Pete Gonzalez Tries to Pull A Fast One on City Commission~Fails!

GONZALEZ CREATES A DIVERSION

Chief Finance Officer/Deputy City Manager Pete Gonzalez stepped up to the podium to present item 20 on the City Commission meeting agenda:  Consideration and ACTION to award a term contract for Delinquent Ad Valorem Tax Collection Services for the City of Brownsville.

After announcing that an "independent" committee had nominated the Linebarger law firm to represent the City of Brownsville to collect delinquent property taxes. Gonzalez proudly added:  "This will not cost the city a dime!"  That statement was a red herring, a factual distraction from the real issue at hand, since whether the contract was awarded to Linebarger, Pena or Perdue, it would be at no cost to the city.

Next, Gonzalez uses the video screen in the city commission meeting room to give us a history lesson in the evolution of tax collection in the City of Brownsville, showing important changes in 1983 and 1989.  He mentions that the city used to have its own tax collection office, the elimination of which saved the city $160,000 annually. He wastes the city's time with this diversion.   All of this information is irrelevant to the matter currently at hand:  Which competing law firm is best equipped to collect delinquent property taxes for the City of Brownsville.  This was the very moment he could have given the city commission side-by-side comparisons of the three competing firms.  All that was left now was for the commissioners to rubber stamp the committee's recommendation and confirm Linebarger as the winner of the contract.

IS THE CITY COMMISSION BEING INTENTIONALLY WEAKENED?

The reality is that, during Tony Martinez' tenure, the city commissioner's role has gradually weakened.   The appointment and reappointment to the several critical boards was to be farmed out to a shadowy, unknown committee.  That doesn't seem to have happened.  While each commissioner seems to have lost the right to nominate someone from their district, some homage is paid to having all of the district's represented on the boards.  There was some confusion at this meeting as to which district prospective board members lived in.  Still appointments were made, seemingly in a hasty manner.  Now, the contract for a vital city service has been sent out to a committee first, with the city commissioners asked to simply say "yea" or "nay."

Why this important, lucrative contract was put in the hands of a committee was not explained.  Actually, Gonzalez misread or underestimated the mood of the commission by coming in without factual support for his "independent" committee's recommendation.  The commissioners, particularly the ladies Zamora, Vasquez and Tetreau have grown up.  They fall for mealy-mouthed sales jobs no more.  The discredited purchasing officer Robert C. Luna rarely shows up anymore.  He sends an assistant.

THE BISD EXAMPLE

Of course, simply allowing the competing firms to give presentations before the commission does not guarantee a level playing field.  The BISD board of trustees pretended to be totally unbiased in allowing all three firms to give presentations.  When the first team exceeded the requisite 15 minute time limit by 2 minutes, the next two teams were allowed 17 minutes to insure fairness.  Here is a portion of Mean Mister Brownsville's write-up on that meeting:

"At the BISD budget meeting January 16, trustees could not even ACT impartial while pretending to monitor the presentations of three firms competing for the right to represent the district in delinquent tax collections. Budget committee chairperson Cata Presas-Garcia actually took two potty breaks during the Pena group's 17 minute presentation. To objective observers, the Pena group offered to continue collections with the lowest fees charged to the district. The Perdue group demonstrated superior collection rates in those districts where they had succeeded Linebarger in the tax collection role. But the trustees thinly-veiled preference for the Linebarger group were confirmed with Linebarger's quick selection following the presentations."

So, we await the next City Commission meeting to see if Pete's salesmanship paid off.  But for the assertiveness of certain commissioners, the tax collection contract could have been awarded without input from the commission, setting a precedent for future important decisions.