By Jim Barton
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Mayor Martinez has made the drafting of a new ethics code for the City of Brownsville a priority in his administration, even mentioning it at the TSC/UTB Mayoral Candidates Forum back in April. 
Much to the chagrin of knowledgeable citizens, 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 h
aving 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.
Brownsvillians saw the irony in some of the players who will help draft this code. The loquacious, but brutally honest Oso Duval de Bourbon was quoted: "having Cabler and Sossi on an ethics board is like having the the Corleone family on a crime commission or having Motley Crue on a drug prevention board."
I'm not certain what Oso was referencing but perhaps in Sossi's case it was the hiring of his former law firm to represent Brownsville. Some bloggers insinuated this was to help pay back some indebtedness he had incurred to his previous employer.
In any event, if this occurred, it was a clear violation of two tenets of the ASPA model code: 1. Not engaging the city in business with a former employer. 2. Not engaging the city with a entity to which you have incurred indebtedness.
My personal belief is that a public comment noting the above ethics violations by Sossi triggered his recommendation on 8/3/10 that the broadcast of such comments cease.
Brownsville city government's last ethics code expired in 2006. Even more surprising is that the City Charter seems to contain no language for the punishment of ethics violations. So it seems there is some work to do to at least protect on paper the taxpayers from blatant conflicts of interest practiced by city officials.
Much to the chagrin of knowledgeable citizens, 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 h
aving 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.
Brownsvillians saw the irony in some of the players who will help draft this code. The loquacious, but brutally honest Oso Duval de Bourbon was quoted: "having Cabler and Sossi on an ethics board is like having the the Corleone family on a crime commission or having Motley Crue on a drug prevention board."
I'm not certain what Oso was referencing but perhaps in Sossi's case it was the hiring of his former law firm to represent Brownsville. Some bloggers insinuated this was to help pay back some indebtedness he had incurred to his previous employer.
In any event, if this occurred, it was a clear violation of two tenets of the ASPA model code: 1. Not engaging the city in business with a former employer. 2. Not engaging the city with a entity to which you have incurred indebtedness.
My personal belief is that a public comment noting the above ethics violations by Sossi triggered his recommendation on 8/3/10 that the broadcast of such comments cease.
Brownsville city government's last ethics code expired in 2006. Even more surprising is that the City Charter seems to contain no language for the punishment of ethics violations. So it seems there is some work to do to at least protect on paper the taxpayers from blatant conflicts of interest practiced by city officials.
4 comments:
Having a ethic Ordinace is good for the city of Brownsville, abiding by the document is something else.
Editor. BITCH, COMPLAIN and WHINE. IS that all you ever do? You complained about Mayor Ahumada. You now complain about Mayor Martinez. Why not try to write something positive? Oh I forgot. Attacking all institutions is part of your job of yellow journalism.
Institutions deserve to be attacked when they run our government like a circus of morons. Brace yourself, Jim has been given the gift of this Commission, with their neverending goofs, gaffes and tax hikes to blog about
Having an "ethical" code is great, but using city officials, especially the city attorney and city manager to draft it is like putting the "fox in the henhouse" to review egg production. Sossi was on the Charter Review Committee and clearly demonstrated that he has loyalties that don't include the citizens. Cable is an ex-cop who doesn't even know what "ethical conduct" means. Time to turn to some real public servants and volunteers to develop and "non-partisan" code for the city.
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