Did David Hughston Throw Former Airport Director Larry Brown Under the Plane in CAF Museum Request?

Display in Current CAF Museum, 955 S. Minnesota Ave.

The Rio Grande Valley Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (Formerly Confederate Air Force before 2002) wants a new building to house their Brownsville Historical Transportation Museum, now sort of nestled within the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport on S. Minnesota Avenue.  An unspecified location on Boca Chica Boulevard, the group feels, would give the museum greater visibility.

Agenda item #6 for this past Thursday's meeting of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation was related to the proposed, new CAF museum:

Consideration and Action to Approve the deadline extension for the Phase I-Brownsville Historic Transportation Museum(BHTM) Site Plan and Preliminary Engineering Project from May 31, 2016 to December 29, 2016.

Airport Director Bryant Walker at BCIC 

Actually, this money, initially $50,000, was approved in 2014 by the BCIC, with the caveat that the FAA(Federal Aviation Authority) match the $50,000, for engineering and site plans. Airport Director Bryant Walker was at the BCIC board meeting to speak on behalf of the extension. Walker stated that the airport had no money in their budget for the preliminary site plans.

Interestingly, within the agenda packet, furnished by the BCIC, was an email memo from David Hughston, Finance Officer of the RGV Wing of the CAF, to Cori Pena, the Project Coordinator at BCIC.  

David Hughston, Finance Officer, RGV Wing

In that email, Hughston asks for the extension, while blaming the delay, not only on Larry Brown's retirement as Airport Director, but, also states that "prior to leaving his position he failed to adequately convey to the airport engineering firm, CH2MHIL(Jerry Farrar), precisely what we wanted."

Little in the way of criticism has been heard about Larry Brown, who retired July 2015 after 42 years of service with the City of Brownsville.  Yet, he had no prior experience running an airport before being named Airport Director in 2003, primarily working in the city's planning department and on insurance matters.

Below is a copy of Hughston's email to Cori Pena: