BCIC SELECTS NEW OFFICERS, BUT ALSO VIOLATES SPIRIT OF TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT

While the Texas Open Meetings Act mandates that citizens be allowed to attend city commission meetings, workshops and city board meetings, the benefit of such attendance is negated if those meetings are not audible and those same citizens leave the meeting with nothing of substance about the detailed workings of local government.

That is essentially the situation attending the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation meeting at noon today in the City of Brownsville City Commission chambers.  The meeting was inaudible, thus not, in reality, "open to the public."

As the only audience member not there to ask for money, I had little leverage to ask that board members utilize the black metallic objects positioned in front of them like some sort of weird table decor.

Considering the chamber's weak sound system, a meeting participant has to treat that device like their favorite ice cream cone, positioning it close to their lips.  IF A BOARD MEMBER CANNOT HEAR HIS OR HEAR VOICE CLEARLY OVER THE PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM, THE AUDIENCE CANNOT HEAR YOU EITHER.

Only BCIC board member Omar Hernandez consistently utilized the microphone.  Commissioner and board member Ben Neece never got within a foot of his mic.  Member Felicia Fruia-Edge made casual asides to members on each side of her, but was totally oblivious to the audio system.

Marco Ochoa, after his selection as board chair, initially made an effort to speak into the microphone, then, as the meeting progressed, forgot about it.

Still, I gleaned a few points:  A resignation letter by outgoing BCIC Director Rebeca Castillo was posted on the video monitor and that resignation was accepted by unanimous vote.

In a secret 4-3 ballot, BCIC Outreach Director Josh Mejia was selected as Interim Director over Cory Pena.

A stated $15,000 request for repairs to the museum's fire alarm system that had been falsely-triggered, threatening the museum's collection, became a total request of $25,848 including recharging an empty cylinder and maintenance of the Cheetah Fire Alarm System.  Deyanira Ramirez, Interim BMFA Director, presented the request.(Adding sales tax, the request became $27,980.46.)

As I left the meeting, Tara Putegnat, Executive Director of the Brownsville Historical Association, was asking that $180,000 already allocated be repurposed or changed in scope from landscaping to air conditioning and fire suppression.