City of San Benito Planner Rodrigo Davila is shown in his office Monday afternoon. (Staff photo by Michael Rodriguez)
By JOE BOCANEGRA
Special to the NEWS
City of San Benito Planner Rodrigo Davila has seen his share of maps.
A 41-year-old native of Brownsville, he uses the city’s maps as both a reference and as a tool to help San Benito in its goal to improve all aspects of operation, from street repairs to planning and zoning.
Armed with an education and experience, Davila, the city’s new planner, hopes to achieve as much sooner rather than later.
A 1993 graduate from the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) for Drafting Technology, he started a 13-year career with the Cameron County Department of Transportation – first as a CAD drafting coordinator from 1993 to 1996, then as a senior engineering technician and 911 coordinator from 1997 to 1998 and finally as geographic information system coordinator. The latter was a title created by the Commissioners Court and was a position he held from 1998 to 2006. He then taught at Texas State Technical College (TSTC) in Harlingen as an instructor in the Computer Drafting and Design Technology Program for two years before beginning his duties at the City of San Benito seven weeks ago.
Although Davila has been working with the city for nearly two months, he said he’s up to the task of seeing through various projects he’s inherited, including whatever comes his way now.
His duties include mapping out the city in detail, not only dealing with the streets but with the utilities and zonings as well. At the moment, however, he is catching up with local laws and ordinances to familiarize himself with San Benito. Still, this cannot prevent him from eventually creating a map inclusive of all zones, street names, and the corresponding utilities. Such a map would act as a guide for every department that utilizes geographical information as well as infrastructural data.
“We used GPS to create this map,” Davila said, pointing to a comprehensive map of Cameron County he created during his time with the county’s transportation department. Once he is settled into his position, he hopes to create similar maps of San Benito using his expertise and knowledge.
In turn, Davila said such a layout will improve all aspects of the city’s infrastructural improvement projects.
“I want to be able to tell people, if they ask me if they can open a business in an Agriculture (zoned) area, I can see if it’ll be best for the area and if it is to rezone to commercial,” he explained, adding that he also hopes to one day include such a map on the city’s website.
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the Aug. 10 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
Recent Comments