HIZZONER BACKS OFF $1 A YEAR RENT DEAL WITH FIL JR.

(For those who scoff at the idea that Mayor Tony Martinez and behind-the-scenes conniver Carlos Marin were trying to finagle a $1 a year rental agreement for incoming District 34 congressman Fil Vela Jr., witnesses at the meeting indicate that as late as a few minutes before the meeting, Marin was feeling out the commissioners to see if the lead balloon would fly. He found out that it would not and the mayor abandoned the idea. This, as future posts will show, is not the the first time, nor will it be the last, that local taxpayers will be asked to finance the secret deals made by Martinez, Marin and his ilk. Stay tuned.)

By Juan Montoya
City Hall insiders say that Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez – fresh from his taxpayer-funded China jaunt with the BEDC's Jason Hilts – will back off from pushing for the sweetheart $1 a year rental deal that he was said to be pushing for newly-elected congressman Filemon Vela Jr. at tonight's city commission meeting.
The commissioners will discuss the rental agreement in executive session and emerge from behind closed doors to take action on the matter. But while insiders say that Martinez thought he could browbeat the rest of the herd into accepting his generous terms to Fil Jr., the tempest generated when bloggers divulged his proposal for a $1 a year rental agreement with the new congressman, the political will wasn't there to pull it off.
"The majority vote isn't there for Tony to give away the store," said a City Hall watcher. "If no one had heard about ti, he might have pulled it off. As it is, people are wondering how he managed to use city workers and city resources to start remodeling the offices on the second floor of the Municipal Court on Levee without a contract in place. He's backing off from that now."
Another deal that won't go through tonight will be the vote on the $13.056 million issuance of Certificates of Obligation that will have to be tabled due to last-minute changes between the first and second reading scheduled for tonight. Insiders say that City Finance Director Pete Gonzales will ask the commission to table the second reading until the required notice and advertisements are done to address the changes in the issuance.
That means that Abraham Golansky, the owner of the Case del Nylon on 1304 E. Madison and the adjacent lot at 655 E. 14th Street, will have to wait for at least another week for the second reading where the commission will approve the disbursal of the $2.3 million sale tag for the downtown properties.
"I guess Abraham is going to recoup the losses he had when the stock market crashed," quipped a local wag. "He is going to make up his losses thanks to the generosity of his friend Tony and the taxpayers of Brownsville."
Not only is the city acquiring a property that many feel is priced way beyond the market value, but they also point out that the upkeep and maintenance on the old buildings will also be a drain on the city budget.
"Those old buildings are heard to maintain," said a real estate broker. "Unless the city wants to buy them to lure the university into staying downtown, this doesn't seem to make much sense."
Included in the CO issuance that will be delayed until Dec. 11 meeting is included the $431,000 price tag for the Old Texas National Guard Armory Building, also said to be another of the properties that Martinez will try to use to get the University of Texas System to remain in the downtown area.
The list of the projects in the CO issuance are as follows:
Two million will go toward the city's share of the Westrail Relocation Project but will have to wait until a revised Inter-local Agreement between the city, Cameron County is adopted by both taxing entity that will include the city's 50-50 participation in the construction of the Flor De Mayo Bridge and other future bridges to be constructed within the city limits of Brownsville.
Another $3 million will go toward the local share of constructing a Texas Safe Shelter at the Main Library in case of hurricanes or other natural calamities, $1.1 million will go toward the city's share of constructing a hangar facility at the city airport, and $3 million will go toward streets, sidewalks, and bicycle trails.
The city's Brownsville Metro (BUS) maintenance yard building will get a much-needed upgrade with $625,000 and another $600,000 will be the local share of the construction of a Texas Safe Shelter at the Sports Park or other city location.
Of the total, $11.956 million are tax exempt, while $1.1 million for the airport hangar project is not.