𝗛𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜-𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗞??? 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗬 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗭!!!

 

Remember the young attorney, who, along with Adela Garza, Kiko Rendon and Rene Torres, took a firm stance to protect the autonomy and assets of Texas Southmost College, then went on to serve as mayor of the City of Brownsville?

That young attorney, Trey Mendez, now proudly announces on the seven foot sign pictured above displayed at the entrance of Sunrise Mall, a new focus in his practice of law; accident and injury attorney, sometimes referred to as "ambulance chasers," a lucrative segment of legal practice to be sure.

Meanwhile, the majestic Coca Cola Building purchased from a Brownsville widow for the payment of back taxes along with a cash payment, has been handsomely restored with the use of hundreds of thousands of dollars of 1B funding diverted from sales tax collections for "quality of life" projects.

As mayor, Mendez chose to sit on the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, helping to create a fund for local businesses to qualify for stipends up to $100,000 for such "quality of life" endeavors.

When Mendez, along with business partner and then city employee Ramiro Gonzalez, were among the first in line to receive the monies, all Ha.des broke loose.  Gonzalez was terminated from his city job, while Mendez, an elected official, simply weathered the bad publicity.

Elon Musk, Trey Mendez

Both of those submitted grants were requests for a portion of $10,000,000 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had donated to the City of Brownsville for downtown revitalization, but the funds were being administered and controlled under BCIC and City of Brownsville guidelines.

At the same time that the mayor was requesting $280,000 for building upgrades from a city board, BCIC Board Chair Michael Limas was requesting $282,000 to make upgrades on his downtown buildings.

No world exists where it's ethical for a city's mayor, city officials and the board chair of the board dispensing those monies to step first in line to claim at least $562,000 in funds donated to the city for economic development.  City officials are elected to serve the city, not enrich themselves opportunistically from city funds.

If the monies were initially returned as claimed, Mendez and Gonzalez were back in line as soon as the mayor left office to, once again, receive hundreds of thousands of dollars for their downtown project.

Now, the project appears nearly complete with a round sign out front announcing it as "Sweet Co.~Bakery and More" and the "1927 Coffee Company," likely a reference to the original building construction date.

On the sidewalk just in front of the building a white circle has been painted with the words "DANCE HERE," likely the very spot where Ramiro and Trey celebrated such a generous endowment from Brownsville's sales tax payers.

Ramiro Gonzalez