For over a year, I have personally solicited under open records requesting information on what has been spent on the Tenaska project, including attorney's fees, ROW's, consultants and all related expenses on the proposed project, which I hear has been well over $40 million. Eddie Trevino's fees as board counsel has been over $480,000 per year for the last 3 years, but the Attorney General Paxton has been providing cover denying me access to the information requested.
I am sure the attorney's with Tenaska, PUB, and Eddie Trevino does not want the public to know how much Brownsville citizens have had to pay for a project that was never feasible, a project that was primarily pushed by the Mayor, Tony Martinez and Eddie Trevino. Even though this project is not feasible and they have admitted that it is not feasible, they still promote untruths to get favorable rulings from the Attorney General by claiming the information requested should be kept sealed from the public, when Open Records is supposed to provide information to keep our government transparent and accountable and in this instance has failed us miserable because these public servants are in my opinion the most dishonest individuals representing our interest to know how much we have been scammed.
The Bridge to Nowhere cost taxpayers over $21 million, this is another project that demands transparency and accountability. In my opinion we were scammed with Tenaska taking the least risk and those representing us raising our utility rates and should be investigated as to other serious mismanagement of our public utility company.
Attached is the lawyer letter informing me again that they oppose the release of information and oppose transparency. I urge your readers to write the Attorney General demanding the release of information and documents relating to Tenaska and Eddie Trevino legal fees, which are being denied to me, but with the outcry of citizens, perhaps then the AG will respond favorably.
Merry Christmas to all,
Pat Ahumada
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Good job, Ahumada.
ReplyDeleteIts incredible..ahumada is not mayor and is still more involved and knowledgeable than our cheap excuse for a mayor...very sad.
ReplyDeleteI learned from President Reagan that if you cannot get your elected officials to act and you have tried to get something done and cannot when it is the public interest, you must bring the matter to the attention of the public for them to act, because the voice of many can force those who shirk their responsibility to act to take action. This is the case, people must write the Attorney General in support of releasing the information being requested on Tenaska from PUB, a public entity in the public's best interest. We as a community have a right to know who the players were, how much they were paid and for what. We have the right to know how much was spent on this project and what we have gained by it. We also right to petition our elected officials to roll back the rate increases to what was when I was in office, because the Tenaska project does not justify raising the rates, as it is not a feasible project and never was.
ReplyDeleteThis project was crammed down the citizens of Brownsville by the current Mayor Tony Martinez and Eddie Trevino, PUB board council who in my opinion has benefited a great deal from a project that was never feasible and the reason why, they do not want us to know the cost to the citizens of Brownsville.
The AG address is in the letter, please take time to write a short letter stating you want the AG to release all information on the PUB/Tenaska project. Tell him the public has a right to know and that the Open Records is meant to provide transparency and accountability on the use of public monies. The transparency far outweighs their purported reasons for secrecy, especially when it has already been publicized the project is not feasible and that there is no time frame stipulated to build the power plant that was never feasible to begin with.
If you the citizen takes the time to write the letter, I am sure it will have an impact on the decision. I believe the PUB Board and attorneys are misleading the AG into believing some harm will come to PUB if the information is released and the information will be detrimental to building the power plant, which again is in my opinion a scam.
Totally! Vote out all incumbent commissioners,
ReplyDeleteVOTE!
Mr. Ahumada, many of us do not have the ability or knowledge of how to write a letter with enough impact for the AG, it would be greatly appreciated if you write a template for us to use, I would gladly sign a well written letter.
ReplyDeleteI second this, please help us help ourselves by giving us an example letter to submit to AG.
DeleteI do not always agree with Pat Ahumada but I thank him for staying on top of PUB and Tenaska. He seems to be the only one who cares. Thank you Pat.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 10:09 pm, you are more than welcomed. Thank you for not always agreeing with me. LOL! The world would be dull if we all agreed 100% of the time with anyone. Each one of us is different and will sometimes have different points of views, which is not always wrong. It is a given that people will agree and disagree on the same issue, but it does not mean one is wrong and the other is right. The plastic bag ordinance is a perfect example, with some loving the proposal and others hating it for different reasons. This shows how there are differences of opinion and agendas, but as a leader one must balanced the proposal for the over all common good, which I found to out weigh the naysayers opposition to the proposal. But if you talk to some, they will express very convincingly why they hate or support the bag proposal, all we can do is agree to disagree without being disagreeable.
ReplyDeleteIn this instance, hopefully many will write the AG in support of the Open Records request in an effort to roll back utility rates, as they should be. I believe PUB has already spent over $40 million on this project with no hope of recouping the investment, just like the Bridge to nowhere, the Casa Nylon and other real estate deals.
Happy New Year.