Brownsville Can't Afford to Keep John Villarreal as District 4 Commissioner

Dr. Oziel Davila Robles

According to reports to Mean Mister Brownsville, Dr. Oziel Davila Robles, a Matamoros dentist, had racked up overcharges in excess of $400,000 to the City of Brownsville, charging for dental work not done for city employees.  I was alerted on Tuesday afternoon, January 24, 2012 that the City of Brownsville was on the verge of settling with the fraudulent dentist for a mere $70,000 or .17 on the dollar.

Nena and I raced to the City Commission building to confront the mayor and city commissioners about this irresponsible settlement.  As soon as the mayor opened the meeting, I asked to speak on the issue.  The mayor indicated that the matter was going to be considered in executive session and therefore would not be open to public comment.

We waited for the conclusion of the executive session.  I immediately approached John Villarreal, City Commissioner District 4.

"John, is it true you guys settled for $70,000 after this guy overbilled the city for $400,000?" I asked.

John's first comment was that recovery of the overcharges would have been difficult because all the records were in Matamoros.  When Nena and I laughed at that, John offered:  "Well, the doctor did perform many services that he did not bill the city for."

John himself knew that explanation was laughable.  When he saw us entering the elevator at the

John Villarreal

city building, he took the stairs.  If I were John, I would have been embarrassed too.  John was simply not strong enough to stand up to a $400,00 ripoff of city funds, taxpayer money.  He wimped out.

We later learned that the dentist had used his ill-gotten gains to finance the Dubai Night Club at the confluence of Farm Road 802 and Highway 48.  For the record, we learned that the vote to accept the very partial settlement for this theft was 3-3.  Rose Gowen, Ricardo Longoria and John Villarreal voted to let the crook slide.  Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa, Melissa Zamora and Estela Chavez-Vasquez voted against the settlement.  Incompetent Mayor Tony Martinez gleefully broke the tie, letting the dentist slide for bilking Brownsville.