Pulling the City Away from the Tentacles of United Brownsville

   

Dr. Carl Montoya

     When Superintendent Carl Montoya was asked at a BISD board meeting last year to explain what the shadowy, do-nothing organization United Brownsville does for students, he couldn't.  Montoya rambled for about a minute with a word-whisker punctuated statement saying nothing to justify the board's annual $25,000 contribution to the entity.

     When Commissioner Melissa Zamora asked United Brownsville Executive Director Mike Gonzalez for more specifics on exactly what the entity does do to earn the city's annual contribution, Gonzalez gave her a "We'll get back to you on that," but, of course, never did.  No one can explain what United Brownsville does to earn its annual support from the COB, BISD, the Port of Brownsville, P.U.B., UTB/TSC, GBIC, BEDC, because it doesn't do anything except raise money from those entities.

     Commissioner Ricardo Longoria fills us in on the history of United Brownsville, suggesting that it should no longer be funded:

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, Jr.

Ricardo Longoria, Jr.Apr 10, 2012 01:11 PM


We revisited the idea of a Master Plan after a lobbying trip to Washington D.C. in 2006 when then Congressman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota told us that he had money for our Downtown Revitalization, but we needed a plan in print that identified our projected plans and a sort of needs assessment for our community. That was when we came back and went out for proposals and through a fair process Ambiotec Engineering was awarded a contract to begin this plan so we could return to Washington and Congressman Oberstar and secure funding. The plan was created, Congressman Oberstar as well as Congressman Ortiz was unsuccessful in being re-elected, so we had to come back and begin anew. In my personal opinion: the plan has been created, the projected targets and needs have been identified. Thank you for your service ladies and gentlemen of our community.

By now, members of the different boards and commissions should have convened and identified the projects that we as a community want to take on and persue at a state and federal level for funding and create interlocal agreements that would identify specifically 1. What each entity would contribute to achieve the goal and 2. a time frame of completion to the specific project. Boards, directors, and elected officials have met, talks about and discussions have occurred, but nothing identified and presented to the different boards for approval or review. Let’s get one thing straight the City Commission, BISD Board, Navigation District, Cameron County Commission and UTB/TSC Board will be the ones to vote and move ahead with these projects. The members of these boards that sit on the United Brownsville Board are there to listen and report back to their respective boards and commissions any plans or strategies that are being discussed. Until now ideas are being pushed around, but no concrete plans have been put into action. I say this because there are projects that are going on right now that want to be tagged on to United Brownsville to make it look like it is being accomplished through it, but they are not.

As I stated in the beginning United Brownsville was created so that a plan could be in print to secure funding, what is going on right now is not what this plan was created for. I sincerely appreciate the countless hours that all volunteers, directors, employees and elected officials have put into this very much needed plan and know for a fact that no one is monetarily benefitting from this concept, but we must stop with the smoke screens already and go as was intended in a unified front to Austin and Washington D.C. to seek major funding for our community and make the visions that are on paper into a reality.

Do we need to continue with the United Brownsville concept as is; in my opinion “no,” but then again I am only one vote. Thanks for your time.

Ricardo Longoria, Jr."

United Brownsville

     While Mayor Tony Martinez seems hell-bent on transferring real control of the city to this shadowy, non-elected entity, even orchestrating office space in the city-leased Andres Cueto grounds, Mean Mister Brownsville has a dramatically different plan that will unburden the taxpayers from the weight of this boondoggle.  

Mean Mister Brownsville United Brownsville Reorganization Plan

1.  Move the United Brownsville office staff(Mike Gonzalez and Debbie Portillo) to the second floor of the IBC Bank building on Ruben Torres Blvd.  Even the casual visitor to this grandiose banking facility easily notices that the marble-floored, granite-countered facility is underutilized(Beautiful young clerks sit at multiple desks polishing their fingernails).  The tiny trickle of Brownsville residents who file in to cash their weekly checks does not justify such an edifice.  IBC obviously has other ways of generating revenue than providing local banking needs.  

2.  Set up a new financial support arrangement that unburdens the taxpayers from this albatross.  The suggested annual contributions are as follows.

Carlos Marin. . . . . . . . . . . $25,000

Fred Rusteberg. . . . . . . . . $25,000

Tony Martinez. . . . . . . . . . .$25,000

Juliet Garcia. . . . . . . . . . . . $25,000

Bill Hudson. . . . . . . . . . . . . $25,000

Irv Downing. . . . . . . . . . . . . $25,000

Eddie Trevino. . . . . . . . . . . $25,000

Horacio Barrera. . . . . . . . . .$25,000

3. Release City Attorney Mark Sossi from any contractual obligation to provide legal services for the entity at a mere pittance of $5,000 per month.  This will free Mark to do some of the actual work he is paid handsomely to do for the city, such as work on the new ethics code.