Sold! To the highest bidder

HARLINGEN — Hundreds of prospective buyers from all over the Rio Grande Valley and northern Mexico crowded the Harlingen public works facility Saturday hoping to snag deals on everything ranging from cameras and bicycles to bulldozers and heavy construction equipment.

Workers at the city’s annual auction Saturday sold off hundreds of items including dozens of old refrigerators from the housing authority, obsolete computer equipment and surplus supplies from a handful of city departments. Locals came out Saturday seeking deals on cars, motorcycles, tractors and even a Ford garbage truck.

Browsing the aisles of tractors and various construction equipment, Larry Rincones sought out some used, cheap equipment for his construction business, Rincones Group, Inc.
Rincones said he and other business owners typically frequent city auctions, looking for good deals on pricey equipment. “Today, I’m just out here just looking for general construction equipment for the business,” he said.

Rincones and others also said they hoped the poor economy would prod bidders to tighten their purse strings, driving bid prices lower than usual.

Barbara Vroman of Harlingen perused more than 50 police-impounded cars and used vehicles from other city departments, saying she and other family members were in the market for cars. Vroman said she has attended numerous auctions over the years and loves the excitement and adrenaline of bidding.

“It’s funny — when you get a lot of men out like there are today, you get a lot of testosterone going and they just keep bidding higher and higher,” Vroman said. “It’s a lot of fun to watch,” she laughed.

The city took two fire trucks and two police cruisers off the auction block Saturday, city worker Mari Leal said. The city of Santa Rosa had expressed interest in buying one of the trucks and both police cruisers, Leal said. Harlingen will keep the other fire truck to aid in flood-relief operations, she said.

City officials said last week that money for all items sold would go back to the city fund for each particular department where the item originated. City finance Director Roel Gutierrez said last week that he could not estimate how much money would be raised through the action, but did add that last year’s event raised roughly $68,000.