Traci Wickett, CEO of United Way of Southern Cameron County Explains the $4,000 Contribution to Tony Martinez "State of the City" Event

Traci Wickett

One of the bigger head scratchers of Tony Martinez "State of the City" event was the $4,000 contribution of United Way of Southern Cameron County.  Some of us had visions of four grand earmarked for the poor, the homeless or disadvantaged being misappropriated to help underwrite a highbrow, elitist event priced out of reach for the common Brownsville citizen.  The large contribution from the charity was as concerning as the $18,650 from taxpayer, ratepayer and tuition payer entities used to finance the event.


You may recall that Mayor Martinez had explained to a Brownsville Herald reporter that since the event was privately funded, he had the full discretion in how the event was handled.  Here is the characterization of his view by The Herald from a July 29, 2013 article:  "He said that since the money for the State of the City event was privately raised, he saw no issue with spending the money with the same consultant firm that helped him win his office, explaining that based on practices he has observed in other areas, the event is typically planned wholly at the mayor’s discretion."

I called Traci Wickett, the CEO of the local chapter of United Way to get clarification on her group's financial participation.  Ms. Wickett

Bill & Melinda Gates

explained that the $4,000 was not pulled from charitable donations intended for the needy of Cameron County, but was a grant from the Bill Gates Foundation earmarked for practical job training programs.

"We could have done our own event, but that might have been difficult with $4,000.  By piggybacking on the mayor's event, we got more exposure than we could have generated on our own.  We were very happy seeing our "All-In" program on the front page of the Brownsville Herald the next day and, of course, the mayor promoting us on stage."

When I asked Ms. Wickett if the Bill Gates Foundation was satisfied with the results of their stipend, she said:  "Very much so.  Bill Gates is into practical solutions in getting young people gainfully employed.  We were able to generate some interest in our intern "Earn and Learn" program, where we partner with local businesses to give young people practical job experience.  The business is benefited because we are able to subsidize the intern's salary."

I was interested in how many interns were in the program locally and what types of businesses were participating.  Ms. Wicket responded:  "We've just launched the program, but many of Brownsville's business owners were at the "State of the City" event and they are definitely interested.  A shipbreaking company at the Port of Brownsville has shown interest.  The Brownsville Herald, for example, would be a wonderful opportunity for interns to develop skills."

Essentially, what United Way got for their $4,000 was advertising, exposure for their programs.  $4,000 would not go very far even with one internship.  Using the percentages of contributions and expenditures from the Project Transaction Report we received from the City of Brownsville, this is how literally the event spent the United Way $4,000 donation: $1,908 to the Austin advertising company M.A.P.(Message, Audience, Presentation, Inc.), $768.00 to Keko's Bistro & Catering, $80.00 to Perennial Favorites for centerpieces and $920 to either jumpstart the event for next year or to a local charity(Martinez indicated in the July 29, 2013 Brownsville Herald article that he hadn't decided yet how to use the profit from the event.).  Perhaps, Mayor Martinez will give the $11,246 left over to the United Way.

There is certainly a need for a job skills program in Cameron County that would actually match employer requirements. Department of Labor statistics for June 2013 show the county's unemployment rate at 11.1%. There may not be a position in Cameron Country for those earning a degree at UTB, so those graduates must leave the area to find a job that fits their education.  With all due respect, I'm not certain shipbreaking would be even an internship I could recommend as that's a very hazardous, dangerous type of work.

Checking the Bill Gates Foundation website, I noticed they do indeed partner with the United Way.  I noticed my county of birth, King County of Washington State, recently received a $30,000,000 grant from the foundation.