Mayor Martinez has made the drafting of a new ethics code for the City of Brownsville a priority in his administration, even mentioning it at the TSC/UTB Mayoral Candidates Forum back in April. Much to the chagrin of knowledgeable citizens, City Attorney Mark Sossi was handpicked by Mayor Martinez to initiate the process. Sossi reported to the commission 7/19/11 concerning the research, thought process and focus so far which amounted essentially to having read the San Antonio and Dallas codes, a 20 minute effort at best. Later in that meeting Mayor Martinez expressed his desire to be included in the committee to draft the code. My recollection is that City Manager Charlie Cabler would be included in that committee along with a commissioner or two.Brownsvillians saw the irony in some of the players who will help draft this code. The loquacious, but brutally honest Oso Duval de Bourbon was quoted: "having Cabler and Sossi on an ethics board is like having the the Corleone family on a crime commission or having Motley Crue on a drug prevention board." I'm not certain what Oso was referencing but perhaps in Sossi's case it was the hiring of his former law firm to represent Brownsville. Some bloggers insinuated this was to help pay back some indebtedness he had incurred to his previous employer. In any event, if this occurred, it was a clear violation of two tenets of the ASPA model code: 1. Not engaging the city in business with a former employer. 2. Not engaging the city with a entity to which you have incurred indebtedness. My personal belief is that a public comment noting the above ethics violations by Sossi triggered his recommendation on 8/3/10 that the broadcast of such comments cease.
Brownsville city government's last ethics code expired in 2006. Even more surprising is that the City Charter seems to contain no language for the punishment of ethics violations. So it seems there is some work to do to at least protect on paper the taxpayers from blatant conflicts of interest practiced by city officials.
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Brownsville needs a good ethic ordinance even if it is the one from 2005, or 2001. You have to keep the Hernandez types under reigns. As it is God knows what they do behind the scenes. If it is like Harlingen, it is corrupted.
ReplyDeleteMy thinking is that even reviewing the concept of ethics will be beneficial for all involved.
ReplyDeleteJim
Cabler has been too long as city manager, he must know something on someone. I was glad the firefighters one round one.
ReplyDeleteThis mayor is kind of near sighted, I have a feeling he is going to be a one term mayor.
I don't particularly care for Sossi, he looks kind of freaky, I don't like the rulings he makes. But lawyers are lawyers, and they do stick together.
ReplyDeleteVirtue of Ethics focus on the character of the agent rather than on the nature or consequences of the act, lets just hope they don't go the way of the royal command which claims:Any action is right if the king has decreed that it is right
ReplyDeleteNear-sighted may be an accurate description of Tony. He certainly doesn't see the big picture or understand public perception. It's as if he's been living in a vacuum. He's making PR errors right and left, possibly unknowingly.
ReplyDeleteJim
Opinions of lawyers are subject to interpretations, what Sossi says, might not be how a court interprets his opinions.
ReplyDeleteCity Attorney's are not the shapest knives in town. The mayor ought to know this, isn't he an attorney???
Jim, do we know anything about Yolanda Begum Teran, isn't Erin H. running for that post as well. How about an article, need to know a little about that candidate, her web-site is not up yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about Ms. Begum too. I requested her FB friendship but got no response. I've seen her ad in El Rrun Rrun. I will try to get some info on her.
ReplyDeleteJim
Thanks!!!
ReplyDelete