Mayor and City Commission Continue to Give Away Taxpayer Assets

609, 611 and 615 E. 11th St.

After several years of changing plans, then changing them again, the city's plans for 609, 611 and 615 E. 11th Street may now be finalized. Three of four small cubicles, located in a single building along E. 11th Street in downtown Brownsville were purchased by the city in 2012, 2013 for approximately $130,000 and remodeled for nearly the same.(The fourth cubicle of the building, 621 constitutes Los Reyes Restaurant.)  The city had no actual need or purpose for the expenditures and has spent the last three years trying to find an appropriate use for the space.

City Attorney Mark Sossi

At last night's City Commission meeting, City Attorney Mark "It's Legal!" Sossi introduced a resolution to allow UTB two year's free rent at one of the cubicles, 615. Sossi's legalese involved a Chapter 380 Economic Development Program, but that's irrelevant.  The city always finds some justification for giving away taxpayers assets, typically to the ultra-rich UT system.

Ramiro Gonzalez, Director of Special Projects, Comprehensive Planning Manager and Downtown Revitalization Director, explained to the commission that UTB students would use the space to make rocket parts as part of the STARGATE program.  

Early, during remodeling, the city placed a notice on one the property's windows stating that, once remodeled, the building would be used as a downtown mayor's office and a police substation. That was absolutely curious as the city had already entered into a lease at 1101-A E. Washington for a downtown mayor's office.  That $6,000 lease ran from October 8, 2013 to October 7, 2013 without the mayor ever using it.  To cover the mayor's financial indiscretion, the city put a sign on the seldom used office, Downtown Brownsville Revitalization Information Center. 

City Gives BC Workshops Free Rent

After the lease expired at 1101-A E. Washington, the city talked about tranferring the revitalization office to 609 E. 11th, but eventually allowed bc workshops, a non-profit involved in bike trail design, to use the property rent free.  The agreement between the City of Brownsville and bc workshops calls for the firm to pay the city $800 per month or $9,600 per year to lease the space. The city agreed to take care of utilities, taxes and maintenance. The City of Brownsville would, in turn, pay bc workshops $9,600 per year for planning, architectural services and community capacity building including gallery exhibits, curated panel or speaker series and coordination of pubic use of the common meeting space.  In other words:  FREE RENT.

So three properties are taken off the tax rolls, purchased and remodeled with tax dollars, then given occupancy without rent.  Who in the hell is protecting taxpayer interests here?  To their credit, City Commissioners Villarreal and Longoria voted against the latest giveaway to UT.

Longoria was quoted in The Collegian:  "I find it very difficult that the university wouldn't have 700 square feet somewhere, where they can be able to house this kind of project."  (Actually, commenters to this blog have indicated that empty or half-empty classrooms is not unusual at UTB.)

Shitty Paving Job Costing Taxpayers $270,000

In a similar move two years ago, the City of Brownsville allowed UTB to pay the agreed upon $270,000 rent to the city by "paving" the parking lot. Without any soil preparation,  some loose gravel was spread to satisfy the lease.  Mayor Tony Martinez, City Manager Charlie Cabler and the City Commission "spent" $270,000 of hard-earned taxpayer dollars on a totally shitty job none of them would have accepted in their own driveways.

For some who still wonder why many in the city read the blogs, including this part-time one, the Brownsville Herald has reported NONE of the details noted above.