IN REMEMBERANCE OF AHUMADA'S YEARS IN OFFICE

By Juan Montoya
When he beat Ernie Hernandez for mayor in 2007, the voters of Brownsville gave Pat Ahumada as clear a mandate as any mayor had received.
With a majority of his supporters on the commission, he could have quickly set the agenda for a successful four-year term.
Instead, and it would take Pat to tell us why, he set about to erode his stock by alienating and dividing his apparent majority bloc.
When he most needed the majority to support him in his correct stand against the construction of the Border Wall, he went at it alone amidst complaints from other commissioners that he was keeping them in the dark. His support for the weir to act as a deterrent against illegal immigration and at the same time provide the impetus for the realization of the dream of a Brownsville River Walk died on the vine when he couldn't get the support of the other commissioners.
In time, the others refused to join him to support the Border Coalition in their lawsuit against the federal government. His campaign stalwart, Charlie Atkinson, made the rupture very public and enlivened the city commission meetings.
Then, irritated that people like Fernando Ruiz, Robert Uresti, Roman Perez, Alex Resendez, Dagoberto Barrera, et al, would dare question his motives and the motives of others on the commission, he looked kindly on the recommendation of city contract attorney Mark Sossi (at $120,000 a year) that the public comment section of the meetings not be broadcast, ostensibly to protect the city from liability in potential defamation actions.
The rest of the city commissioners went along as well and now, unlike the city, college, port, and PUB, the meddlesome critics were gagged. While some commissioners (and former commissioners) now say they can live with the broadcast of their critics, the Ahumada gag remains nonetheless.
Then, when critics denounced the city for trying to issue $11 million in certificates of obligation for city projects, they again turned to Sossi (who in turn turned to the law firm of Willete and Guerra) to counter their dissent.
The firm recommended, and the city commissioners supported, a lawsuit by the city against all the residents of Brownsville.
At the time, Ahumada said the lawsuit against the residents was a mere "technicality."
If that wasn't nasty enough, the commissioners then passed the ban of plastic bags as a "green" effort to keep the bags from littering the landscape, strangling endangered fauna, and clogging up the ditches. It is axiomatic of this border burg to see people carrying their reusable plastic bags to the supermarkets or walk out of them with armfuls of groceries cursing in disgust at the rule.
Throw in the scandal involving his deposit in his personal account of a $26,000 check made out to a city vendor of which he was cleared by a jury, and his political future was sealed.
All this, as well as Ahumada's passion for stray animals, was fodder for his critics at the last election where he drew a paltry 9 percent of the vote.
Forgotten was Ahumada's stand on the PUB impact fees that increased the fees paid by developers for lot from less than $300 to more than $3,000. Three studies at a cost close to $750,000 recommended that the fees paid by developers be pegged at closer to $4,0000, but a gun-shy majority on the commission would only go for the $3,000 compromise.
No other mayor or city commissioner had gone out on that politically-dangerous limb and incurred the displeasure of local developers like N.O. Simmons, Bill Hudson, Renato Cardenas and Sons, etc.,
For that, and for that alone, for lessening the burden of the city utility ratepayer of this developer subsidy, Ahumada's term in office should be considered a success.