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| BCIC Winning Award from IDEC |
It was announced October 8 that our own BCIC had won an award for economic development.
As a Brownsville resident, I should be proud.
But, as usual, this old fuddy duddy is a little annoyed we sent the ten people above to Washington DC, paying for their airfare, hotel accommodations and meals to accept this award.
Anyway, awards worry me. Sometimes they're legit, but frequently in this era of scams, they are simply a money maker for some company playing on emotions, pride and gullibility.
And Brownsville, hungry for recognition, keeps getting scammed again and again.
In 2014, we sent a large delegation to Denver, Colorado to receive an All-America City Award, given annually to cities desperate and gullible enough to pay for it.
Yes, Brownsville paid for their own damn award. It's an old con.
All-America cities aren't picked like All-American football players.
In 2014, Marshall was the other city in Texas gullible enough to pay to be recognized as an All-America city.
As much as we may love Brownsville, do you really thing Brownsville and Marshall, two veritable 90 lb weaklings, stand head and shoulders above other Texas cities?
Fayetteville, North Carolina, winner of the All-America City Award in 2011 estimated that the award, including travel and expenses to attend the award ceremony, cost the city in excess of $170,000. (The city of Brownsville spent $24,120 on the trip to Denver alone according to Pete Gonzalez.)
The All-America City Award is a money-making scam that cons town officials, appealing to their ego.
Who can forget Bannergate?
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| City Manager Charlie Cabler with Community Showcase CEO David McCarthy |
Warsaw, NY businessman David McCarthy sought out then Mayor Tony Martinez to inform him that Brownsville had been given a Community Showcase Award.
The award would show "the city of Brownsville's economic vitality and support of the business community," McCarthy promised.
McCarthy later showed up at the office of City Manager Charlie Cabler to pick up a support letter from the City of Brownsville, then proceeded to dun local businessmen for the purchase of banner packages to "support Tony."
With the contract letter in hand from the City of Brownsville, clearly indicating the award would be at "no cost to the city," McCarthy with a buxom companion in tow, began visiting Brownsville businessmen to sell banner packages ranging from $600 to $4,000. It was emphasized that the meager $600 package was only for "churches and non-profits.
Upstanding businessmen, who "supported Tony" were expected to cough up the $4,000.
Now, to the Excellence in Economic Development Awards website, the outfit that just recognized our own BCIC, causing our proud city to spend a small fortune on airfare, hotel accommodations and meals for the recognition.
The organizations gives away 25 such awards annually to cities "meeting the qualifications."
Here are the qualifications listed on their website:
1. Pay for submission(s)
2. Fill in submission form with code received in payment confirmation email*
3. Mail in any physical/supplemental submission material (optional).
I don't know folks, but, to me, this looks like another one of the "pay to play" awards that keeps scamming our city again and again.
Any award that asks the awardee to pay first needs to be thoroughly investigated before spending thousands of tax dollars to be so honored.
Addendum:
My attempt last week to email the BCIC a Public Information Request last week failed:
Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:
nburkhart@bcis.us (nburkhart@bcis.us)
Your message wasn't delivered. Despite repeated attempts to deliver your message, the recipient's email system refused to accept a connection from your email system.
Contact the recipient by some other means (by phone, for example) and ask them to tell their email admin that it appears that their email system is refusing connections from your email server. Give them the error details shown below. It's likely that the recipient's email admin is the only one who can fix this problem.
For Email Admins
No connection could be made because the target computer actively refused it. This usually results from trying to connect to a service that is inactive on the remote host - that is, one with no server application running. For more information and tips to fix this issue see this article: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=389361
I tried to use email because both of the links on the BCIC Board website were inoperative.
I will hand deliver the Public Information Request on Monday to their office at 500 E. Saint Charles Street.
nburkhart@bcic.us
ReplyDeleteIt's @bcic.us
I’ll be at the office tomorrow to assist. I’ll also make some time to answer your questions, Jim. Always happy to help in any way I can. Also, please feel free to email me at jmejia@bcic.us if you wish to schedule a time tomorrow to talk. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCulo.
ReplyDeleteOjete!
DeleteMejia is used by mendez and cronies to dish out monies to their gang, disgusting1
ReplyDeleteYou’re more than welcome to swing by tomorrow at the office as well if you have any questions. If you don’t have time to visit, my email address is also listed above. Feel free to use it anytime.
Deleteswing by?
Deletehe's calling you a monkey, bro!
I was taking a course at UTRGV and emailed you for information i needed for a presentation and never heard from you. So no, i wont email you. Yall part of the enterprise, federal gov on line one.
DeleteOne question. Who decided on the rules for use of the Musk money?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question that requires a bit more context to fully answer.
DeleteThe Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation had previously designed and approved what is called the Business Improvement & Growth 1.0 program three years ago to help revitalize Downtown Brownsville through reimbursement grants for specific expenses and guidelines permissible under State statutes.
Fast forward three years and the staff began developing the Business Improvement & Growth 2.0 program after attracting over $3 million in private investment for the area from our "pilot". Just like everyone else, we were surprised to find out that the BCIC was going to receive $2 million from the Musk Foundation specifically for our program which was already helping revitalize Downtown. These funds were from the $10 million that was pledged to the City of Brownsville and the BCIC had and still does not have absolutely any involvement with the rest of the funds.
Soon after this announcement, and due to the Foundation's urgency to see projects accelerated in Downtown Brownsville, the BCIC staff built the guidelines for the program which addressed expenses related to the activation of buildings such as items that would put properties "up to code" and ready for use (e.g., fire suppression systems, elevators, electrical, plumbing, etc.). The assistance also comes in the form of reimbursement grants and applicants are required to meet with the key staff, apply, and undergo five review phases to ensure the applicant can meet their deadlines, are financially solvent, experienced, and capable of signing a tenant within 12 months after signing a performance agreement with the BCIC. The Foundation stressed that absolutely anyone could apply for the funding as long as the criteria was met. Although we were informed of the discretion, the BCIC opted to follow what is currently permissible under State statutes even though we would be managing private funds and not public funds for this specific program.
There is a whole lot more to be disclosed, but thankfully Jim will be meeting with me tomorrow to answer all questions he has. As I've mentioned previously, if you wish to know more I would be more than happy to answer any questions if you email me your request at jmejia@bcic.us.
So Josh this is the way it works according to you. Musk donates 2 million to the city and your foundation allows elected officials who Musk is lobbying for support access to this money. We call that a back door bribe. Musk allowed you to create a system where the very people he is lobbying for support can receive grants from Musk. John you should have remained silent. It is a good thing we have no FBI or DA to handle this back door bribe you have now admitted to.
DeleteHey Josh, how did a vacant lot get 200 k? According to your guidelines, there needed to be an "upstairs". Quit trying to save yourself. My best advise young man would be to lawyer up. Your freedom is not worth you being used by Mendez and the gang. I thought you were smart, youre no different that these leeches trying to climb the ladder while sucking our city dry.
DeleteNo monies are provided unless an agreement is signed and certain clauses are met. No monies have been provided to the folks you all claim have received them. The facts are open and accessible. Again, feel free to use my email address if you wish to receive the facts you all want to have.
DeleteBy the way, funds are not handed loosely. They are reimbursement grants. You all see an empty lot from the surface that received cash on hand from our funds at first glance. The programs are completely open to anybody and I encourage you all to take advantage of them. Unbiased approach.
Pinche enano culero rata! Resign!
ReplyDeletePinche enano mal parido nomas estas chingando al pueblo. Ganate el dinero trabajando no chingando al pueblo.
ReplyDeleteEres culo Mejia. Not seeing that dishing out monies to the Mayor and to your own chairman does not smell like putrid shit is amazing, MAMON! Monies are being given to a private club who disguise themselves by using several LLC’s. If this was not inappropriate why was the Mayor’s partner fired? You guys ahould all be fired and investigated for criminal doings.
ReplyDeleteLack of information can easily make anyone create assumptions. There is a complete list of absolutely everyone who has received funding from our organization publicly available on our website. Feel free to have a look if you are interested on everyone who has applied and met all criteria as permissible by state statutes. This list does not even include those who received free technical assistance or other resources that are not monetary.
DeleteThe entire commission and city attorney are now looking into the ethics of what happened with a specific application which resulted in the resignation of the one employee you are referring to. Anyone, including yourself, can apply for any program available through BCIC. This is not a question about legalities, but rather an ethics situation that is being resolved as a result of an application that was received.
Feel free to visit our office whenever you want to receive assistance. I would be more than happy to help you and anyone you refer. After all, these programs are available for anyone in Brownsville, Texas... assuming you live in the same community.
Pinches ratas! Unethical bastards!
DeleteAll I see is a fictional narrative as a resident of Brownsville I am sadden at the lies these blogs spread.
ReplyDeletePlease verify and use reliable sources, for one this did not take place in Washington DC and this award is part of recognized international organization that selected BCIC amongst other projects around the world. Before slandering someones name under false beliefs, think about what youve done first. If Brownsville had more positive and progressive thoughts, our community would be in a different place than it is now...
ReplyDelete