Did Brownsville Taxpayers Finance this Nightclub?

 

by Jim Barton on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 3:57pm

      At a special meeting 1/24/12 the mayor and city commission approved a settlement with Dr. Oziel Davila Robles, who advertizes on the internet as a Brownsville dentist, but actually practices exclusively it seems in Matamoros. It has been suggested by several confidentially that the dentist racked up fraudulent charges of $400,000 over a period of at least 3 years, most, if not all of this on the watch of City Manager Charlie Cabler and Purchasing Manager Robert C. Luna.






     Another persistant rumor is that Dr. Davila may have invested a portion of these funds in a new discoteque located in a strip mall at the confluence of Farm Road 802 and Highway 48. If that is true and the monies were indeed acquired fraudulently, the settlement of the city commission with Dr. Davila essentially means that the taxpayers of Brownsville may have inadvertantly financed a new nightclub.





     Although one commissioner had the impression coming out of executive session that the vote to settle for a small fraction of the defrauded amount would be unanimous, the vote actually broke down on increasingly familar lines: Commissioners Rose Gowen, Ricardo Longoria and John Villarreal voted to accept partial payment as payment in full. Commissioners Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa, Melissa Hernandez-Zamora and Estela Chavez-Vasquez voted to reject the settlement. Since that meant a 3-3 tie of the city commission, Mayor Martinez quickly and joyfully broke the tie with a vote to accept the settlement.





     Our new disco was closed early afternoon Wednesday, but peering through the front glass door, I could see two cone barriers with the enscription V.I.P. $15.00, another insult to taxpayers who have most likely already financed this club with their hardearned tax dollars.






     Whether these funds were transferred knowingly as some sort of calabaza or simply slipped out due to incompetence and/or negligence of the City Manager and Chief Purchasing Officer, a settlement for 17 cents on the dollar does not relieve these highly paid city officials from responsibility. A full investigation leading to severe reprimand, termination and prosecution is a possible recourse. The city must show due respect for the hardworking taxpayers who continue to fund our city's operation even in these difficult times.

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