CITIZENS QUESTION SOSSI'S GRAVY TRAIN

By Juan Montoya
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall..." T.S. Eliot - The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

For City of Brownsville contract attorney Mark E. Sossi – accustomed as he is to scorch anyone who would dare sue the city and pin him under a legal microscope – it probably seems that in the last week or two his world has been turned upside down.
Now, apparently, it is he who is under close scrutiny.
As he guides the USS Brownsville through the shoals with his defense of a massage parlor ordinance, the certificate of obligation issue(s), and a blackout of public comments on the city's television channel, it's his turn to draw his share of flack.
The latest was a letter presented to all the city commissioners and the city manger questioning payments issued to him by the city.
In a letter dated August 25, 2010, and addressed to City Manager Charlie Cabler, Argelia Miller takes issue with the amount of money that the city has paid Sossi over the course of the year.
Miller writes that in the Brownsville Herald, 8-24-10 , you (Cabler) "state that Mr. Sossi is paid $120,000 per year. If we divide $ 120.000.00 by 52 weeks that would make it $2,307.69 per week."
She then goes on to review the city's check register and charges that there appear to be overpayments of money to Sossi.
If the figure is correct, the checks, made payable to Sossi's Good Government Firm, would average a weekly amount of $2,307.69 per week.
"For 27 weeks from 01-07-10 to 07-29-10 he is paid $2,307.69 weekly," Miller states. "However, on some weeks he is paid twice the amount of $2,307.69, and some times a much larger amount on a weekly basis as indicated below:

Check No. Date Payee Amount
214059 03-25-10 The Good Government Firm $2,307.69
214060 03-25-10 The Good Government Firm $2,307.69
Two checks for the same date (same week)in the amount of $2,307.69

214556 04-15-10 The Good Government Firm $2,307.69
214578 04-16-10 The Good Government Firm $2,307.69
Two checks for the same week, one day apart, both in the amount of $2,307.69
In addition to the apparent over payment above, the following large amounts were recorded in the check register:
Check No. Date Payee Amount
213471 03-4-10 The Good Government Firm $7,017.69
One weeks pay? Should have been $2,307.69 as per contract.

214938 04-29-19 The Good Government Firm $5,997.69
One weeks pay? Should have been $2,307.69 as per contract.

215746 05-27-10 The Good Government Firm $4,857.69
One weeks pay? Should have been $2,307.69 as per contract.

216676 07-08-10 The Good Government Firm $6,042. 69
One weeks pay? Should have been $2,307.69 as per contract.
On one occasion a check was made out to Mark Sossi. Why not the law firm?

216161 06-17-10 Mark Sossi $457.75

Then Miller repeated a story getting told more often relating to Sossi's strange relationship with the law firm of Willette and Guerra. Willette and Guerra brought a lawsuit against Sossi in 2002 that ended in a settlement in favor of the law firm and against Sossi in 2004 in the sum of $167, 363.00.
Sossi then was an employee of Willette and Guerra and the law firm charged he kept money that belonged to the law firm. The court documents filed by the firm indicate he took money from the firm. The settlement was still on record as of 03-09-2009.
In 2010, contracts to Willette and Guerra by the city have been in excess of $37,000.00. It seems odd, Miller continues, "that some one who filed a law suit against you and still has a judgment against you, would now be receiving favorable treatment in obtaining contracts with the City of Brownsville. Is this odd or a good way to reduce what you owe? We are going to ask under the Freedom of Information Act, for information on how much was paid to Willette and Guerra in 2009," Miller wrote Cabler.
Miller also disclosed that Sossi also had a Texas State Lien against him for failure to pay the Texas Workforce Commission Unemployment taxes. It was recorded in 10-10-05 .
Furthermore, she said that Sossi had just settled a Federal Tax Lien on 02-10-10 for $20,711. 66.
"While you state that he is being paid $120,000.00 per year , the Check Register clearly indicates that he is being paid at a much higher rate. As of July 2010 he has been paid more than $19,000. 00 above the rate of $120,000.00 per year," Miller wrote.
"Is this the best that the City of Brownsville can do in hiring a City Attorney?" her letter asks. "If the over payments are correct, it appears that no one is reviewing the checks issued by the City to assure the payments are valid," he said.
(During Tuesday's meeting, Sossi defended the payments and said they were legitimate according to the terms of his contract. A request for a copy of the contract has been on file with the City Secretary's office for at least a week now, and has not been produced. Staff at the office say the appropriate department(?) has not delivered a copy to the secretary's office.)
"Sossi is livid that the letter was handed to all the city commissioners and the city manager," said a witness who was at the Tuesday meeting. "He's probably looking for someone to sue."