Mike Hernandez III, The Inexact Science of Giving Away Money, United Way, VIDA

Bill and Melinda Gates

Giving away money can be a full-time job. Ask Bill and Melinda Gates, ramrods of the Bill Gates Foundation, a charity dispersing millions of dollars globally with a formula they themselves only understand.  Perhaps you recall that in 2013, the foundation gave a modest $4,000 donation to United Way of Southern Cameron County.  

With all the legitimate needs in the county, then local chairperson of United Way, Tracy Wickett, used the money for advertising at Tony Martinez' self-glorifying, sort of annual "State of the City" event, where Brownsville's fattest citizens dine at $50 a head or a gazillion per table.  

The fast-talking Wickett explained the head-scratching decision as reported in our blog article three years ago:  "We could have done our own event, but that might have been difficult with $4,000. By piggybacking on the mayor's event, we got more exposure than we could have generated on our own. We were very happy seeing our "All-In" program on the front page of the Brownsville Herald the next day and, of course, the mayor promoting us on stage."

Micheal Albert Hernandez III

Recently, Micheal Albert Hernandez III, formerly of Brownsville, but now residing in Colleyville, Texas near his luxury auto dealership, has received some criticism for his proposed charitable donations to bring Brownsville out of poverty by 2033.  We published the promises and platitudes from his group's OP 10.33 Facebook page in our January 5, 2016 article as well as listing Mike's promised monies for local needs including $2 million for United Brownsville, $1 million for BISD and Guadelupe Middle School.

Our article hinted that BISD's glaring need was not money, but competence.  Their current $550 million annual budget is sufficient to educate Brownsville's young with any kind of reasonable skill set.    As for United Brownsville, does Mike even realize this self-anointed, unelected bunch want to get their paws on development riches at the Port of Brownsville and the FM 550 industrial corridor? The much praised Guadelupe Middle School, likely Mayor Martinez favorite charity, seems to be a worthy recipient.

After our initial article on OP 10.33, we received this email:

Jim,

If you want the truth behind OP, come to the source. I am Director of Communications for OP1033. Lets talk.

Roger Lee

After agreeing to "talk," I was simply redirected to the group's Facebook page that I had essentially already quoted in its entirety in my article. So much for communication.

Speaking of charities and testimonials, a young man spoke at last week's Valley Interfaith Candidate Accountability Session, mentioning how VIDA was helping him progress educationally toward a job that would eventually pay him $40,000 a year, but also how lucky he was to live in the "city limits of Brownsville."

The phrasing in the testimonial made sense later in the program when Father Kevin Collins, co-chair of the VIF event, called our attention to the fact that the young man lived within the "city limits of Brownsville," while highlighting one of the group's "yes or no?" demands of local politicians; "Commit to $350,000 annually to extend the VIDA program beyond Brownsville to the rest of Cameron County."

I've no doubt of the honesty or sincerity of the young man testifying on behalf of VIDA, but can't help but notice the engineering of the testimonial, the coaching to coordinate it with further funding opportunities for the group.