Monday in Downtown Brownsville; Researching Two Possible Stories

From the editor:  I visited briefly with City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez and his assistant, Guadalupe Granada, on Monday.  My goal was to get pertinent financial information about the "State of the City" event held May 14 at the Brownsville Event Center.

The event not only had several corporate sponsors including H.E.B., but collected $50.00 per person from a reported 500+ attendees.  The event was reported to have been organized and run by the same San Antonio outfit that ran Tony Martinez' mayoral campaign.  I wanted to find out if that firm was an approved City of Brownsville vendor or, at the very least, an approved state vendor.  If they received a check, was it from the City of Brownsville?  It will also be interesting to see if payment reaches the $35,000 threshold that requires City Commission approval.  

Gonzalez and Granada were most cordial but asked that I submit the queries as an Open Records request with the City Secretary, which I did.

Another story I'm checking on is the effect of the soon-to-be completed Superhighway 40 from Mazatlan to Matamoros on local trucking.  I've submitted some questions to a local trucking company.  

Here are some pics from downtown on Monday:

Adams Street

Removing the Awnings from Market Square