ARE JESSICA'S DOMESTIC WOES CONTINUING AND IS MELISSA FACING A RECALL?

By Juan Montoya

Much has been made of the four-woman presence on the city of Brownsville Commission as being a "historical" event, but scant months after the seating of the new romp commission, indications are that it could also be the first council to implode before its time.
We were told in no uncertain terms this weekend at the El Mercadito fest that Brownsville Cheezmeh, a group that supported the candidacy of Melissa Zamora, will now devote its frenzied energies toward launcing a recall against her.
"I ran into a Brownsville Cheezmeh Black Shirt at El Mercadito Fiesta and she told me that the organization will announce formally within a few days that they are launching a recall drive against City Commissioner Melissa 'La Malinche' Zamora," a source told a local blogger.
"Brownsville Cheezemeh is convinced that she is for sale. You take care of her and she'll take care of you," said the writer.
Many are suspicious that her service to the community may be tainted by the fact that she is renting her home from (Mayor Tony) Martinez's wife. And they point to the recent announcement by the mayor that she would be the point person in the advertising promotion that the city was launching in support of AeroMexico.
Gilbert Salinas, the public relations officer for the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) said that Zamora would be helping BEDC with the promotional campaign on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande.
While neither the city nor BEDC will say specifically what her duties will be or what renumeration will be paid her or the marketing company she works for (Elite Promotions), Zamora has claimed that she is doing it all for free. Callers to Elite Promotions were told that "Melissa is in charge of the AeroMexico account."
Even though Zamora denies any impropriety, she should know better than to get involved in anything that gives even the apearance something is shady.
On Oct. 3, 2009, she told the Brownsville Herald that she was terminating a contract she had with a vendor doing business with the city..
"Zamora, who had provided HNTB Corp. with public relations work, said that she ended a consulting contract with the firm because, '"I do not need the appearance of impropriety — when I’ve done nothing of the sort — nor does HNTB and the city. I’ve terminated the contract, and I take full responsibility if anyone was offended by my brief contract.'"
A Kansas City-based nationwide architectural, engineering, and planning firm with offices in Brownsville, HNTB has been providing the city with engineering services on projects at the city’s Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport since before the time that Zamora was elected to the City Commission in June.
HNTB also engineered the Brownsville Sports Park and is in charge of engineering for the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, which is working on numerous city projects including the West Rail Relocation Project, the West Loop project, now known as the West Parkway Project and other developments.
Zamora, formerly communications director for the South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, noted that she has worked in the media, publishing and public relations fields for more than 15 years.
Zamora said that she signed a contract with HNTB to provide it with media relations work, such as press releases, from Aug. 10 through Nov. 30.
The contract called for no more than 100 hours of work. "I’ve submitted one invoice for $1,400 of which I’ve not been compensated for, yet," Zamora said" at the time.
And to add to the woes of the new Martinez administration, now rumors are swirling that the much-publicized domestic woes between new commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa prior to her election are continuing.
Sources close to the Brownsville Police Department indicate that last week the second such incident since her becoming a city commissioner place. They said that one such incident happened only two weeks into her term, and that the other (said to have been witnessed by her neighbors at her new home on Greenfield Dr.) resulted in a male being taken into custody by the police.
In the first incident, sources indicate that the commissioner refused to press charges. In regards to more recent one, no records seem to exist that anyone was arrested, and there is no arraignment information available.
"All the neighborhood came out to see what was happening and two police cars responded," said our source. "People heard the couple arguing and fighting over missing money from her car-wash business."
If the incidents did occur and no records has been made available (there's already someone filing an information request), it could point to city officials trying to keep a lid on the controversy. However, with the many Facebook postings the commissioner herself has made detailing problems with her mate, much of the damage seems to land on her own doorstep.
"She is, if anything, very indiscreet," said a follower of local city politics. "She has been told more than one time by her Facebook readers not to air her dirty laundry in public. This has got to be embarrassing to Martinez."