EXECS AT MR AMIGO HUNKER DOWN, CANCEL MEETINGS

By Juan Montoya
We don't envy the task before new Mr. Amigo Association president Luigi Cristiano.
HE inherits a much-maligned organization made the more so by the prima-dona antics of outgoing president Yesenia Patiño who made the organization her personal fiefdom to elevate her favorites like Sylvia Perez and cast aside those who didn't agree with her imperious ways.
Let's jot forget that Patiño's character was made obvious by her bad-mouthing the late Viola Rosenbaum who nominated her for entry into the clubby association and then was heard dissing her by Viola's sister.
Now, as the association tries to regroup under the leadership of Cristiano, he must convince those donors and sponsors who make the event possible by paying for it that those bad old ways are behind them. But simply hunkering down and making believe it will blow over is not the way to do it. We hear that at least one monthly meeting of the executive board (pictured at their meeting place in the photo) has been cancelled in the hopes that the outpouring of criticisms against the policies followed by the past leadership will blow over and hope people have short memories and that things will be forgotten.
Many members of SombreroFest and Charro Days Association say say that the performance of the Mr. Amigo executive board in 2012 left much to be desired.

Although ostensibly a private association which fills its ranks through nominations by its membership, the Mr. Amigo Association has long relied on public resources and private donations raised through solicitation and several major events such as the President's Ball and Banquet and the Taste de Frontera.

These two raised the group $38,460 of its $105,529 2013 Mr. Amigo budget ($21,120 in ticket sales for the banquet, $17,240 for Taste de la Frontera). The group's income statement for this year said it spent $99,700 for its events.

Among the other income for the 2013 bash featuring Mexican Televisa soap opera star Eduardo Yanez was $39,600 in donations from sponsors.

However, if you look closely at the income statement, you will see that the city kicked in thousands in "in-kind" contributions, including free access to the Brownsville Events Center ($2,684 for banquet, $1,740 for Taste) and the Ft. Brown Civic Center by the University. 

But what is not included is the "in-kind" security detail assigned by the Brownsville Police Department to provide round-the-clock protection to Mr. Amigo. An information request from El Rrun-Rrun to the Brownsville Police Department revealed that this year, the PD's security detail cost taxpayers $19,285 in overtime pay for the 18 officers and supervisors.

In some cases, the bill came to about $50 to $54 per hour for those lucky officers who were favored by Chief Orlando Rodriguez to serve on the detail.
This, however, is only the overtime pay for the 18 officers, which came in addition to the regular pay from department coffers.
Some of the questions that Patiño and sidekick Sylvia Perez have yet to answer is the money spent on the lavish, invitation-only President's Ball blast. How about $4,900 for music, $3,100 for centerpiece and decorations, $14,102 for food, $600 for a sound system, $1,100 for linens and covers, and $609 for videos and photos?
And lurking in the wings are questions about the non-itemized spending by Patiño of $3,016  as "president's expenses" while on the trip to Mexico City to give Yanez the 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.
Perhaps most galling to the group's staunch supporters is the fact that the appearances by Mr. Amigo Yanez were badly coordinated with other groups and that Patiño and Perez excluded many donors to private events while favoring others.
In one telling instance, Patiño asked some individuals who had posted photos of the private bashes on their Facebook pages to remove them because some smaller donors would complain that they had not received a persona invitation to attend the parties.

Will Patiño be declared a persona non grata today and the organization take steps to contribute something back to the community that has paid for its week-long parranda throughout the nearly half century of its existence?
Or will Cristiano simply hunker down, pretend the problems and community disapproval doesn't exist and hope it blows over and the partying can resume in earnest for 2014?