OBP004931

From: (b) (6)

To: (b) (6)

Subject: Re: Border Fence NewsClips, 24 Feb

Date: Sunday, February 24, 2008 3:45:58 PM

I'll try to ignore the slap at the 'Boys.

I share your concern re: expectations and I am now attending the Cameron Cty mtg.

One of my key goals for the Tuesday meeting is to clearly communicate re: schedule pressure and
manage expectations. Knowing that Cascos is going to spin it regardless, I want to have TPs or even a
Press Release to give local media - stressing our ongoing consultation but also clarifying that we have a
deadline. This may also be helpful to explain why we are talking to the County about an alternative
while we are also suing them for access for the fence.

----- Original Message -----

From: (b) (6)
To: (b) (6)

Sent: Sun Feb 24 10:30:43 2008

Subject: Re: Border Fence NewsClips, 24 Feb

If they would just put in the money they are saving for a Cowboys Super Bowl trip then there would be
plenty.....they'll never need it anyways.

The timeline hasn't been relaxed, would that still be suffiecient time to pull Cameron County together?
I am worried that expectations of stakeholders aren't being managed enough.
(b)
(6)
----- Original Message -----
From: (b) (6)
To: (b) (6)

Sent: Sun Feb 24 10:21:57 2008

Subject: Re: Border Fence NewsClips, 24 Feb

Judge Cascos' statements are good, but he could have referenced another eating establishment. Folks
in Texas don't give up their outings to Whataburger that easily.

----- Original Message -----

From: (b) (6)
To: (b) (6)

Sent: Sun Feb 24 10:11:57 2008

Subject: FW: Border Fence NewsClips, 24 Feb

Good morning.

I thought the article below has good quotes from Cascos acknowledging their responsibility.

I also liked the reference to Whataburger.

Cascos hopes levee-fence plan will work in Cameron County

OBP004932

By Kevin Sieff/The Brownsville Herald <mailto:ksieff@brownsvilleherald.com>

2008-02-23 00:00:00
Two weeks after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff endorsed plans to enhance levees
along the Rio Grande, eliminating the need for miles of border fencing in Hidalgo County, a similar
proposal is now in the works in Cameron County.

County Judge Carlos H. Cascos met with Cameron County mayors and commissioners on Thursday to
discuss the feasibility of a levee restoration project from Brownsville to La Feria. Cascos is adamant that
the proposal, which he has championed for months, is the county’s only viable alternative to a border
fence. But he is facing opposition from both local politicians and residents, who decry the proposal’s $50
million price tag and its potential affects on wildlife and land along the border.

Cascos claims the issue is more than a question of avoiding the construction of a fence along the river.
“If we don’t do anything,” he said, “we might be under water eventually.”

“(Chertoff) said he would work with us, but we have to come to the table. We have to raise the
money.”

In Hidalgo County, DHS has agreed to contribute $3 million per mile, while the county will pitch in $2.1
per mile million under the expectation that that money will eventually be reimbursed from federal
coffers. Before the reimbursement, though, the county will have to pay more than $44 million to
complete the project.

“I can’t force any entity to pony up money,” Cascos said. “But the three percent tax increase would be
the equivalent of a $20-per-year increase on a $60,000 home — it’s a couple of outings to
Whataburger”

But for County Commissioner John Wood, the price tag is only a part of what makes the proposal
problematic. “I think there are a lot of unanswered questions,” Wood said. Wood enumerated
environmental concerns, the possibility that stretches of county land will be isolated by the levees, and
the risk of creating a bottleneck on the river.

“As long as the Mexican levee is lower, where is the water going to go?” Wood added. “We would just
be pushing the water into Mexico.”

Wood suggests that the only viable alternative to the fence is a “virtual fence,” secured with cameras
and sensors.

Hidalgo County voters passed a $100 million bond in 2006 in order to prevent the Federal Emergency
Management Agency from declaring miles of its levees unsound. The package included $40 million to
repair the most dilapidated portions — a sum that will now help to build 22 miles of levees that will
double as a retaining wall.

Because Cameron County approved no such bond, Cascos is expecting it to be difficult to raise the
necessary $50 million — especially in smaller cities along the border.

“We have to look at this county-wide,” he said. “We’re not going to stop the process because one entity
can’t pony up.”

Cascos will be speaking to elected officials in Cameron County and in Washington, D.C. over the next
few weeks. He has set a self-imposed deadline for the end of March — an indication, he said, of just
how urgent the issue is.