Are There Enough Independent City Commissioners Loyal to Brownsville to Fire Mark Sossi?

Mark Sossi

Put Mark Sossi's resume' and work history on an application for city attorney in any city attorney in the United States, and you would get a bemused response.  "This is a joke, right?" a consternated city official might ask.  No city in this country would hire as their city attorney someone with a judgement for theft from their last firm, a judgement from the Texas Workforce Commission for pocketing funds designated for unemployment benefits, a huge tax lien from the I.R.S. and at least two law suits for malfeasance from private citizens who thought hiring the City Attorney for legal work would be a good idea.

While the above judgements and charges speak to dishonesty, ineptitude and arrogance, Sossi showed the ultimate disdain for local citizens when he participated in a successful attempt to block the broadcast of the public comment of local citizens at city commission meetings.  No one is more anti-Brownsville, anti-democracy than the sleazy Mark Sossi unless it is Mayor Tony Martinez, who uses Sossi to do his bidding.  When Mayor Martinez took some heat for using taxpayer funds for group trips unrelated to his mayoral duties, paying for an Austin consulting group to placate UTB and, we're told, financing his trip to Obama's inauguration, it was Sossi who declared all of these moves legal.(The Obama trip may eventually have been paid for by Martinez himself, but that is no credit to him.)

Sossi even has a link to "Bannergate," the scam to sell local businessmen a banner package "promoting Brownsville" for up to $5,000.  Soss's then girlfriend, the buxom Itza Pena, was said to be part of the recruiting duo who tried to persuade businessmen to purchase the banners.

While Brownsville's City Commission may be better known for reading proclamations praising local citizens for going above and beyond in their work or service to the community, reading "Employee of the Month" proclamations and honoring local dance, soccer and chess teams, they also have a responsibility to terminate administrators not performing up to standard.  They must protect the interests of the taxpayers of Brownsville, regardless of their personal ties to those working for the city.

Admittedly, hiring Mark Sossi as City Attorney was a bad hire.  Retaining his services year after year, given his performance, simply compounds that error.  A commissioner simply has to submit as an agenda item, an evaluation of his performance including an up or down vote to retain those services.  This is long, long overdue.

Rose Gowen

The challenge for the City Commission is that two commissioners are in literal lockstep with Mayor Martinez by virtue of his monetary support of their campaigns; Rose Gowen and Estela Chavez-Vasquez.  These are not independent commissioners who represent the interests of the city.  They simply do what Tony wants.  The interests of Brownsville taxpayers are not represented.

The responsibility to protect the interest of Brownsville taxpayers falls to the four remaining commissioners.  Will Melissa Zamora, in the closing months of her term, do this for the city?  Will Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa do what she knows is right?  Will John Villarreal, an admittedly nice young man, finally grow into his role as commissioner and firmly reject Sossi's betrayal of our trust?  Will Ricardo Longoria act decisively in removing a bad attorney who retains his job by pacifying Tony?  The handling of Sossi is a superb litmus test of how effective the City Commission is in representing Brownville's interests.