.
Kinsell said he hopes with changes to legislation to have a public-private partnership proposal by January, also mentioning possible short-term solutions including an optional user fee at the Calexico East Port of Entry only.
The second panel included Jose Eugenio Lagarde Amaya of the Industrial Development Commission of Mexicali, Alex Hinojosa of North American Development Bank and Laurie Weir of the California Public Employees Retirement System, an entity also interested in the public-private partnership route.
CalPERS authorized up to $800 million for California infrastructure investment in September 2011, which Pérez specified as a new, important avenue to explore for funding.
Calexico Chamber of Commerce President Carlton Hargrave thanked the Assembly members for their times, citing that the community often feels that this issue isn’t a priority outside of the area. He added that he believes the only “realistic way” the expansion will happen is through the public-private partnership.
Some members of the public also cited concerns regarding the project’s impact on the environment including a need to consider how to handle New River environmental issues while others voiced concerns about the project’s potential impacts on traffic.
Pérez admitted that while he understood frustration at the solution’s slow pace, he also felt that there had been significant advancements made toward one over the years.
“This is part of an effort to make sure that Sacramento and Washington, D.C., hear our message loud and clear, that this is very important to us, not only here locally, but it’s important to the region,” Pérez said. “It’s important to the state of California, and it should be important to the nation as a whole, especially when we start to recognized and realize we’re losing jobs and money.”
In 2007, the long border-crossing wait times in Imperial County accounted for an estimated output loss of $1.4 billion and 11,600 lost jobs nationally in 2007.
Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com.
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