What is the difference between the acts of San Benito Mayor Joe Hernandez and Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez?
Besides the size of their cities, one would have to say that there isn't much difference. Both are mayors of a Cameron County city. Both have to live under thye rules of their municipality. And both ostensibly have the best interest of their cities in mind.
Yet, when the San Bene mayor attempts to revise an ordinance that will allow him to sell raspas (Noe's Snow Wiz) in the property where his barber shop is located, he also participates in the discussion presenting a clear conflict of interest. That, we could agree, is a bad thing to do. It's not earthshaking, mind you. But he really should have known better. It took nothing from the public treasury. It's not going to make him a wealthy man. It was just stupid bad.Now take the case of our learned attorney Martinez over at Browntown. During a jaunt to Orlando, Fla., he casually sings an "agreement" accepting the "award" of a three-year commitment from a banner salesman under the guise of fomenting the revitalization and rehabilitation of the city's downtown.
Nothing bad with that, is it? After all, Brownsvillians have been talking about doing just that forever and ever. But how much an advertising banner will help to revitalize and infuse the economic forces of the city is to be debated.
According to the sales pitch from David McCarthy, the self- proclaimed back-up quarterback Super Bowl ring recipient with the Oakland Raiders who persuaded Martinez to sing the agreement in Orlando before he even returned home to consult with his city commission, the banners (at a hefty price tag) would show local business people's pride in their city.All, of course, at no cost to the city.
However, before he signed the three-year agreement, Martinez should have realized that as a lone elected official, he could not encumber the city or its utility (PUB) to provide the Community Showcase Banner firm with access to its utility poles and encumber it to their maintenance. Of course, the city would be bound to replace torn banners, provide the fixtures like braces and the like, and generally make sure they didn't end up being an eyesore.
Martinez apparently forgot that there is a purchasing process, a method of Requesting For Proposals from vendors, and a whole departmental vetting process before anyone can do business with the city. Then there's that small matter of getting the approval of the city commission for the enterprise. After all, there are seven other voices on the council that may have had questions on the propriety of the mayor committing the city and PUB to the McCarthy deal.
In the case of San Benito, the city's attorney probably went to the Cameron County District Attorney and eventually the case ended with a grand jury true-billing him for the alleged offense over the snow cone stand.
Martinez, on the other hand, appears to have been in cahoots with our city attorney – Mark Sossi – the city's architect of our elusive code of ethics. It appears that the buxom babe who was on the sales tag team with McCarthy when they enticed local businesses to take the bait was a chum of Mark's.
So to expect our city attorney to seek the assistance of the DA's office or to assemble a grand jury to determine (not whether the mayor sought to change the rules) whether Martinez simply ignored them would seem farfetched at the minimum.
So, we come back to the original question.
What's the difference between the mayor of San Benito with his Raspagate and Brownsville's with his Bannergate?
Apparently, in San Bene they're sticklers for the laws and in Browntown we simply ignore them.
6 comments:
Tony Martinez should be quicker out of his mayorship and Sossi should be disbarred.
If, as you say, it is true that the San Bene City Attorney went to the DA to speak on behalf of the mayor, then he is in violation of his duty as City attorney. He can not represent the mayor in a private criminal matter, and has no business doing so.
There is no doubt in my mind that the charges against the mayor of San Benito will be thrown out. Not because they are not valid, but because of the compadre corruption network that contaminates our judiciary. Amazingly, one charge of the mayor's indictment involves tampering with evidence of a corpse, not what the citizen's complaint alleged. Since there is no corpse involved, that charge will likely be dismissed as defective. Is this how incompetent our DA's office is, or is this simply a calculated flaw designed to make the judge the bad guy in dismissing the charge while the DA saves face by appearing willing to prosecute?
I have a theory. The lead prosecutor in the 445th District Court is San Benito native Maria DeFord, a supporter of Luis Saenz, and a rumored relative of the mayor's best friend and partner in crime. Prior to DeFord's elimination from the DA's race, the mayor and his compadres supported DeFord. There has also been a rumor in San Benito that after DeFord's departure from the DA's race, her alleged relative and mayor's BFF, told at least one member of the community that Saenz would not prosecute the mayor if he's elected. Assuming this is true, you ask, how is it possible to get the complaint from the grand jury to the one prosecutor who might be able to help?
As we have learned since the Limas indictment, certain cases are able to miraculously make it to certain courts, as they are assigned by the District Clerk's office. It has been rumored that THE District Clerk herself personally enlisted Saenz for help with spinning the recent misappropriated funds debacle committed by an employee of the DC's office and step-daughter of an Assistant DA, before the crime became public knowledge. There was ample time between when the funds went missing and should have been discovered and when the crime was actually reported for someone to attempt a cover up. Could the assignment of the case against the San Benito mayor to a court with a favorable prosecutor be repayment of a favor?
You bet it could! One thing we have learned in Cameron County since the Federales came to town is that the network of compadrismo reaches all levels of our judiciary. And with our currently indicted DA, who is also a San Benito native, it is widely accepted that DeFord is currently running the DA’s office while Villalobos concentrates all his time and resources on his defense. It is also why Saenz’ opponent in the race for DA, Chuck Mattingly, was so shamelessly and publicly dismissed from the DA’s office just prior to the election, and how Saenz was able to run an advertisement within hours of Mattingly receiving notification.
My response to El Rrun Rrun’s comparative analysis between the San Benito mayor and the situation in Brownsville, is a microcosm of what is wrong with our county. Us little people will never know justice; we will never rid our city’s governments of the corrupted ones that work for only themselves and not us, until we break the hold of the small minority like Saenz who, not only refuses to prosecute, but enables and encourages these blatant acts against our laws and us as citizens.
It was about time that Joe Hernandez got jacked up and Indicted!!! His strong arm tactics and brainless education is what got him into trouble!!! Oye pendejo Joe, remember Korri Marra??? She got convicted by a jury o her peers on the same type of allegation!!! Even her flirtatious nature could not keep her from being convicted!!! Be ready to be found guilty and get thrown out of office again!!!
la diferencia entre la raspagate y el bannergate me extrana mr montoya pues es la "buxom babe"
It will be interesting to see what Luis Saenz does with the Joe Hernandez gang...the whole City Hall gang were his big time supporters. Since Joe's trial will start after Luis takes office, it will become interesting indeed.
Hopefully Luis is smarter than that and knows that the FBI will be watching his every move. The RaspaGate is just the tip of the iceberg in San Bennie. There is MUCHO MAS!
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