AFTER MR. AMIGO POSTS, A TORRENT OF QUESTIONS

By Juan Montoya
Following the reports that many local residents and even some past and current board members with the Mr. Amigo Association have questioned the extravagant ways of outgoing president Yesenia Patiño and her coterie of friends, revelations contained in the group's income statements for the years 2008 to 2013.
This year the association invited Mexican soap opera (and Televisa star) Eduardo Yanez and reported spending $99,700 of their own cash and received some $20,000 in in-kind contributions from the city (Events Center rental, security, transportation, etc.), not including the 24-7 protective security detail provided by the Brownsville Police Department.
Among some of the expenditures that have raised eyebrows are included $3,016  lkisted as "president's expenses" while on the trip to Mexico City to give Yanez a lavish invite to come during the Charro Days events. We don;t have an itemized invoice for Patiño, but we are told that the expense was racked up to purchase outfits for her and her hubby and kids.
And the short bus ride that took the Mr. Amigo entourage from their hotel in Mexico City to the U.S.  embassy – 15 or 20 minutes away – cost $1,146.
In fact, the reception for Yanez cost $1,429, just $300 more than the short bus ride.
Former Mr. Amigo honorees have been heard to complain that the association does not include an honorarium for the selected guest. In fact, Eugenio Derbez turned down the invite from the group because he wasn't going to spend an entire week hanging out with the Brownsville folks and making no money. He is, after all, a working artist.
Some media people have said that the reason that the last two Mr. Amigo guests were from Televisa was because one of the members on the Mexican side has connections with Televisa Noreste and has been pushing for that network's artists to be showcased by the group.
"Television Azteca also has television stars," said a former El Bravo reporter. "But since there is a Televisa connection there, it seems that only that networks' stars are being invited."
It hasn't been cheap.
Yanez did not want to use a commercial flight to come to Brownsville and had to be flown in a chartered jet here at a cost of $13,218 paid by the organization. The Mr. Amigo Hospitality suite costs another $7,199 and included $586 in basketry, $536 in liquor, and $4,839 in room and food.
But Patiño was not to be outdone by Yanez. The President's Ball and Banquet featured $14,102 in food, $4,000 for music (The TSC mariachi band was free), $3,100 for decorations, and a few more thousand for knick-knacks and this and that to total $30,932 in expenses. Ah, what a night!
And when only some donors were invited to attend some of the group's private bashes, Patiño asked some members to remove the photographs of the events from their FB pages so the small donors would not complain about the snub.
Residents who have seen the Mr. Amigo celebration evolve over the years have complained that the group piggy-backing on Charro Days and SombreroFest annual events and using city resources to promote what has virtually become a private party, are asking whether it's time for the city to rethink its in-kind contributions to this group given the lavish ways of the past presidents, Patiño included.
If the group's stated mission is to foster international friendship, how does partying away for a week with a soap opera star contribute to that aim?
Incoming president Luigi Cristiano and concerned members (and donors) might do well to take a critical look at the group's performance and decide whether it's time to reform its wastrel ways.