From the Archives, December 26, 2012~Pat Ahumada and Tony Martinez~Dissimilar Styles, But Equally Offensive

Pat Ahumada

Pat Ahumada frequently seemed to be at war, at war with his alleged partners on the city commission, in verbal combat with citizens who disagreed with him. His insistence on having the last word could keep him up past 3:00 AM on Facebook stating and restating a position or viewpoint.

He was not a consensus builder, but a leader who expected others to follow. Unwittingly describing his own leadership style, he referred to himself as the "quarterback" with the others on the city commission as "blocking lineman." With that approach, it's little wonder that Ahumada was unable to push many of his ideas past the City Commission with the ignominious exceptions of the plastic bag ban and the undemocratic blockage of public comment in the City Commission broadcast.

A proponent of the Weir Dam, a project designed to satisfy metropolitan Brownsville/Matamoros future water needs while providing water sports recreation for the community, Ahumada failed not only to get consensus from the city commission but never received cooperation from Mexico. A possible tipping point for the future of downtown Brownsville was an agreement he claimed to have with a business group for the purchase and renovation of the El Jardin Hotel largely using federal funds for the renovation. Of course, when, as mayor, you can't get others on board with your plan, including the public, whose fault is that? Isn't that what skilled political leaders do every day across the country?

A last minute motorcade by Ahumada down International Blvd. in a convertible with Cepellin the Clown, escorted by an American Security pretend police vehicle did not stem the tide of his political reprimand in the 2011 mayoral election. No doubt Ahumada's reputation as a bully and a grandstander contributed to his garnering a mere 9% of the vote, unheard of for an incumbent, even in a 5 candidate race.

Tont Martinez

Replacing Ahumada was the easily elected Tony Martinez, a medical malpractice lawyer raised in Harlingen. Martinez ran a successful "Believe in Brownsville" campaign orchestrated from Austin. Because Martinez said nothing of substance in the campaign, he was an unknown. It was like all the voters in Brownsville collectively said "I thought YOU were the one who knew him!"

Expecting perhaps a kinder, gentler administration than that of the tumultuous Ahumada, what Brownsville got instead was a quieter, more secretive, less inclusive one. Martinez seemed almost annoyed at the give-and-take of a city commission meeting, hellbent on getting them over with in record time.

In his opening commission meeting Martinez snatched the board appointments right out from under two neophyte commissioners, sending them instead to his cronies running United Brownsville for review. Betraying his severe lack of understanding of gender equality, he referred disparagingly to the females on the commission as "girls" and used made-up Robert's Rules of Order constraints to block Ricardo Longoria from dissenting comments or questions. Martinez quickly used up the political capital of his landslide victory by seeing no need to tweak a poorly-thought-out plastic bag ban and by not restoring the broadcast of public comment. In fact, when Commissioner Zamora put the broadcast of public comment back on the agenda, Martinez engaged the City Attorney Mark Sossi to interupt the discussion with a ludicrous pie chart commentary in opposition to the agenda point.

What Martinez lacked in charisma and communication skills, he overcame with planning. Well before he declared his intentions for the mayorship, Martinez financed and ran the successful at-large candidacy of Rose Gowen, at least partially financed that of Estela Chavez-Vasquez, both while renting a house to Melissa Zamora. If this didn't give a 100% cooperative voting block, it did give him a leg up in pushing his agenda.

This flying wedge on the city commission enabled the mayor to push through for the purchase a number of downtown city properties without so much as a hint to the taxpaying public as to the purpose of these speculative real estate purchases. These purchases include: The San Fernando Building at $315,000, The Mother of Perpetual Hope Home for $195,000, a downtown restaurant and its next door space for $41,000 and $42,000 respectively, the Old Nat'l Guard Armory for $431,200 and the Casa del Nylon building for $2,300,000.

The mayor initiated the purchase of these properties with such disdain for the taxpaying public, not a smidgen of voter support or understanding was even solicited. Tony's disrespect for the taxpayers, the city commission and democracy itself actually exceeds that of his predecessor. Yes, he is quieter, less publicly combative, but no less of an autocrat.