Is Unethical City Attorney Mark Sossi Retained Only Because He Is Tony's Lackey?

City Attorney Mark Sossi

In almost any city in the United States Mark Sossi would be terminated as city attorney based on his job performance, ethics and legal difficulties.  The City of Brownsville has a different standard by which it judges administrators.  Incompetence, malfeasance, ethical violations, negligence and sleazy dealing are overlooked as long as an administrator plays ball with those in charge.(Reportedly, Sossi backs Martinez in his recent unauthorized expenditures, claiming a legal loophole allowing contracts under $35,000 to be paid for without City Commission approval.)

Mark Sossi was simply not a good hire by the city in March of 2009.  His previous employer, the Willette & Guerra law firm, had proven in court that Sossi had pocketed $167,363 intended for the firm, while the Texas Workforce Commission found that he'd done the same thing with monies earmarked for unemployment benefits to the tune of $20,711.66.  It's no surprise that during his first year on the city payroll his license to practice law was revoked.

A clear violation of almost any ethics code ever written is for a city official to give city business to a previous employer.  Yet that is what was noted in a public comment at a city commission meeting by astute citizen Letty Perez-Garzoria, that the city had been giving some legal business to Sossi's old law firm Willette & Guerra, allegedly to help him pay off their judgment against him via some sort of "wink-wink" agreement.  Sossi's response was that he quickly urged then Mayor Pat Ahumada to block the broadcast of public comment.  Later, during Tony Martinez first year on the job, Commissioner Melissa Zamora placed the reinstatement of the broadcast of public comment on the on the agenda.  Here is the MMB report of the handling of that agenda item in an August 12. 2011 blog article:

Commissioner Melissa Zamora

"Melissa Hernandez-Zamora seemed dumbstruck when City Attorney Sossi stood up to give opposition testimony concerning the broadcast of public comment item she had placed on the agenda. It was obvious that Commissioner Zamora had not been advised of the behind-the-scenes manipulation by Mayor Martinez and his eager cohort Sossi. Sossi, afterall, had the most to lose from public comment broadcast since it was comments about his questionable ethics that triggered the ban in the first place. As Zamora got her bearings, Martinez waved Sossi the "go ahead". Sossi made no attempt in his feeble, highschoolish power point to express a legal opinion. There was no mention of free speech, the first amendment, the constitution or even the phony liability issues he has pretended previously. Those might have been worthy legal issues. Instead he expressed only viewpoints, unscientific at best, but most likely simply wrong. With a straight face he used a pie chart to illustrate the greater "diversity" of commenters since the ban, not even having the honesty to acknowledge that many of those new participants were speaking out against the anti-democratic ban. He also railed against grandstanding as he grandstanded."

What is odd is that while Sossi, retained by the city at a monthly fee of $10,000($120,000 per anum), found the volume of legal work of the city so overwhelming(despite two lawyers on the city payroll as assistants) that he had to refer some of it to his old law firm Willette & Guerra,  farm out ALL of the employment arbitration cases to Navarro & Ozuna, YET still found that he could contractually commit for services to the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation at a $5,000 per month retainer AND engage in private legal practice on the side. 

Sossi's private practice of law in Brownsville predictably proved disastrous with at least two legal malpractice law suits current.  Stell Middle School teacher Ingrid Gonzalez and her husband Roger sued Sossi for legal malpractice, claiming that he had conspired to defraud the couple by conspiring with a title company to take their property.  Oliveira Middle School teacher Jesus Abete, Jr. filed a legal malpractice suit against Sossi for allowing the statute of limitation to expire without filing a case to recover for personal injuries.  

Recently, the Internal Revenue Service joined in the legal piling on against Sossi, slapping him with a $100,000 tax lien for nonpayment.  Perhaps Sossi can summon up a pie chart to prove to I.R.S. auditors that the lien is a mistake or use Sossi-like circular reasoning to show that when one individual does not pay taxes, others actually pay MORE taxes.  

Perhaps, the new city commission to be elected this May will see fit to do something LONG overdue:  Fire City Attorney Mark Sossi!