Tony Martinez Gets His Wish~No One Signs Up for Public Comment!

The Tony Martinez mayoral administration registered a landmark at the City Commission meeting June 5, 2012.  Did Tony unveil the new ethics code he stated was priority one of his administration?  No, he has City Attorney Sossi working on that, so don't expect any progress of note any time soon.  Did Tony unveil a new plan to revitalize downtown?  No.  Tony is not an idea man.  Yet, the crowning achievement of the Martinez administration was blatantly obvious Tuesday night.  Finally, after a year's work to stifle, suppress, squelch and extinguish any semblance of public participation in city government, Mayor Tony got his wish:  No one signed up for public comment.

Actually, it was initially the previous mayor, Pat Ahumada, who gave a giant "F U" to representative democracy and the citizens of Brownsville when he shut down the broadcast of public comment toward the end of his turbulent, DWI and theft-charged administration.(Many felt that this step back into the dark ages was initiated by City Attorney Mark Sossi who may have felt the sting from a public commenter who hinted that he was paying his considerable debt to his previous employer by sending them a huge amount of Brownsville's legal work)  Many of us incorrectly assumed that the new mayor would be more free speech friendly and undo the Muammar Gaddafi style decision of the previous administration.

Here is the original quote from Tony Martinez reported in  Mean Mister Brownsville when the mayor made it clear he opposed free speech and citizen participation in Brownsville's government:

"Mayor Martinez now said something that 91% of the electorate who voted to change mayors hoped they would never hear: 'I'd like to continue doing things the way the previous administration did them. It's been working pretty good so far. I don't want to change that.'  That was shocking at the time because we all thought we had defeated Ahumada.

Then, several months into the new city administration,  Commissioner Zamora put the reinstatement of the broadcast on the agenda.  Behind the scenes Mayor Martinez and City Attorney had worked up a little surprise for Zamora.  Sossi, who can't seem to find 15 minutes to work on an ethics code, something this city of 200,000 doesn't have, spent all week working up his infamous pie chart to demonstrate to the City Commission audience how pulling the switch on the broadcast of public comment had actually enhanced representative democracy, not stifled and choked the life out of it.

Here are comments from Mean Mister Brownsville, August 12, 2011, the day after Commissioner Zamora tried to reinstate the broadcast of public comment:

"Melissa Hernandez-Zamora seemed dumbstruck when City Attorney Sossi stood up to give opposition testimony concerning the broadcast of public comment item she had placed on the agenda. It was obvious that Commissioner Zamora had not been advised of the behind-the-scenes manipulation by Mayor Martinez and his eager cohort Sossi. Sossi, afterall, had the most to lose from public comment broadcast since it was comments about his questionable ethics that triggered the ban in the first place. As Zamora got her bearings, Martinez waved Sossi the "go ahead". Sossi made no attempt in his feeble, highschoolish power point to express a legal opinion. There was no mention of free speech, the first amendment, the constitution or even the phony liability issues he has pretended previously. Those might have been worthy legal issues. Instead he expressed only viewpoints, unscientific at best, but most likely simply wrong. With a straight face he used a pie chart to illustrate the greater "diversity" of commenters since the ban, not even having the honesty to acknowledge that many of those new participants were speaking out against the anti-democratic ban. He also railed against grandstanding as he grandstanded.

It's been said that the broadcast of public comment is a litmus test for Brownsville's new city administration. It's not the biggest issue facing the city, but its handling gives notice as to the direction the city is taking. It does not look good for transparency, inclusiveness and democracy at this point.  It likely never crossed the mayor's or city attorney's mind that public comment is dead.  For Martinez, a quick commission meeting is a good commission meeting.  Sossi could likely make a pie chart to make that case.

City Commission Tweaks Handling of Contracts With Action Item

     The City Commission continues to review the way contracts come before the commission, the bidding process and qualifying those who are allowed to submit bids.  An action item introduced by Commissioner Zamora would require that any extensions to contracts first come before the City Commission before being extended.  The thinking is that performance, current pricing could all be reviewed before automatically and routinely extending contracts.

     Mayor Martinez suggested a commission workshop with the purchasing department to clarify procedures so that redundant questions would not come up each time a contract is submitted.  Commissioner Longoria suggested tabling the action item until after the workshop.  Commissioner Chavez-Vasquez countered, saying that a workshop was already in the works and would be helpful, but she favored voting now on the action item to not automatically extend contracts without review.

     Martinez called for a vote and the action item was approved.

Marco Longoria Back At Work As Brownsville Firefighter!

 

by Jim Barton on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 11:53pm

     For the second time in his career longtime Brownsville firefighter Marco Longoria has received his job back after the case was submitted to an arbitrator.  The firing was a serious blunder by Fire Chief Lenny Perez, a small-minded man known for his leadership deficiencies.  One firefighter put it this way:  "Lenny is a total pendejo with a Napoleonic complex.  He has total distrust of staff that have skills and abilities exceeding his own."   Fire Chief Perez and City Manager Charlie Cabler are known for stonewalling grievances that could be easily settled by skilled administrators.

      "Perez and Cabler waste hundreds of thousands of dollars of city funds with their machismo" remarked another longtime firefighter at a recent barbecue.  "Marco, not only gets all of his backpay, but we had to use overtime to cover his shift.  And the whole thing was total bullshit.  The only ones benefitting are the lawyers Navarro and Ozuna who get paid to work the cases."
       We wrote this back on September 16:   "The website for Navarro,  which includes Ozuna, lists labor and employment law, collective bargaining and civil service as among their areas of expertise.  They also represent the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool or TML-IRP, a self-insurance group charging an administrative fee to the city of Brownsville.  A wooden TML plaque is prominently mounted in the 4th floor hearing room of the city commission building.  A self-insurance group tends to resist claims, putting them into the appeal process.  The two labor law specialists could find themselves in a no-lose situation if they can work for TML, but still be hired guns for the city when appeals are pursued."
     So Navarro and Ozuna have no incentive to be effective in court.  They win when Brownsville loses.  They win when employment cases go to arbitration.  They win when appeals are made regardless of the outcome.  They still make their money.  Navarro and Ozuna make an obscene amount of money from the city of Brownsville that already has three lawyers on retainer or salary.  This is reckless asset management by Mayor Tony Martinez and City Manager Charlie Cabler. 


     Navarro and Ozuna are skilled at getting litigation but inept in court.  At the Marco Longoria employment hearing several months back, former firefighter and non-lawyer Louis Hebert totally kicked their asses legally at the hearing.  He  showed himself more versed in labor law, rules of argumentation, handling of witnesses, etc.  Several times he had to remind Navarro that as a lawyer he could not give testimony.
     Despite all of the political and administrative ineptitude, the City of Brownsville is fortunate to have Marco Longoria back as a first responder. 

Latin Jazz Festival Closes with A Bang at the Crescent Moon

 

by Jim Barton on Monday, October 17, 2011 at 2:25am

    
     Condense the Latin Jazz Festival into the echo chamber that is the Crescent Moon.  Add The Brew, Dr. Tom Nevill, Robert Stone, Frank Morris, David Lopez,  Hector "Hawk" Hernandez,  Ben Neece and various bands to the mix and you have the flavor of the festival after party that converged on the Moon.  Before I realized we couldn't hear each other, I told Juan Montoya of El Rrun Rrun that this was an historic night for The Moon.  Montoya rambled a bit about Brownsville music history, but I couldn't hear what he was saying either.  When Neece lowered the house lights, added his psychedelic mix to the walls and ceiling, the college and post college girls began to gyrate to the jazz turned blues turned rock.  150 year old bricks love new sounds, sometimes making the conscious decision to exist another one and a half centuries.  Ear to ear doesn't adequately describe the smile on club owner Neece's face, as music, not profit, is the focus of this establishment.  The confluence of musical energy at the Crescent Moon was briefly interrupted by Harley-Davidson non-muffling mufflers.  Of course,  firefighters Rigo, George and Marco are welcomed at this and any Brownsville venue. 
     The day started at the Latin Jazz Festival on Levee Street in front of the skeletal remains of the once proud El Jardin Hotel.  The old hotel suffered the indignity of a plastic banner offering "owner financing for 65,000 square feet".  The crumbling El Jardin stands as a monument to Brownsville's current and former leadership vacuum.  The jazz festival shows us what Brownsville can be in spite of Tony Martinez ineptitude, Ernie Hernandez corruption and violence south of the border.
     We had found Mary Helen selling festival t-shirts inside the shell of the old Capitol Theatre, received a complimentary bottle of hand sanitizer from justice of the peace candidate Yolanda Begum and watched former Crescent Moon bouncer Panther as he ran back and forth working his new gig.  George Ramirez, as festival emcee provided historical and other background for each act from jazz bands to salsa dancers from Oaxaca.  At closing the crowd quickly dispersed, most walking to their cars, some to their closeby houses.  Key players went to the Crescent Moon filling the small building with power and performance.
  

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"Tony: If You're So Rich, How Come You Ain't Smart?"

     The headline above twists around the old punchline:  "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?"  That line almost seems logical until you realize it isn't.  Many of us may have made similar illogical assumptions about Mayor candidate Tony Martinez.  Actually, almost any conclusion drawn about the man based on his campaign, had to be an assumption, because he said nothing of substance prior to the election.  We knew his favorite color was blue and that he "believed in Brownsville."  We didn't know how blue his administration would actually make us feel or whether he believed in a Brownsville "as is" or a Brownville that could be made better.
     Perhaps, like me, you anticipated a man with a yellow legal pad of ideas, some crossed out due to impracticality or budget constraints, but many others still in play.  How can we streamline city government, making it more efficient?  How can we get more citizens involved so that more than 4% vote in elections?  How can we jumpstart downtown revitalization?  My dream was that Tony be Brownsville's Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, not necessarily spending his own monies, but making damn sure our tax monies are appropriated surgically. getting rid of waste and wasters.
     Instead, we got a ceremonial guy, royalty, a figurehead like Queen Elizabeth.  Even when Tony had a golden opportunity handed to him to restore the broadcast of public comment at commission meetings, he responded dimwittedly:  ""I'd like to continue doing things the way the previous administration did them.  It's been working pretty good so far.  I don't want to change that."   Does that sound to you like words from an idea man?
     Border security concerns, one of the most visited issues night after night on local news is also downplayed by Tony.  He tells us at a UTB/TSC seminar on border security that he and his two sons went dove hunting recently without incident.  He proclaims our borders safe and chides those who say otherwise as politically ambitious.  Drugs flow north, weapons flow south, victims of kidnapping are locked in stash houses, residents between the border wall and the river cringe as they hear gunfire, while Tony worries about image, appearances.
     I will gladly eat every word written above if Tony will just get off his ass.  After all, he wanted the job.
  
      

Tony Martinez In Denial on Border Security

     When Mayor Tony Martinez is asked about border security he changes the subject to the relative calm on the streets of Brownsville and out into the rurals of Cameron County.  He cites the "great job" done by County Sheriff Omar Lucio and also by Police Chief Carlos Garcia.  But border security is not the responsibility of the octagenarian sheriff or the affable police chief.  Tony just continues to miss the point by a wide margin.  At the September 19, 2011 forum on border security, Tony opined that any street in Brownsville was safe to walk along and that he and his two sons had just dove hunted in the county without incident.  Excuse me, but what do either of those two opinions have to do with weapons crossing the border going south, drugs coming north, victims being held for ransom in stash houses, and the daily fears of citizens living between the border wall and the river?
     Tony is not the first politician to worry about the perception of an area as not safe and lost tourist dollars.  Mexico bristles every time the U.S. State Department issues a travel warning because of the negative effect on their economy.  Perhaps the Brownsville mayor is simply the wrong person to include in any discussion of border security.  At the Champions for Change, Southwest Border Region panel discussion that was almost concurrent with the UTB/TSC seminar, Mayor Martinez stated:  "I understand the rhetoric of those with political aspirations in our state, but there is no need for additional personel on our border."
     Unfortunately, fairy tales seldom come true.  Pretending border problems do not exist is a disservice to border residents and doesn't make anyone feel safer

The New Ethics Code~Tony Martinez's Top Priority Still Nowhere In Sight

     Back on April 19 at the UTB/TSC Mayor Candidates Forum, Tony Martinez clearly identified the drafting of a new ethics code as the "top priority" of a Martinez administration.  Since Tony said so little of substance during the campaign, I jotted that down.  Assuming a strong work ethic coupled with a desire to get our city functioning efficiently and ethically, some of us fully expected Tony to be a man of his word.  Literally dozens of model city ethics codes exist on the internet and from other sources that could be tweaked to fit our city.   Certainly other Texas cities have codes that could be tailored for Brownsville.
     We reported in August:  "City Attorney Mark Sossi was handpicked by Mayor Martinez to initiate the process.  Sossi reported to the commission 7/19/11 concerning the research, thought process and focus so far which amounted essentially to having read the San Antonio and Dallas codes, a 20 minute effort at best.  Later in that meeting Mayor Martinez expressed his desire to be included in the committee to draft the code.  My recollection is that City Manager Charlie Cabler would be included in that committee along with a commissioner or two."
     Since Sossi's report on July 19, two additional months have passed.  Remember once a final draft of an ethics code is submitted and approved, language in the City Charter has to also be changed to allow for penalties for violations of the code.  Brownsville's last ethics code expired in 2006. 

Two Public Hearings Where No One is Actually "Heard"

     When City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez mentioned the 6.11% tax adjustment some of us are ignorant enough to call a tax increase,  he also made it clear that,  under charter, the city must schedule two public hearings.   A "hearing" sort of implies that someone is listening, but in actual practice, that never occurs.  Otherwise, the mayor, commission and finance director would at least  acknowledge considering Robert Uresti's suggestion to convert city vehicles to propane, Fernando Ruiz's complaint that 375 acres of prime land were sold for a pittance, or Letty Perez-Garzoria's suggestion to tone down the catering of commission nourishment.  But that is not the way this works at all.  Perhaps "hearing" is the wrong word.  Verbal warning might be more accurate, followed by a written notice in the Brownsville Herald and then the inevitable increased taxes.
     Pete Gonzalez was primed in the second meeting to deal with the phrase "tax increase" that will never leave his lips.   He maintains that despite raising taxes by 6.11%, there was no actual increase in the "debt service tax rate."   Robert Uresti, who learned the arithmetic most of us use, gently corrected him.

Photo Essay on the First Amendment

Tony speaks, but does not listen.


What the taxpayers who pay for the broadcast of the commission meetings see during the public's comment.

Is Our City Commission Being Manipulated?

     Melissa Hernandez-Zamora seemed dumbstruck when City Attorney Sossi stood up to give opposition testimony concerning the broadcast of public comment  item she had placed on the agenda.  It was obvious that Commissioner Zamora  had not been advised of the behind-the-scenes manipulation by Mayor Martinez and his eager cohort Sossi.  Sossi, afterall, had the most to lose from public comment broadcast since it was comments about his questionable ethics that triggered the ban in the first place.  As Zamora got her bearings, Martinez waved Sossi the "go ahead".
      Sossi made no attempt in his feeble, highschoolish power point to express a legal opinion.  There was no mention of free speech, the first amendment, the constitution or even the phony liability issues he has pretended previously.  Those might have been worthy legal issues.  Instead he expressed only viewpoints, unscientific at best, but most likely simply wrong.  With a straight face he used a pie chart to illustrate the greater "diversity" of commenters since the ban, not even having the honesty to acknowledge that many of those new participants were speaking out against the anti-democratic ban.  He also railed against grandstanding as he grandstanded.
     Our new commissioners will evidently have to be prepared for tricks.  No coming in flat-footed.  Estela Chavez-Vasquez repeated a Zamora phrase about "announcements" in her brief contribution to the discussion.  She seemed poised to vote "yes" until she noticed which way Tony was blowing the wind and quickly succumbed to "nay".  Tony then made a comment that I'm certain his San Antonio handlers would never have written for him:  "I'd like to continue doing what the last administration did.  It seems to be working pretty well.  I don't want to change it."
     It's been said that the broadcast of public comment is a litmus test for Brownsville's new city administration.  It's not the biggest issue facing the city, but its handling gives notice as to the direction the city is taking.  It does not look good for transparency, inclusiveness and democracy at this point.