Tuesday, March 4, 2014

City Commission Workshop, 3/4/14~Mayor Lectures City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez About "Inclusiveness"

Mayor Tony Martinez with "Hints from Heloise" 
City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez presented a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan before the City Commission Tuesday evening during a workshop-style, but nonetheless public meeting. The plan is designed to help the city gauge and plan financing for capital improvements over the next half decade, 2015-2019.

During his presentation, Gonzalez detailed various financing means available, including Certificates of Obligation, tax notes, airport passenger facility fees, federal and state grants and sales tax monies via GBIC and BCIC.
Pete seemed proudest of the city's much improved bond rating during his tenure, now an A- with two rating entities.  "The City of Brownsville has the same bond rating as the country of Mexico," Gonzalez gushed.

While Gonzalez' report to the commission listed a half dozen city staffers who had worked on the report, Mayor Martinez did not seem pleased, interrupting the Finance Director's presentation to suggest the group could have benefited from an "outside facilitator;" a city planner, someone in economic development or even "Dutch, from the real estate community."  

In the mayor's rambling tirade, he stressed he wasn't being critical of the city's finance director or even trying to be a "Hints from Heloise"(a ladies newspaper column from the 60's with sewing and house cleaning tips).  The mayor suggested that the long-time finance director should have enough self-confidence to take constructive criticism, but that he simply felt the city department should be more "inclusive."  "Jason and Gil from GBIC could have been consulted, the MPO and especially John Bruciak from P.U.B. They are very organized over there and I've copied several of their programs."


Commissioner Rose Gowen joined the chorus, saying" she did not want to be just handed a document, but wanted to be in on the planning."

When Finance Director Gonzalez stated the report was subject to change, just a plan, but based on a study of Brownsville streets costing the city $200,000, Mayor Martinez countered:  "Streets are important.  Most of us know which streets need attention, but we're riding lots of bicycles now."  Interestingly, a presentation about bicycle use by City Planner Ramiro Gonzalez, was tabled(b) Presentation regarding the Bike Brownsville Initiative. (Ramiro Gonzalez – Planning – 10 mins.)

The irony of Mayor Martinez lecturing City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez about "inclusiveness," is that Tony Martinez has not even approached inclusiveness in his three year tenure as mayor.  It's not just the disrespectful, undemocratic blockage of the broadcast of public comment at City Commission meetings.  That simply underscores the City Commission's lack of understanding of representative democracy and its principles.  


Homeless living under the decaying awning of
Casa del Nylon, purchased for $2.3 million
The mayor has operated unilaterally at every turn, buying properties downtown, refurbishing first one office, then starting on another, NEVER including the taxpayers in the decision making, even dipping into the city's $3,060,000 refund from AEP Texas without commission approval.  To this day, he has arrogantly resisted explaining to taxpayers the purchase in 2012 of the now decaying Casa del Nylon building for $2,300,000.

The mayor may not be an evil man, just clueless, but he certainly has no business lecturing Pete Gonzalez or anyone about "inclusiveness." 

After the workshop, the City Commission went into Executive Session, followed by the actual City Commission meeting.  

During the City Commission meeting, Mayor Martinez again demonstrated his lack of understanding for the Public Meetings Act, representative democracy and the so-called "inclusiveness" he lectured Pete Gonzalez about.  The case in point is an action item listed as follows:  

11. Consideration and ACTION to adopt budget amendment Resolution Number 2014-029, to amend the General Fund Budget by providing $22,200.00 funding for the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce. (Pete Gonzalez – Deputy City Manager)


As Pete Gonzalez stepped up to present this item, he brought with him Chamber of Commerce President Maria Hall Joiner to present a program to encourage shopping at Brownsville businesses.  Nena and I had heard the presentation at a BCIC board meeting, but the public had not.  It involves issuing I.D. cards to residents entitling them to discounts at Brownsville businesses.  The cards are free to the customers, but the businesses must belong to the Chamber of Commerce to participate.  The program is based on a similar program in Mission, named GoMission and is tentatively titled GoBrownsville.  Its purpose is to increase sales tax revenue and bolster membership in the Chamber of Commerce, which, according to Joiner, has dipped from 1,600 to just 650 in the last ten years.


Chamber of Commerce President
Maria Hall Joiner
Martinez stopped Pete Gonzalez from introducing Joiner to present the program simply because he had already heard it.  He said if any commissioner had questions they could ask Joiner. But, that's not the point.  The citizens, the taxpayers who will fund this program heard nothing.  The whole point of a PUBLIC City Commission meeting is to conduct city business in PUBLIC.  This concept is totally lost on Tony Martinez who desperately needs a course in Democracy 101.  The timid commissioners approved the $22,500 funding without discussion, without a public outlining of the program, without a whimper.  

Brownsville deserves better.






9 comments:

  1. The Mayor is trying to push Pete into retirement so that he can hire his own "yes" man to screw us all out of our tax dollars for personal enrichment.

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  2. Without a whimper? I had the elections going on one screen and the commission meeting on the other and unless I heard and saw wrong, the vote was 4-2. Same for the $139,000 that Tetreau gave to the Museum of Fine Arts. Why the hell should my tax dollars go to a damn museum? Fix my freaking street you bimbo! YOU are not giving the museum money YOUR money, YOU are stealing it from US and giving it to them! We were worried about the mayor spending all our money and finally the commission put the brakes on him but now its the bimbos that are squandering it away. 3 years ago it was "Anyone but Atkinson" but next year it will be "Anyone but Tetreau". I cannot believe how stupid she is. She's always taking credit for stuff happening in her district but last night she really screwed them. Take your fake purses and go back to being a housewife because you certainly do not have an education or degree to get a respectable job. Maybe Art can give you a job washing cars.

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  3. Maria Hall Joiner is a joke. Instead of sending one correct email to her membership, she sends 3 or 4 because she corrects a new mistake in each new version. She also dropped the ball when it came to the proposed meter rate hike and was scrambling at the last minute to get the word out to her membership. She screwed up once more and was approached by the media but she declined the interview. She's really erning her pay, huh? And she obviously has newbie commissioner Deborah Portillo in a trance because she got her to give her $22,200 from the general fund, tax dollars we pay each year to get basic city services, not chamber of commerce salaries. I think that if the chamber needs more money they should work harder and recruit new membership and improve their service to current members. I guarantee that neither of these two will happen and those $22K which could have been better spent on city needs will go down the drain. Thanks commissioner Portillo. You have confirmed all the rumors that were spread about you during the campaign. Too bad for us. Bravo to anyone who voted against this and thereby voted to protect our tax dollars.

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  4. "The City of Brownsville has the same bond rating as the country of Mexico," Gonzalez gushed.

    Anyone with a modicum of Mexican economic history would see the absurdity of this statement. This is especially galling coming from people who live on the border. I suggest a little reading on the Tequila Crisis of 1994.

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  5. Here you go on Mexico's "economy". Fraud of over 500 million by company manipulated by ex-President's step sons and costs Citi Bank earnings and prevents Banamex (owned by Citi) from expanding and possibly real damage to liquidity. Also, involves Pemex, another stellar of a well run company. http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2014/03/05/fraude-de-oceanografia-afecta-capacidad-de-expansion-de-banamex-considera-moodys-4881.html

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  6. "...The mayor may not be an evil man, just clueless, but he certainly has no business lecturing Pete Gonzalez or anyone about "inclusiveness..."
    TONIA MARTINEZ IS ANOTHER b HUSSEIN (AN ISLAMIST TERRORIST NAME) OBAMMIE WANABE!!!!

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  7. The gurus at Community Development of Brownsville and their yuppie planners continue to squander city dollars unabated while trying to make the City look like something it is NOT.

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  8. HANG IN THERE PETE ,BACK HIM UP NO CABLER LOOK AT THE MEETING DURING THIS TIME AND LISTEN CLOSELY TO THE MAYOR AND GOWEN SOME OF IT MAKES YOU HMMMMMM REALLY!

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  9. TETREAU HAS TO GO! Her learning curve has no end in sight and will continue to cost us MILLIONS! She has absolutely no business sense and no clue on how to manage money because her grandpa husband just gives it to her. She has never earned a dollar therefore does not understand its value. $139,000 for the BMFA? Sure, why not? A $300,000 splashpad that doesn't work? Sure, why not? Maybe one day it'll be named after her because she doesn't work either. I don't know if we can afford her one more year but at least if she keeps it up it'll make my campaign for her spot a lot easier. Her subpar performance and affiliations to Erin Hernandez and the Cheezmeh cult will be the nail in her coffin. Tetreu, do yourself and Brownsville a favor - go back to school!

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