MARTINEZ, MARIN UNITED BEHIND TWO OF "THE WOMEN"

By Juan Montoya
By now it's no secret that Hizzonner Tony Martinez has a huge stake in whoever gets elected to the District 3 and at-large position of the city commission.
He has made no secret that if he had his druthers he's have Rose Gowen elected to the at-large position, Deborah Portillo to the District 3 and – once assured a friendly majority – would flip a coin on the District 4 race between John Villarreal and Letty Perez-Garzoria.
The latest clues to emerge on the mayor's disposition toward the upcoming race come from a variety of sources. To anyone who has driven around town and noticed the campaign signs being put up for Portillo and Gowen, not only do they have similar color shades, but people have actually seen the same sign-erecting teams putting them up at the same time.
 hat makes perfect sense to those who have seen the evolution of the two women's professional careers. Gowen is a practicing physician at Su Clinica Familiar which is managed by Dr. Elena Marin, wife of Machiavellian Carlos Marin, who translated a city plan into a $1 million payoff through his contacts with former Brownsville Mayor Eddie Treviño.
She, also, is a board member of United Brownsville, this city's shadow government fashioned by Marin and Co.
As the mover and shaker behind United Brownsville – the metamorphosis of Imagine Brownsville, the initial boondoggle – Marin
has ridden roughshod over representative government and has manipulated the plan to get at least eight public-funded entities to fund the shadow government. None other than IBC President Fred Rusteberg and UTB-TSC President Juliet Garcia have teamed up with United Brownsville to virtually control the people's representation on the city commission.
Portillo, until she left it to go into her own jewelry business at Sunrise Mall, used to be the executive secretary for United Brownsville for the better part of two years and enjoyed the largess of the poor citizens of Brownsville without any accountability to anyone bu the United Brownsville bunch. Martinez, by the way, unlike former Mayor Pat Ahumada which United Brownsville honchos didn't like, is a member of the shadow government's board of directors.
Now, as Martinez seeks to consolidate his grip on the reins of the city government during this May elections, it is obvious that he would rather have Debby there than he would any of her three opponents Martin Sarkis, Rosalio Rosales or David Belleperche.
But what new surprises does Martinez have in store for the electorate which he has already indebted in the millions with him and the sitting commission issuing Certificates of Obligation as if there were no tomorrow? The deal between Tenaska, the PUB and the City of Brownsville is perhaps one indication of where Tony wants to take the city.
In that deal, Martinez and the PUB board (he sits as an ex oficio member and votes to elect its members) have basically put the utility into hock in a harebrained scheme to get the utility into the cutthroat power generating business.
No sooner had they accomplished that than the Fitch Ratings service changed the outlook on $445 million in PUB bonds from "stable" to "negative." Goodbye investors. Now if Tenaska decides that the deal is not worth getting into and it pulls out, the PUB and the city is left holding the bag.
Well, now, the thinking goes. If that happens, then perhaps the people of Brownsville might be more partial to consider privatizing the utility and run it like a business. Yeah! That's the ticket.
From what we hear, that's why Martinez needs Portillo on board to solidify his control on the commission so he can at least fly float the privatization balloon. With a firm grip on the commission, he can kill two birds with one stone. He can privatize the PUB and then move for a majority to promote Su Clinica Familiar, director of Su Clinica Familiar's Operations and Development department to either the PUB helm or to oust City Manager Charlie Cabler.
"That's why Martinez wants a solid majority here," said a city political observer. "With Garcia's mother one of the legs on the United Brownsville stool and Gowen working under Marin, the result of the incest would be complete control at the expense of the residents of Brownsville. Anyone but Portillo and Gowen. Even Uresti is a better choice than Gowen"