By Juan Montoya
Voters in this May's City of Brownsville election should send a clear message to the incumbents running for reelection – Mayor Tony Martinez and commissioners Ricardo Longoria and Jessica Tetreau – that they want them "All Out."
They should remind them that when they were given a chance to defend them from major utility rate increases way back when on December 2012, all of them, with no exceptions, blindly followed the lead of Martinez and approved them without even taking the wishes of their constituents into consideration.
When they could have spoken up on their constituents' behalf, they accepted the gag imposed upon them by Martinez and his pals.
Instead, they cleared the way for the Big Shots at the Public Utility Board and the private energy company Tenaska to indebt them to the tune of $325 million through higher utility rates well into 2016 that will never go down again. They, in effect, gave the plant proponents a blank check compliments of captive PUB customers.
And when the public and the media wanted to learn the details of what obligations the city commission and the PUB had placed on their shoulders, both these entities fought tooth and nail to argue that the ratepayers had no business asking what other obligations their "leaders" had agreed to place upon their shoulders.
They fought utility analysts from Virginia, a challenge from Hinogas, and even Freedom of Information requests from local media.
In less than half an hour that fateful December, these fine folks agreed to burden the ratepayers with unconsciously high rate increases and to partner with a private company for a $500 million project with arguable benefits. What's more, they were successful in preventing the public – the very people who will ultimately pay for their grandiose plan – from finding out exactly what they had been burdened with.
When the vote took place, no one asked the citizens whether they agreed with the rate hikes. No one asked them whether they agreed to fund an electric generating plant where their $325 million share of the $500 price tag (more than half) will only give them only a quarter of the 800 MW of electricity produced. And Tenaska will not start construction of the plant until they have found customers for the other 600 MWs,a shaky proposition because there will be two other electric generating plants in operation before the local startup.
Who were Martinez, Longoria and Tetreau representing? And why have they gone along with keeping the public in the dark?
Those candidates running against them should come to an agreement to support each other if there is a runoff against these incumbents. If you lose, show your commitment to change and don't just take your ball and run home.
We're all in on the debt voted upon by these three well into 2016 and decades to come to pay for the bonds in this foible. The city literally can't afford them. This election tell the incumbents they are "All Out."
17 comments:
It is about the money they received for their "Services". Next, we have a political Docile voting population. Many of us are semi-illiterate in both languages.
Now there is an idea whose time has come. I am all in with ALL OUT.
We wanted positive change when we mistakenly elected
Tony Martinez and got an autocrat who denied public input at city meetings and ignored public sentiment at every point. We need officials who initiate a public agenda, not someone who is controlled by "United Brownsville", an unelected committee that seeks to serve their own business and personal agendas. We need leadership, not more arrogant self-serving autocratic
assholes.
This issue should be front and center in this election. all city council board members should be judged by how they voted on this TENASKA project.It's also amazing how the hearld doesn't even cover the disatisfaction of its pub ratepayers do not let voter apathy rule in this election call family members and go vote..
They should all be voted out, rightly so. The mayor gets blamed for keeping public comments blocked from city televised meetings, and Longoria and Tetreau go along with it. They have the ability to put the item on agenda and choose not to. Commissioner Longoria takes the farce further by walking his neighborhood and talking to, "his people", the same people he silences at the televised meetings. And Tetreau, well I thought we got rid of embarrassments when we got rid of Charlie Atkinson. Someone forgot to tell Mrs. Tetreau that just because she beat Atkinson does not mean she has to uphold his legacy in regards to embarrassing the city. Her many domestic abuse calls to BPD. Her arrest for abusing her husband. Her ordinance to rid of slumlords so people could live in decent conditions, while she pays her employees $1.50 an hour. GET RID OF ALL INCUMBENTS!
Get rid of all the incumbents, ......er, imbeciles !
Capt. Bob Sanchez for Mayor.
Carlos De Leon Place A-at large
Sergio Zarate Dist 2
Michael Gonzalez Dist 1
Let's send a message to the remainder of this commission that their days are numbered as well.
I agree with everyone mentioned except CAPITAN BOB, that guy is a stuck up inexperienced idiot!
He just wants attention, he is unelectable.
And please don't forget the countless, useless properties the city bought under their leadership. The properties still sit empty and off tax rolls years after their purchase. It only added additional burden to an already stretched to the limit city crews for upkeep and regular maintenance. So please, remember this matter come election time.
Anybody that runs for political office in Brownsville is corrupt until proved otherwise. Those who get elected are therefore presumed corrupt.
The best we can do is change our corrupt public officials at every election cycle, so they don't become totally entrenched and impossible to remove because of patronage and favors bestowed.
Da Mayor does a good job going about town disguised as a Nun of the Order of Mercy. He has collected thousands of coins for gas money to pay for campaign costs. Keep up the good work. Keep the faith baby !
There are only a few things about Brownsville that made it at least minimally acceptable to live in.
One was the utility rates were low. Scratch that.
Two was that you could enjoy going to Matamoros for dinner and drinks. Scratch that.
Three was no traffic to fight.
Scratch that.
Now, what we've got left are blood sucking pulgas on the City Commision. Scratch that !
There are two kinds of people in this town: The corpses and the zombies. The corpses are the ordinary, dirt poor and overworn regular people. The zombies are the crowd of walking dead who eat the corpses. You can tell them by their political affiliations and clicks. What a corpse looks like after they finish? UTB.
Everyone, please....STOP!! already with the bashing! Remember, we are here in Brownsville. The dumber, stupider, and crooked you are, the higher chair and leadership you are given. Everyone that is good and honest doesn't have a chance. Don't forget, only the pendejos and pendejas make it here.
If you look at Da Mayor real close, you will notice he has "shifty eyes". Would you buy a used car from him?
Da ma mayor was observed taking a dippy shower. On each derrière cheek he had 2 W tattoos which read WOW; and when he did acrobats on his head the derrièr read MOM. From the secret files of the NSA. (Naco Security Agency".
Great pic of da Mayor. He looks like a domesticated Frog.
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