THINGS OVERHEARD DURING YESTERDAY'S GMS VS. CITY OF BROWNSVILLE HEARING

From the editor:  Included below are little nuggets of conversation or testimony, not necessarily fitting into a specific story, but perhaps humorous or insightful. adding to the overall understanding of Brownsville city government. (The hearing lasted for nearly seven hours, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM with a 45 minute lunch break.)


Judge Robert C. Pate:  After Travis Bell, an attorney with Baker and Botts kept repeating the Cesar De Leon audio tape quote "I effin' stopped GMS!" Pate interjected:  "Counselor, you've already used that line three times, let's move on!"

When longtime City of Brownsville legal hire, Ricardo Navarro, tried to condescendingly explain to the judge how Brownsville city government works, Pate exclaimed:  "Look, you don't have to tell me the set up.  I worked the theft trial of former Mayor Pat Ahumada a few years ago.  I know about Brownsville."

Attorney Arnoldo Aguilar, representing Cesar De Leon, questioned the authenticity of the Carlos Elizondo audio tape and the De Leon quotes: "Mr. De Leon had no problem with GMS, only with the city administration not doing their job and rumors that the scoring was effected by contributions to certain projects.  Mr. De Leon is not a Svengali controlling the city commission.  The three hour rambling transcript of the audio tape has not been authenticated.  Mr. De Leon is not sure that's even his voice."

Roberto Trevino, part owner and manager of Brownsville GMS, talked about the 2017 revised Request for Proposal:  "They knew we're a small company with 40 employees, only serving Brownsville.  So, when now the RFP called for 5 "references" from other cities where we did business, they knew they were "essentially locking us out."

Privately, after the hearing, I asked Mr. Trevino about Cesar's audio tape claim that GMS gave $15,000 to Cabler:  "Never.  We wrote checks to the youth fund, the golf tournament and other charities to gain points for "Added Value," but never to Cabler."

In closing, Botts and Baker identified three "untruths" by Commissioners Portillo and Gowen: "Commissioner Debra Portillo claimed she was rejecting the 2016 RFP because no non-Rio Grande Valley companies were included.  That's simply not true as Republic Services, one of the three bidders, is the third largest waste management company in the country with contracts all over the country.  Commissioner Rose Gowen claimed she supported the rejection because the RFP 'took too long.'  Yet, the 2016 RFP she rejected took only 5 months, while the 2017 RFP she supported took over two years."

More from Judge Pate:  "Something is wrong with the scoring.  A perfect score should be 100.  A company like GMS scores 112 because of 'Added Value,' yet Republic scores only a half point lower with no 'Added Value.' How can that be?"

More words from Pate:  "While the city claims they rejected the 2016 proposals to 'get more bids,; the 2017 RFP includes the same exact firms.  This is a mess."

Cesar De Leon to me:  "I asked Cabler several times to fire Roberto Luna."

And later, De Leon about Cabler's resignation:  "I told Cabler we had the votes to fire him, so his only option was to resign."