It’s time to move on

Nogales used to be good looking, but then it grew up. It’s OK; it’s what my mom said about me.

Our town was once one-square mile instead of 20. Its rolling hills were unblemished by obtrusive towers or huge earthen scars graded for Border Patrol.

The border “fence” was just that instead of an ugly iron curtain. The jail was in the basement of the Historic 1904 Courthouse and had space for perhaps 30 prisoners.

Used to be Sacred Heart Church was the town’s hilltop landmark. It said a lot about us. Soon, the new point of reference will be a jail up on another hill that will house more than 200 inmates. It will speak volumes about us, too.

Nogales is confronting adult decisions, yet its leadership is not mature and sophisticated enough to control the city’s own future. Mired in indecision, our destiny is dictated by external forces, such as migrants fleeing corrupt and/or poor countries; an insatiable narcotics appetite in the United States and a southern neighbor more than willing to oblige; burgeoning international trade; technological demands; and population growth.

There is no time for spinning our wheels. We got to get a move on.

By 2012, the Mariposa border crossing will be expanded to one of the largest land ports from Mexico. Construction is set to start in October.

All federal eyes are upon us, investing more than $213 million for the port project with millions more slated for infrastructure including the refurbishing of the Nogales Wash and the 30-inch line that pipes 14 million gallons of sewage daily from Mexico to the treatment plant in Rio Rico. That plant just underwent a $60 million makeover.

What do the feds see? A town in the midst of an identity crises; petty politics; poor regard for economic and community development; planning guidelines that date back to the last century; and cumbersome and arbitrary construction review processes, and worse, no vision.

Growth happens, whether we like it or not. If we don’t seize the opportunities afforded by our geographical location, there are others chomping at the bit who would love to see Nogales become nothing but a simple little way station for tired truckers and tourists.

(Write us at 268 W. View Point Dr., Nogales, Ariz., 85621 or manuel.coppola@nogalesinternational.com.)