When City of Brownsville District 3 Commissioner candidate Deborah Portillo authorized a mass mailout by her slick ad agency, she giddily said she wanted its recipients to "look at how city candidates handle their own finances and decide who you trust to handle your tax dollars."
Her benefactor and main supporter Mayor Tony Martinez must have cringed when he read that.
Not only has Martinez single-handedly cajoled the rubber-stamp city commission to indebt the residents of Brownsville with (not his own money) millions by having them issue more than $11 million in Certificates of Obligation, but he has also used millions of that money to speculate in real estate purchasing downtown properties at exorbitant prices to his friends, in once case using his law partner to negotiate a $2.3 million "deal."By the time the rest of the city commission was asked to approve the CO issues, the deal had been consummated and the debt incurred.
Same goes for Da Mayor's encumbrance of the ratepayers of the Brownsville Public Utility Board's with the "partnership" deal with Tenaska to build a 800 MW gas-fired electric plant to be paid by increasing the electric and wastewater rates for its users.
Even before the plant deal was announced with much fanfare at a press conference, the city commission had already (again) approved increases in a previous meeting.
BPUB CEO and General Manager John Bruciak said that PUB would pay for its 200 megawatts through a series of small rate increases over the next five years. He said a portion of that additional money will go for maintenance, repair and replacement of the utility’s existing infrastructure.
Those "small" increases were approved in December during a special meeting. They adopted upwards rate hikes that will see city residents pay a 36 percent increase in electric rates over the next three years, a 20 percent increase in water rates over the same period, and a 6 percent hike in waste water costs over two years.
Under the plan approved by both bodies, electric rates alone will go up by 14 percent by October 2013 and another 22 percent by October 2016.
Oh, and did we forget to tell you amid all the hoopla and bells and whistles that the overextension of the PUB in this ill-advised endeavor had caused Fitch Ratings to downgrade $425 million in PUB bonds from a "stable" to a "negative" rating? They weren't fooled, either.
We guess it's easy to criticize your opponent because of their personal problems and past financial woes, but if you inherited your business from Daddy, had never voted in a city election in the municipality you claim to care so much about, and were forced to return an illegal corporate contribution, it's better to distract
the voters' attention from your own deficiencies.
She wants you to know that she's all for fostering tourism thrugh Bean Ayala's outfit and that she loves the cops. She forgot to throw in mamacita and empanadas de calabaza for good measure.
Martinez is counting on the voters to elect Portillo, Rose Gowen (against Robert Uresti) and John Villareal (against Letty Perez-Garzoria) to continue his rampage through the collective Brownsville citizenry's pocketbooks. Toward that end, he has enlisted the aid of hyper liberal Democratic PACS throughout the state for Little Debby to purchase the media attacks on their opponents.
Is Tony Martinez the kind of politician whose "business and financial skills" taxpayers "can trust" and Portillo admire and emulate?
7 comments:
Its taxpayers monies and no representation at the table for the common folks, Citizens its REALLY TIME FOR A CHANGE, Time to take back city hall and the PUB too. too much baloney and bull.
i hate to say it, but our water and sewer rates are too low. compared to the most of the valley, our rates are high. but if you compare brownsvill to every major city in the state, our rates are very low. and everyone in brownsville says we have the worst tasting water? well, what do you expect, when are water source is the most polluted in the U.S.? And on top of that, we pay the lowest rates in the state of texas? no wonder our water sucks! everyone from brownsville always says, why can't we be as nice as austin..or san antonio? well, they pay for niceness. they pay higher property tax rates, and higher water rates, and they get more services. you get what you pay for!
Tony martinez is going to be indicted to the hall of shame as. The worst mayor ever even for Cameron county standards , we thought he was rich and he was not going to steal, but everything is relative, our mayor apparently is not as liquid as we thought and he is cheating Ina grandiose way, please people, beware!
If you would attend PUB meetings instead of reading crap on blogs then you'd know that BPUB rates are lower (even with the rate increases) than all other comparable utilites across the state. Part of the rate increases are inevitable because fuel and other costs go up. Only portion of that increase will go to fund the new capacity which in the long run will allow BPUB to maintain steady rates because Brownsville will be less dependent on outside sources.
"well, they pay for niceness. they pay higher property tax rates."
Thanks Google-challenged anon, but you are incorrect.
Austin's tax rate is $0.50290000.
San Antonio is $0.56569000.
Brownsville is higher than both, $0.70061300.
Rose Gowen and Tony Martinez increased it two years ago. Where is our niceness?
Comparable utilities provide more per dollar per person in comparative cities. Easy to leave out the "city" part of the equation. The customer service fee is like $10. For what?! Bill processing? We pay online. On time. Sometimes the water readings are so inaccurate but who do you complain to? They keep arguing about how low their rates are, comparatively, when, really, it is their customer service charge that we can do something about. It is extremely high considering all of the mismanaged manpower. We cannot expect any change until Crooked Canker is out and replaced with someone who isn't corrupt like him.
I remember this chick I have partied with her. What a jock are u serious she is a candidate for commissioner I remember she was partying she drinks a lot, dam she out beat me drinking one night she is easy and she acts like a bimboet.. Hahaha there is no was my family supporting that trash to be commissioner.
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