YEAH, HE'S A CROOK, BUT HE'S OUR TEXAS GOP CROOK...

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

How can Texas Republicans really stand for upholding the law by nominating crooked Ken Paxton?? It’s a serious question, too. They justify terrorizing the Black community and Latino community in Texas while continuing to elect criminal leadership who have little to no regard of the law. How?

BIRDS OF A FEATHER...

Dude gotta mugshot and get nominated...my family with mugshots struggle to get housing and jobs

BREATHING ROOM: DATA CENTER, QUICK LUBE, EVENT CENTER ON HOLD

By Monserrat Pagan

myRGV.com

Brownsville’s City Commission will consider imposing a 90-day moratorium on data center applications, as well as on other types of facilities, according to a public notice.

Meanwhile, the company behind a request for a special use permit for a data center and cold storage facility in a former Walmart and the former Southwest Key facility on Padre Island Highway that was scheduled to go before the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Aug. 6 has withdrawn its request, City Manager Alan Guard confirmed Wednesday.

Still, the commission will hold two public hearings on the proposed moratorium ordinance at its Sept. 1 and Oct. 6 regular meetings.

If approved, the temporary moratorium would suspend municipal approval for the construction, expansion and operation of a “High-Intensity Data Processing Facility, Event Center, Private Game Club, Automotive Quick Lube Facility, or Self-Storage Facility,” according to the notice.

The initial moratorium “may be extended up to an additional 90 days upon a public hearing on the proposed extension and adoption of additional written findings,” the notice states.

Mayor John Cowen previously told MyRG .com that the city commission will hear a general presentation about data centers at the Aug. 4 meeting.

He also said that he would consider a moratorium, but noted it’s important to learn more.

BILINGUALISM: HOW DO YOU SLICE A PIZZA? WITH LITTLE SCISSORS....

By Juan Montoya
When I was in grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison I got to know a few movimiento people who had been active in La Raza Unida, the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan (MEChA), among others.

One of the most interesting was Mario Compean from Las Wilmas (San Antonio), who, for those of us old enough to remember, was the last Raza Unida candidate for governor of Texas.

Mario was working on his PhD in Educational Administration at the UW and acted as a sort of mentor to younger undergrads through the university's Chicano Advocate's office. 

Those of us from South Texas – and there were Chicanos from throughout the United States there – gravitated around a core group made up of Mechistas and upper classmen. A favorite gathering place was the university's Rathskleller at the student union.

Now, Wisconsin, being a beer-manufacturing state (the beer that made Milwaukee famous, among others), lent itself to the consumption of its products. The Rathskeller started serving beer at 11 a.m.

In the evenings, after classes concluded and a bunch of us gathered to shoot the breeze over a mug of Old Style beer, the tales would start flowing.

What follows is one of the better offerings by Compean.

It seems that when La Raza activists would go to the outlying rural communities in Central Texas around Uvalde, Crystal City, etc., a part of the organizing would include the proper manner to conduct a meeting under Robert's Rules of Order. This, of course, would set off a round of protest from independent-minded adult migrant workers.

"Y quien es ese Robert?" (who is this Robert?) they would ask the chair when he called them to order and gave someone the floor. "Porque manda el?" (Why is he in charge?)

After a couple of these meetings, people generally caught on and by then the organizers were ready for most questions. That is, until they got to a meeting at a small town held in a rural church hall.

"La raza was getting into the meeting and following the rules of order until an old man stood up bien enojado (angry) and demanded to know why we wanted to sacar el mocho (someone without an arm or leg)," Compean would say.

"Yo nomas quiero saber porque quieren sacar al mochito," the old man said. "Oigo que saquen el mocho y que saquen el mocho. Que les hizo el mochito pa que lo quieran sacar?"

It took a while for the organizers to understand the man's protest, but when they did, they burst out laughing, much to the man's displeasure.

"No, señor, they're saying that they second the motion, no que saquen el mocho!"

SO DONALD TRUMP AND ERIC TRUMP ARE GUILTY AS HELL THEN, JOSEY??

"You don't plead the 5th if you haven't done anything wrong..." Josey Wales, The Babylon Bee

Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded the Fifth Amendment 111 times during a contentious Senate hearing. Republicans criticize Doctor Fauci for invoking his 5th Amendment rights during the hearing.

TRUMP PLEADS THE 5TH 440 TIMES, AND ERIC TRUMP MORE THAN 500 TIMES

Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 400 times (specifically reported as over 440 times) during a single civil deposition.

Deposition Details
Date: August 10, 2022
Location: New York, New York (New York Attorney General’s office)
Context: A civil business fraud investigation led by Attorney General Letitia James into the Trump Organization's financial practices.
Outcome: Aside from stating his name, Trump declined to answer substantive questions for the duration of the four-hour hearing

WHAT SAY YOU, SANE REPUBLICANS? IF THERE ARE ANY LEFT...

Chris Perez: The back of the shirt says “No Matter What"

GUS AND PEDRO JOIN DATA CENTER BATTLE: DISTRACT FROM ASPHALT-MILLINGS GATE; BUT STATE BEAT THEM TO THE DRAW

By Juan Montoya
Special to El Rrun-Rrun

A proposal for a data center in Brownsville and the particulars about its electric and water use have not even been discussed and we already have at least two city commissioners who say they have already made up their mind that they are against the construction of one here.

City of Brownsville commissioner Pedro Cardenas has spoken out against it and assures us that his appointment to the Planning and Zoning Commissioner (independently, or does she do what she is told?) has reached the same conclusion. 

It didn't take long for fellow commissioner Gus de Leon – eager to distract residents from the asphalt-millingsGate scandal involving city materials, labor, and machinery to make road improvement on his private property right before he leased it to the Department of Homeland Security and who sleeps and wakes up with honor and integrity intact – to pipe in vowing to fight the idea and to wage holy war against it.

This two-headed Hydra tag team is now – even before we know anything about the planned data center construction – waging a jihad against them.

"Although a data center proposal has not yet been presented to the City Commission, we understand that it is expected to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission," Cardenas wrote in his FB social page."I have already spoken with my Planning and Zoning appointee, and I am glad that she shares my position. At this time, we are against the proposed data center."

But, hold the presses, haven't these gents kept up with what the State of Texas and its local representatives in the legislature – D-27 Senator Adam Hinojosa and State Rep. D-38 Erin Gamez, Brownsville – have been doing up in Austin which effectively makes their courageous stand a self-serving side show?

Cardenas states that these are his concerns: 

"Brownsville and South Texas have faced drought and water supply concerns for several years," he wrote. "Data centers can require significant amounts of water and electricity, and I do not believe our community currently has the infrastructure necessary to support a project of this size without placing additional pressure on our residents, utilities, and essential services....Until we have the water supply, electrical capacity, infrastructure, and clear answers needed to protect our residents, my position is a firm NO."

[Hey, Pedro, SpaceX had  no running water (and 13 launches later still doesn't) and they buy it from the Brownsville Public Utility Board (PUB). Would you have been against SpaceX coming because of their supposed impact on local water supplies?] 

And just FYI, this center is not the only one which has approached the city. Management can point to at least two others interested in coming here to do biz.

Your opposition sounds nice, but this is what's going in Austin.

According to the Austin Statesman, the state has already directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to require data center proponents to take concrete steps to protect residential ratepayers from the costs of data center expansion.

The PUCT is acting as we speak to make data centers pay for the electric infrastructure they need so Texas families are not stuck with the bill, to ensure that connecting data centers actually lowers residential electric bills, and to work with ERCOT on additional steps that protect ratepayers. 

Both entities are under orders to make sure that residential ratepayers across the state will not foot the bill for this industry’s growth. These actions keep electric bills affordable and protect the water these communities need. And unless they comply, no permits for the centers will be issued. Zilch.

These requirements are in place right now across Texas, so rising in courageous opposition in Brownsville matters very little. Already, several data centers have withdrawn their plans to build such centers in several cities across the state because they didn't  meet the PUCT and ERCOT directives. Once they comply, the show is on. 

The two commissioners' heroics aside, these key actions have already been taken and underway by the PUCT and ERCOT and include:

*Requiring data centers to not only pay for transmission infrastructure built to serve them but contribute toward meaningfully reducing residential electric bills.

*Adopting rules to prevent large data centers from diverting existing power away from the ERCOT grid and ensuring power is prioritized for Texas families and communities.

*Begun sweeping changes to how data centers pay for the infrastructure needed to serve them, ensuring data centers do not shift those costs onto everyday Texans or place unnecessary strain on our state's resources.

*Implemented a new interconnection screening process to prevent data centers from overburdening the grid.

The PUCT and ERCOT also recommended the following legislative changes for the upcoming legislative session:

*Expand the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act to cover large data centers so foreign actors cannot use them to threaten the Texas grid.

*Clarify the PUC's and ERCOT's authority to establish additional reliability requirements that data centers must comply with.

*Require data centers to register with the PUCT and ERCOT so the state has accurate information about their water and electricity operations.

And before we start following knee-jerk politicians, just what is a data center and why would we need one here?

 A data center is a facility that houses the computing infrastructure needed to store, process, and distribute digital information. Think of it as the “engine room” of the internet and many business applications. Do you use a cell phone, PC, Internet, or surf the social pages? You are already using a data center somewhere.

Its main purposes include: Storing data: Keeps databases, files, backups, photos, videos, and other digital information securely. It is also used for running applications: Hosts websites, business software, streaming platforms, AI models, and cloud services. Do you want SpaceX and Saronic to continue providing well-paid jobs and to attract other high-tech companies to provide jobs to local residents?

Processing information: Performs computations for tasks like financial transactions, analytics, machine learning, and scientific research.

Providing network connectivity: Connects users, devices, and services over high-speed networks.

Ensuring reliability: Uses redundant power, cooling, networking, and hardware so services stay online even if components fail.

Protecting data: Includes physical security, cybersecurity measures, fire suppression, and environmental controls.

What’s inside a data center?

Simple analogy:

Imagine a city library: Books = Data
Librarians = Servers that find and process information
Shelves = Storage systems
Hallways = Network connections
Electricity and air conditioning = Power and cooling systems

Just as a library organizes and provides access to information, a data center organizes, stores, processes, and delivers digital information to users around the world. Sure we don't want to be connected with all the protections in place?

HEY GIRLS, LET'S GO TO THE ELKS LODGE, DANCE AND MAKE SOME HAPPY NOISE EVERY WEDNESDAY!

BUILDERS ACROSS S. TEXAS START TO FEEL THE I.C.E. LABOR SQUEEZE

Attend Wednesday, July 29, 10:00 a.m.,  Brookhaven Events Center – Pharr, Texas

The South Texas Builders Association (STBA) invites the Rio Grande Valley community to Rally the Valley, an open discussion on immigration enforcement and its impact on our region.

The construction industry, including projects in Brownsville, has been affected by labor shortages and growing uncertainty as immigration enforcement has intensified. The meeting aims to provide a respectful space for community members, elected officials, and industry leaders to share concerns and discuss possible solutions. 

 Immigration Enforcement’s Impact on #Brownsville Construction to Be Discussed at Rally the Valley. 💪🏻⚠️ #Pharr #Rgv #McAllen #Donna

La industria de la construcción, incluyendo obras en Brownsville, ha enfrentado retos por la escasez de mano de obra y la incertidumbre que viven muchos trabajadores. Este foro busca abrir un diálogo pacífico entre la comunidad y las autoridades.¡Asiste! ¡Corre la Voz #RGV!

NEXT THING YOU KNOW THEY'LL WANT TO MOVE IN NEXT DOOR

(Ed.'s Note: When a little girl is viewed as a threat instead of a child, it says more about the fear being consumed than the person standing in front of them.

Cable news has convinced millions that immigrants are invading, replacing them, and taking what’s theirs. That’s a powerful business model—but a terrible way to see the world. Sometimes satire says it best.")

PENTAGON UPS ITS CASUALTY FIGURES; COUNT STANDS AT 640

By Davis Winkie

CNN

The Pentagon updated its war casualty database Saturday, recording more than 140 additionally wounded and restoring the four soldiers killed due to Iranian strikes last week amid questions about a lack of transparency over the war’s toll.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS, also featured a new tracking category — “Overseas Operations” — for killed and wounded “starting July 7.”

When the new Pentagon data is combined with updated totals for Operation Epic Fury, 18 troops have died and another 624 have been wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on Feb. 28. The number of wounded is a significant increase from the previous peak of 482 observed by CNN last week.

The Pentagon drew scrutiny from media outlets and lawmakers last week when killed and wounded numbers decreased in the DCAS system as Iranian attacks continued. The 12 Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday requesting answers on what was causing the changes.

The Defense Department’s acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, insisted in a Thursday social media post that the decreases were due to “temporary data disruptions on the (DCAS) website.” CNN observed data glitches that led to fluctuating casualty totals when monitoring the DCAS site on a minute-by-minute basis last week.

On Friday, CNN asked the Pentagon for more details about the data interruption, but the department neither acknowledged nor responded to the inquiry as of Sunday afternoon.

Beyond the July 7 starting date, the new “overseas operation” category on the DCAS site does not include any distinguishing details or specify the conflict in which the casualties occur, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions seeking clarification on what the category covers. The category features a by-name list of fallen troops, though, that includes the three Army soldiers killed in Jordan due to an Iranian strike and the soldier killed in northern Iraq last weekend during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

The July 7 date coincides with when President Donald Trump claimed a new conflict with Iran began in a War Powers notification the administration sent to Congress earlier this month. (The War Powers Act of 1973 requires the president to end military operations within 60 days unless authorized by Congress to continue; the Trump administration argued that the April ceasefire with Iran stopped the clock on May 1 for the conflict’s initial period.)

Lawmakers of both parties have argued against the administration’s interpretation of the War Powers clock, though some analysts and officials contend that the act itself represents an unconstitutional limit on presidential war-making authority. Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued the law is “unconstitutional, 100 percent” during a May press briefing at the White House.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said to Hegseth during a July 21 hearing that she is “concerned” the administration is circumventing Congress through the ceasefire clock reset.

“The claim essentially allows the president to extinguish the War Powers clock just at the moment that it becomes legally inconvenient … avoiding the congressional authorization that the Constitution requires and the War Powers (Act) intends,” she said.


Davis Winkie’s work at CNN is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). CNN retains full editorial control of the reporting.

NICE BUILDING, BUT THAT AIN'T CAMERON COUNTY COURTHOUSE ON LEFT

(The photo at left is supposed to be a photo of the Cameron County Courthouse, which obviously it's not. There are old courthouses in Smith and even Harrison counties – even the one in Tyler, Texas – that resemble the one at left, but we couldn't tell for sure. Does anyone know?)

Texas Explored

"Where the Rio Grande bends and Texas meets Mexico, the Cameron County Courthouse rises over Brownsville with all the dignity of a border capital.

Its stately dome and grand columns speak of a city that has stood at the crossroads of two nations for generations, a place where history has always been written in more than one language.
Brownsville grew up beside old Fort Brown, on ground that saw the opening battles of the war between the United States and Mexico.

The city became a bustling port of trade where cotton, cattle, and commerce flowed across the river, and the courthouse rose to reflect the civic power of a community at the very edge of Texas. Its walls have witnessed the blending of cultures that gives the border its unmistakable spirit.

To stand before this courthouse, framed by palms and warm Gulf light, is to feel the deep and complicated history of the borderlands.

It is a place where Texas is at once fully itself and something wholly unique. What do you find most fascinating about the rich history of the Rio Grande Valley and the border country?"https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122106907112436636&id=61563099099037&post_id=61563099099037_122106907112436636&rdid=bkLHXJwNaY5yk7gD#


Sawyer E. Edward
Some of the history is factual but that is not a photo of the original Cameron County courthouse. There were no columns and the rotunda was a lot more narrow like a copula. Your page is misleading.

STABLE GENIUS: NO FALCON I. Q. HEAVY, HE....BEEP! BEEP!

MAURO GARZA: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TONY GARZA JR., CARLOS CASCOS RUNNING FOR COUNTY JUDGE

NEALE HOUSE, AT $404,000 FOR JUST RELOCATING IT, JOINS SLAVER BROWNSVILLE FOUNDER CHARLES STILLMAN'S LAUREL RANCH ON SLAVERS' PLANTATION ROW ON LINEAR PARK

(Ed.'s Note: Workers are readying the site in Linear Park for the relocation of William Neale's dilapidated house dating back to the mid-1800s. At a cost of $404,000 just for its relocation from the grounds at Texas Southmost College, it will take a few $100,000s more to spiff up the house that belonged to Neale, Brownsville's first mayor and well-known slaver who made money chasing runaway slaves into Mexico and reuniting them with their owners.

At right, the 1850 Census shows that Stillman, and other "founders" were listed as slave owners. 

Neale's house, once renovated, will comprise Brownsville's own Plantation Row, joining Brownsville "founder" Charles Stillman's Laurel Ranch House, who through legal chicanery along with Samuel Belden, dispossessed the rightful land-grant owners of the land and made off like a thief with the ill-gained profits and established Citibank in New York City. Evil tongues say the ranch house was actually a love shack that resulted in a Mexican Stillman blood line.

This enshrinement of these structures of Brownsville's founders thumbs its nose at local residents who lobbied to remove the stone monument to Jefferson Davis in Washington Park as a rejection of the Confederate Lost Cause "heritage" that had slavery as its foundation. Why are we still doing this?

Below: That was the Laurel Ranch House when it was brought to Brownsville from Corpus Christi and what it looked like after its $100,000s "restoration" courtesy of the local taxpayers. Expect the same magical transformation for the Neale House.)

FANTASY: STILLMAN'S LAUREL RANCH HOUSE BEFORE AND AFTER

NEALE'S DILAPIDATED CRIB TODAY BEFORE $404,000 RELOCATION

NAH, SHE DIDN'T DIE IN MY WAR; WE WON 13 TIMES ALREADY. FORE!

By Mary Bruce, Nicholas Kerr, and Elise Spanner

ABC 

President Donald Trump is comparing the death toll from the war in Iran to several past wars in what appears to be an attempt to downplay the rising number of fatalities.

Via posts on his social media platform, Trump displayed the number of fatalities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam and Korea -- multi-year conflicts that cost thousands of American lives -- alongside statistics from the Iran war, a four-month conflict in which 18 Americans have been killed.

“All of them said very strongly, ‘We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,'” Trump told reporters as he departed to attend a dignified transfer, the process by which the remains of fallen military members are moved from aircraft to vehicle, in Dover, Delaware.  

He added a chart to a second post, writing, "These are the real facts."

Trump has consistently referred to the ongoing fighting in Iran as a "military conflict" rather than a war, including in the charts he posted.

His comments come just days after four more service members were killed in Iranian attacks -- the first American fatalities since a fragile ceasefire deal collapsed two weeks ago. 

That included not counting U.S. Army Private Isabella Gonzales, a 19-year-old soldier from Carrollton, Texas, who was killed in action on July 17, 2026, during an Iranian drone and missile attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and three other Americans who Trump had previously called "patriots."

Top Democrats have turned the President's comments against him, accusing Trump of trivializing the deaths of American service members.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Trump's comments "beneath contempt and a new low" in a post on X.

Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an erstwhile Trump ally, said on social media that the posts were "stupid" and the president was "bragging about killing 18 US soldiers."

COOKING THE BOOKS AGAIN: AFTER IRAN MISSLES KILLED FOUR U.S. SOLDIERS TRUMP DENIES THEY DIED IN HIS WAR

By Oliver Willis

The Trump administration is manipulating sensitive information about the number of service members killed in the war against Iran, as part of efforts to manipulate reality to justify Trump’s rhetoric.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the official Pentagon website now alleges that 14 troops have been killed in the war, removing the previous number of 18.

(That included not counting U.S. Army Private Isabella Gonzales, a 19-year-old soldier from Carrollton, Texas, who was killed in action on July 17, 2026, during an Iranian drone and missile attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and three other Americans who Trump had previously called "patriots.")

Multiple officials anonymously told the Times that the administration is contending that troops who were killed in attacks in U.S. facilities in Iraq and Jordan are not being counted, because they occurred after Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement had been reached with Iran earlier in the year.

This is what we've come to in Trump USA. A five-time draft dodger is now Commander-in-Chief of our men and women serving in the Armed Forces. He started an unnecessary war and now has the unmitigated gall to sit in judgement of their service and minimize their ultimate sacrifice to a nation he cowardly chose not to serve. So they didn't die for your war, Donny. You only like winners, not these "losers."

This is not how reporting on wartime casualties works. And the ceasefire was never a true cessation of combat between the U.S. and Iran.

 Both militaries regularly fired upon each other and traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz has still been restricted, causing a global strain on oil supplies. Trump has repeatedly announced that he was close to or had secured a “deal” in the region, only to see hostilities renewed again and again.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges , who commanded military forces in Europe during Trump’s first term, told the Times, “The administration seems to have a real hard time being honest about what is going on—not just about casualties, but about the whole war in general.”

Meddling with troop death counts falls in line with the deception recently on display by the Trump administration.

The administration has ben hiding details of attacks on American assets, has ceased giving public briefings after crowing about purportedly devastating attacks early in the conflict, and has in general been dishonest about the reasoning for the attack on Iran from the start.

The situation has continued to worsen as Trump and his team offer up a stream of lies. Earlier in the week, the Houthi militant group claimed responsibility for attacks on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea. The attack happened despite Trump’s proclamation a year ago that the Houthis no longer wanted to fight.

THERE'S THAT ORANGE GUY AGAIN! GET HIM OUT OF THE PICTURE!

The Fool On The Hilll

Songwriters: Paul McCartney / John Lennon

Day after day, alone on The Hill

The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still

But nobody wants to know him, they can see that he's just a fool

And he never gives an answer

But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down

And the eyes in his head see the world spinning around

Well on the way, head in a cloud

The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud

But nobody ever hears him or the sound he appears to make

And he never seems to notice

But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down

And the eyes in his head see the world spinning 'round

And nobody seems to like him, they can tell what he wants to do

And he never shows his feelings

But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down

And the eyes in his head see the world spinning 'round (oh oh oh)

'Round and 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round...

WHY WON'T ABBOTT DEBATE GINA? WHY IS HE KEEPING KIDS HUNGRY AND HIDING BEHIND THE BIBLE?

Team Gina

Texans deserve a governor who's willing to answer for their record.

I've made it clear that I'm ready to debate Greg Abbott — but he’s stayed silent. There’s a very simple reason why:

He’s failed Texans, and he doesn’t want to actually face them. The control over him by the gun lobby is literally killing Texans.

Texans have faced years of rising costs, some of the highest uninsured rates in the country, families struggling to keep the lights on because electricity has become so expensive, and billions of our taxpayer dollars flowing to politically connected donors and special interests instead of working people. 

And why did he keep food from the mouths of hungry Texas children?

Greg Abbott should be openly willing to defend his record before the people he serves.

Instead, he's refusing to face voters — but I wouldn’t do that.

I'm running for governor because I believe leadership means showing up, answering tough questions, and being accountable to the people of Texas. Not hiding from them.

I'll proudly defend my vision to strengthen our public schools, lower costs for working families, expand access to healthcare, and build an economy that works for everyone — not just the wealthy and well-connected.

Greg Abbott can keep avoiding the conversation.

But I'll keep traveling across Texas, listening to voters, and earning their trust.

If you believe Texas deserves a governor who will show up and fight for you, will you chip in $5 to help us keep this campaign moving forward?

"I DON'T NEED NO STINKING ENGINEERING DEGREE TO BE ENGINEERING & PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR. A WINNING P.R. SMILE AND HANDING OUT FAVORS USING TAXPAYERS' MONEY WORK WONDERS."

WHAT COB ENGINEERING & PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR SAID:

AND WHAT SHE REALLY MEANT:

"At the end of the day, our legacy is not defined by the protection of our city taxpayers, but by the brownie points with the elected officials and the influential private citizens that we help with the public's money to help us climb up the bureaucratic career ladder, the amount of taxpayer-subsidized asphalt millings we spread on private property, and the pat in the back we get from pampered and corrupt city officials.

Transparency? Accountability? That's for sound bites. 

"Why should I have an engineering degree when I can flash a friendly smile to pander the favoritism of our great city commissioners and city manager and his deputies? At a salary of more than $150,000, es muy buen cheque! Positive difference? For us, maybe, but a negative difference to the public treasury. Criticism? Sticks and stones, but words..., well, you know. Why should I worry about dirty little Brownsville when I was the mayor of exclusive Rancho Viejo? The peasants are revolting. 

Yuck! Let's go Gus! What if we "dump" those road materials on private property, Sir?"

EXCUSE ME SOLDIERS. DO YOU MIND IF I PLAY THROUGH?

Mother Jones

President Donald Trump’s open disdain for Americans who have died in war, “losers” and “suckers,” in his estimation, is well documented. But that hasn’t stopped him from exploiting fallen soldiers to prop up support for himself. This time, it’s the four service members who were killed over the last week as the US returns to full-scale war with Iran.

“All of them said very strongly, ‘We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,'” Trump told reporters as he departed to attend a dignified transfer, the process by which the remains of fallen military members are moved from aircraft to vehicle, in Dover, Delaware, on Wednesday.

There is no evidence that the service members killed, as Trump so confidently claimed, ever said or believed this. It conveniently happens to be one of the exceedingly few talking points Trump has had for continuing an increasingly unpopular war on all his own. And what better device for repeating his excuse than dead Americans who can’t speak for themselves?

And, incidentally, a Trump campaign flier with a photo of him at a dignified transfer of soldiers killed in battle is being used to promote "private national security briefings" for a limited number of donors under his Never Surrender Inc. is the latest wrinkle of this shameless grifter  

The assertion of the dead soldiers and Iran nuclear weapons was made without evidence or apparent shame, shortly after the president appeared to boast on social media about the total number of service members killed since the US first launched strikes against Iran in February. In doing so, Trump referred to the casualties of previous wars, seemingly arguing that 18 wasn’t so bad.

Afghanistan War: 20 years, 2,000 DEAD.

Iraq War: 9 years, 4,600 DEAD.

Vietnam War: 19 years and 5 months, 58,220 DEAD.

Korean War: 3 years and 1 month, 36,574 DEAD.

Venezuela War: 1 day, 0 DEAD.

Iran Military Conflict: 4 months, 18 DEAD.”

The comments are the latest evidence of Trump’s long-held, blatant disregard for those killed in war. Meanwhile, his administration’s celebration of war, both in absurd pageantry and ethos continues apace.

SO IF A CITY OFFICIAL IS CAUGHT USING PUBLIC PROPERTY, WE SHOULD JUST LET IT GO AND "MOVE ON"?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

In Texas

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) considers clean asphalt pavement millings to be non-hazardous. If they are reused for beneficial purposes (such as road construction or base material), they often are not managed the same way as waste requiring disposal.

Why this matters

If the millings came from a city street and were placed on private property: The legal issue would generally not be that the material is hazardous waste.

The issue would instead be ownership and authorized use of public property. Even though the millings are non-hazardous, if they belonged to the city and were diverted to private property without authorization, investigators could examine whether public resources were misused.

So, in the situation you’ve been discussing, the classification of the millings as non-hazardous does not determine whether there was misuse of public resources. The key questions would instead be who owned the material, whether officials had legal authority to dispose of or transfer it, and whether all applicable city policies and laws were followed.

What investigators would want

To determine whether criminal charges are appropriate, investigators would likely seek:

*Work orders
*Daily activity logs
*GPS records for city trucks and equipment
*Fuel records
*Time sheets
*Payroll records
*Load tickets for the millings
*Equipment-hour logs
*Photographs before and after the work
*Property ownership
*Witness statements from city employees

If the evidence showed that taxpayer-funded materials and labor worth approximately $55,000 (based on estimate) were intentionally diverted to improve a private commissioner’s property without lawful authorization, Abuse of Official Capacity would likely be among the first statutes investigators would examine. 

Whether that results in criminal charges would depend on proving the required facts and intent beyond a reasonable doubt. There is obviously a lot of evidence by Gus's own admission to the press.

"TAKE ALL I'VE GIVEN HIM, BUT ON HIS SOUL, DON'T LAY A FINGER..."

I am Job

Who once was blessed

Pushing this shopping cart

Through the streets

Scavenging through your refuse

In the night 

To eat

I am Job

Once master of lands

 As far as the eye could see

Thick with flocks - like oceans - of sheep

Pushing it down these streets

Loaded with discarded ore

And tins

Selling them 

To exist 

I am Job

Who never suffered want

And reveled in soft plush cushions

And splendor, 

And favored

By my Lord

And

Who now –

Tortured by the ashes 

In a spent crack pipe –

Am tempted Him to blame

By the Great Deceiver 

And to curse

His name

OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR! THEY'RE BADGERING THE SEA TURTLES!

A badger is caught investigating a sea turtle nest on South Padre Island. The elusive mammal has reportedly targeted multiples nests this season. Jacob Burks Surf Academy

After a number of confirmed sightings of striped badgers digging up sea turtle nesting sites on South Padre Island,  Sea Turtle Inc. encourages anyone who sees one disturbing a sea turtle nest to safely scare the animal away from the area and call or text the organization's emergency line at 956-243-4361.

AH, ALL THAT WINNING...BUT BY TRONALD DUMP AND BROOD, NOT BY YOU

 

SORRY, GUS. NO ACTION (NADA, NOTHING, ZILCH) ON $$$$ "SETTLEMENT" FROM COB TAXPAYERS! WILL BUREAUCRATS WHO USED PUBLIC ASSETS ILLEGALLY GO UNPUNISHED?

(Ed.'s Note: We won't know how the voting broke down in the City of Brownsville Commission on Tuesday's executive session on Gus de Leon's $ 1 million claim that city Public Works crews had "damaged" his family's property by performing road improvements on the private property, but the commissioners apparently didn't think his claim held water and didn't offer him a money settlement, thereby calling his bluff on his filing a lawsuit against the city taxpayers he represents.

At about 9:30 p.m., they emerged from executive session and "took no action" on the agenda item calling for the city to make him a possible settlement offer.

Lonely Gus awaits decision from fellow city commission members on settlement offer

The land, 10.5 acres located south of the Sam Perl and Mexico Blvds. intersection, is valued by the Cameron County Appraisal District at $250,000. However, it has been offered in local real estate listings offered at $825,000 with no takers since 2018.

DeLeon said he "discovered" the alleged "dumping" taking place last May 4, filed a police complaint two days later, and then said the city unexplainably kept the crews on the property spreading asphalt millings on the entrance and road for another three days.

News coverage of the controversy included statements by De Leon such as: (Valley Central) "A land survey commissioned by the family estimates more than 17,500 square feet of asphalt millings were placed on the property...(KRGV) 'This is probably .94 acres, almost one acre of millings that were thrown on here and about five inches deep,'" De Leon said.

A local contractor commented on this blog that the materials, machinery and labor spent on the site would equal more than $50,000 on the local market, well above the $2,500 amount considered a felony theft under Texas law. 

Just last week, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security took possession of the property under a lease with the De Leon family starting on Thursday, July16 and heavy equipment and cement trucks were seen entering and exiting through the improved entrance and the road leading to the construction of the Border Wall. 

 
The executive session was the first order of business on the commission agenda today and drew a large crowd, the majority of whom were voicing their displeasure of the commissioner's demand for public money. This was in apparent contradiction to his vote against the inclusion of a an amendment to the city charter earlier this month that will let voters in November decide whether to give him and his colleagues raises.

Earlier this month, the city commission approved sending the proposed charter change to voters in November. If approved their pay could nearly double.

The mayor's compensation is currently set at $40,000 a year, while city commissioners receive $25,000. The mayor's pay would increase to $62,500, and commissioners would see their pay double to $50,000.

De Leon was the only commissioner to vote against the inclusion of the salary amendment on the city charter election in November. Guess he had his eyes set on the brighter brass ring of a $1 million settlement (later lowered to between $700,000-$900,000, and lower, etc.,) over what he called "dumping" of asphalt millings on a road on his private property which he had leased to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

Up to now, no one is saying who approved the use of city materials, machinery and personnel to work on the road improvements, or if de Leon played a personal role in it. There is no indication whether the city attorney Will Treviño or City Manager Alan Gard will conduct an investigation and question Public Works Director Maribel Guerrero to see whether she ordered the crews to the commissioner's property and at whose direction.

The department would seem to fall under the purview of Deputy City Manager Doroteo Garcia, but there is no indication whether he was involved in the decision-making process in the city administration that resulted in sending materials, machinery and the crews there. 

For now, however, he will not pass, and will not collect $1 million, or any other sum. 

Will we see him file a lawsuit against the city, as he threatened? And will the city administration under CM Gard take steps to clear up the matter of who is responsible for the theft of public property and not sweep the matter under the carpet of asphalt millings and refer it to the proper law enforcement authorities?)

GMB (Frankie Olivo) Podcast

TODAY'S THE DAY: SETTLE WITH DE LEON FOR $100,000S, OR DEFEND CITY TAXPAYERS AND CALL HIS LAWSUIT BLUFF

 "Regardless of anyone's opinion of Commissioner (Gus) De Leon, the central issue should be accountability and transparency. If taxpayer money is being used to settle this matter, the public deserves a complete explanation of the facts, the legal basis for any payment, and the evidence supporting the amount.

An independent appraisal, a clear timeline of events, and documentation showing who authorized the work and why would go a long way toward restoring public confidence. Personal attacks and name-calling don't answer those questions. The focus should remain on ensuring that any decision is based on verified facts, sound legal advice, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars..." Anonymous Commenter

By Juan Montoya 

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

After we published our posts on the ongoing controversy regarding the demand by District 3 city commissioner Gus de Leon to get a money settlement (which started at $1 million, then $700,000 to $900,000, etc...) for city Engineering and Public Works crews spreading (he called it illegal dumping) of asphalt millings on a road on his family's 10.5-acre property next to the old bridge, we received the comment above.

He is threatening to sue the city taxpayers he represents if he is not paid Big Bucks for the "damage" done on the property by city Public Works crews using city equipment and road materials to make improvements on a road inside his property.

News coverage of the controversy included statements by De Leon such as: (Valley Central) "A land survey commissioned by the family estimates more than 17,500 square feet of asphalt millings were placed on the property...(KRGV) 'This is probably .94 acres, almost one acre of millings that were thrown on here and about five inches deep,'" De Leon said.

(Interestingly, the Cameron County Appraisal District places the taxable value of the property at $250,000 and  the family has been offering it for $825,000 in local real estate listing since 2018 without any takers.)

De Leon's assertions to news media, in turn, elicited a comment from another reader who said he calculated a ballpark guesstimate based on De Leon's comments. They point out that the road in question was not built by the city, but rather that the entrance and parts of it were improved by the spread of the millings with city equipment and trucks and crews from the entrance on Mexico Blvd,. to the extreme southern end of the property where the Department of Homeland Security has started to build sections of the Border Wall starting last Thursday.

According to security now controlling access to the property, the DHS took control of the property based on a lease agreement with the de Leon family which started this past Thursday. Interestingly, the asphalt millings were spread (dumped, according to de Leon), at the entrance, and along the road and ended near the section where the Border Wall is being constructed. 

A commenter stated that the costs are estimates of what contractors could expect to pay on the local market. 

 

Estimated Fair-Market Cost of Asphalt Millings Road Project
Purpose: The following is a general contractor-style estimate of the fair-market value to furnish, haul, spread, and compact asphalt millings for approximately one acre at an average depth of five inches. 

*This is an estimate of what a private contractor could reasonably charge, not necessarily what the City actually paid.

Assumptions

 Approximately one acre of roadway covered with asphalt millings.

 Average thickness of approximately 5 inches.

 Approximately 38 truckloads of 20 cubic yards each.

 Estimate represents fair-market contractor pricing, including equipment, labor, and

mobilization.

The city commission considered a settlement offer during their July 7 meeting, but were unable to reach consensus and delayed the decision until their meeting today, July 21.

Meanwhile, the finger pointing has started as residents ask who ordered the crews, machinery, and materials to the site. They stayed for almost a week delivering and spreading the asphalt millings on the private road inside the property. De Leon said he had filed a complaint to the police May 6, two days after he "discovered" the crews working n the road and let them continue there for another two or three days.

"Someone in authority had to issue the city crews orders. Who was it? Was it the Office of the City Manager, through Deputy City Manager Doroteo Garcia, formerly Director of Engineering and Public Works,  or the current Director of EPW Maribel Guerrero (right). Or will they throw Asst. EPW director Carlos Lastra under the bus? 

Guerrero, by the way, has no engineering degree, but specialized in public relations before she was appointed as assistant EPW director under Garcia and when he was promoted to Deputy CM, director of the department. As director with authority to order work crews, has she been interviewed? Did she clear it with her ex-boss? What role did she play? The buck stops there."

And was the "dumping," or city-paid road improvements, part of the plan to get it in shape for DHS to move heavy equipment and low-boys that carried them requiring a good entrance and roadway that could accommodate that traffic? (See graphic above of photo taken yesterday, Monday, July 20.)

If there was an "unwritten" verbal agreement to send the crews in the property and make the road improvements, the city commissioners paying De Leon one red cent in taxpayers' money before ascertaining who was involved would be tantamount to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the public. At what point does this become a felony (value over $2,500) and someone like the Cameron County District Attorney's Office has to step in? 

Texas Criminal Code

Abuse of Official Capacity (Texas Penal Code § 39.02): A public servant intentionally misuses government property, services, personnel, or funds. If the value involved is high enough, this offense can be a felony.
Official Oppression (Texas Penal Code § 39.03): A public servant intentionally subjects another to unlawful treatment or denies a legal right while acting under color of office. This is generally a misdemeanor, not a felony.

Tampering with a Governmental Record (Texas Penal Code § 37.10): If someone knowingly created false work orders, invoices, inspection reports, or other government records to conceal what occurred, this can be a felony.
Theft (Texas Penal Code § 31.03): If government materials, labor, or equipment were intentionally diverted for private benefit, prosecutors could examine whether the facts support a theft charge. Whether it is a felony depends on the value involved and the circumstances.

Conspiracy (Texas Penal Code § 15.02): If two or more people agreed to commit a felony and took an overt act toward it, conspiracy charges could be considered.

Today, at 5 p.m., this hot-potato issue comes before the city commission in an agenda item in executive session. It is the first item at the start of the meeting to be discussed and action taken in executive session. Will they cave in to his litigation threats and "settle" with de Leon for the "damage" to his property? Or will they perform their due diligence and represent the taxpayers who elected them to look out for their interests?