AND THE CONTRACT GOES TO...RENE OLIVEIRA'S COUSIN

By Juan Montoya
Despite coming in a full 10 points behind the Atkins Group on the City of Brownsville criteria score sheet for its Branding and Marketing Services, Hahn Public Communications of Austin walked away with the $139,980 contract to come up with a catchy slogan and logo to sell the city.
With the evaluations ranging from a 90 to Atkins, an 80 to Hahn and a 77 to Brownsville's Breeden McCumber, the evaluating group put together by the city were apparently bowled over by the presentation put together by Hahn associate Ron Oliveira. (see graphic)
Yup, that's Oliveira as in State Rep. Rene Oliveira. In fact, they's cousins, a fact apparently not lost on the evaluators.
After the five firms were whittled down to three – Atkins, Hahn and Breeden McCumber – the ranking sudenly shifted and ended up with Breeden McCumber (3),  Atkins (2), and Hahn (1).
And so the evaluating team – Deputy City Manager Pete Gonzalez, Brownsville Chamber of Commerce CEO Maria C. Hall, Brownsville Community Incentives Corporation board member Ruben O’ Bell, Gilbert Salinas, Brownsville Economic Development Executive Vice-President, Michael Jones, Business Development Manager for the Brownsville Airport, Arvin Tucker, City Auditor, and Camilla Montoya, UTB- Director of Marketing – chose to award the contract to Hahn.

Oliveira is listed as part of the Hahn "team," but in fact runs a one-man operation as Oliveira Public Communications where he specializes in having a "deep anchorman voice and his deep roots deep in the heart of Texas and in deep South Texas, makes him a natural at emceeing events, managing media relations and training his clients for TV interviews."
His specialty, according to his "associates" at Hahn's is "On-camera Storytelling. Media Training,  and Event Planning and Emcee."
They forgot to add that he was the state representative's cousin and that the majority of the members of the evaluation team have a longtime established relationship with the esteemed state rep.
Was it his sonorous voice, twinkling eyes, and boyish charm that bowled over the evaluating team? Hardly.
Gonzalez knows the city needs Rene to keep its hand in Austin. Hall, over at the Chamber known better than to go against Rene's Cuz. Ruben O'Bell is the assistant to Eddie Lucio III, Rene's fellow legislator. Salinas owes Rene for helping out with SpaceX, Jones, from the airport, was one fo the denizens who brought in AeroMexico (who left after the incentives ran out), and Tucker, the city employee, went along because that's what city employees are supposed to do. Montoya (no relation to the writer) is under the tutelage of UTB President Julieta Garcia and Oliveira is one of her gang.
Funding for this contract will be derived through the BCIC in the amount of $25,000, BEDC in the amount of $25,000 and the General Fund account # 01-9110-876-292 in the amount of $89,980. That well never seems to dry up for these type of projects for the family, do they?
In fact, Hahn – maybe as a quid pro quo for the group giving Ronnie the gig – even gave the city a generous $10,000 discount.
Now, we have seen the kind of work that the Hahn (and Ronnie, we would assume) have done for another Texas city. In fact, they list only one other city in their portfolio, and that is Garland, Texas.
Now, quick, what do you remember Garland for?
Shame on you for not remembering.
According to the company's website, Hahn  came up with "The Garland Wheel logo, (a tribute to the firewheel, a wildflower native to the area) and the tagline 'Texas Made Here' (a nod to the manufacturing base the city has cultivated). Uniting the community’s successful heritage of industry with the beauty of nature, the new Garland brand tells a story that has impact and resonance for economic development, for reaching visitors and for communicating Garland pride."
Ooh! That send chills up our collective spine.
Let's see. What other slogans have been manufactured for our fair city. We had the "Crossroads of the Hemisphere," which wasn't all that bad. Then we had "On the Border, By the Sea," which was descriptive, if not that original. Then there's Speedy Bean Ayala's lame "WOW! Brownsville, Always a Fiesta."
We expect Hahn to do an assessment. These guys always do an "assessment" to guide them in the creative process. To show we're not above sharing a thought or two with them to incite the creative juices, we came up with a few.
* We are a recycling town. We recycle battleships, used clothing, tires, even politicians. Combine that with a 90-plus percent Hispanic population and it's a natural. So how about "Browntown: A Second-hand Town, Where Everyone's Brown."
* We are also developing a "green" reputation by banning plastic bags and making a mint off of them to fund various commissioners' pet projects in the city. So how about:  "Your Green ( $139,980) Is In Our Bag."
* Or, maybe we can refer to the city's knack to give money and contracts to certain families and groups of influence and kind of keep the taxpayers' money in the family. "Bienvenidos a Brownsville: Su Casa Es Mi Casa!"