“We have a diverse community that needs to be heard,” he said.
Mayor Tony Martinez, November 2010, Brownsville Herald
By Juan Montoya
When he was on the hustings campaigning for mayor and asking everyone to "Believe in Brownsville," Tony Martinez embraced free speech.
How things changed in the four years that he's held that office.
Many of his supporters expected him to challenge the opinion of city attorney Mark Sossi and televise the public comment section of city meetings only to be disappointed when Tony did nothing and things remained the same.
Over time, city voters have discovered that it is second nature for Martinez to do things in secret, introducing proposals only when it is a fait accompli. Not only are the residents kept in the dark as he carries out his plans and polices, but even the members of the city commission are not privy to his doings.
Such was the case with the city's $2.3 million purchase of La Case del Nylon. No one knew that his law partner Horacio Barrera negotiated with owner Abraham Galonsky (who is Barrera's neighbor) to clinch the deal. After those details were learned, commissioners complained that they had not been told who was involved in the negotiations.
That is just the half of it.
Martinez also rammed through the city's response to the Request For Proposals by the UT System which included the bargain-rate sale of 80 acres of city prime real estate which included the 48-acre Lincoln Park.
While La Casa del Nylon had an empty building on half a block and the city paid $2.3 million, Marinez and the commission approved the offer of the 48 acres for a mere $6.5 million. In fact, the reason the UT System agreed to pay $6.5 million was to move the amenities that had been installed at the park and move them to another location, a site directly across from the city's southside sewage plant.
The city's participation in a $500 million natural gas-fired electric plant which indebted the Brownsville Public Utility Board with $325 million in debt was also a closely guarded secret between Martinez, Tenaska, the private utility company, and the big shots at PUB.
The first inkling citizens had they were going to get the shaft was during a sparsely attended Dec. 11, 2012 meeting. The wording on the agenda item seemed innocuous enough.
A) Discussion pursuant to Section 551.086, of the Texas Government Code, regarding a proposal for
power from a specific generation project, including costs, pricing information, and evaluation
assistance connected therewith."
The meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. on a Tuesday.
After the commissioners emerged from the executive session at about 4:30, they proceeded to consider several items in open session.
In short order, they opened and closed two public hearings within a few minutes and voted to pass them unanimously before the sparse attendance.
The other item considered and passed in that fateful half hour allowed PUB to "provide for upwards adjustments of electrical, water and wastewater service rates fees and charges.
And so, in one fell swoop, the residents of the city were saddled with a huge financial burden which they will pay through utility rate increases.
The first inkling that the residents got about this was the January 11, 2013 article in the local newspaper announcing the deal between Tenaska and the city for a $500 million, 800 electric Megawatt generating facility to be built north of the city and financed by PUB for $325 million in debt to be paid by the higher utility rates.
Of those 800 MWs, the city was entitled to 200 MWs and Tenaska would look for customers for the other 600 MW.
How the ratepayers of PUB were to be indebted for more than half the cost of the plant and receive one-quarter of the power was never addressed. What did emerge later was that the Fitch Rating downgrade of PUB bonds citing ratepayer "fatigue."
PUB ratepayers are now paying for the plant through "small" increases that will see city them pay a 36 percent hike in electric rates over three years, a 20 percent increase in water rates over the same period, and a 6 hike in waste water costs over two years.
Efforts to find out the details of the city's and Tenaska's obligations to each other has been kept secret because both the PUB and the private utility claimed to the Texas Attorney General's Office that divulging more information would damage their "competitiveness" and "confidentiality." As a result, no one (except for PUB, the city commissioners and Tenaska) really knows what we're in the hook for.
In fact, the city, PUB and Tenaska fought tooth and nail in district court to keep the details secret.
The "conveyance" of Lincoln Park was also innocuously worded as) ACTION on Resolution Number 2013-015, authorizing the donation of a 55.43-acre tract of land to the University of Texas System, designating signatories, and dealing with related matters. (Mayor A. Martinez and Commissioner R. Gowen).
Martinez's propensity to bait and switch with sleight-of-hand maneuvers has become his trademark, belying the promise he made on the November 2010 to the local newspaper. Will the voters this May continue to believe this wolf in sheep's clothing?
A) Discussion pursuant to Section 551.086, of the Texas Government Code, regarding a proposal for
power from a specific generation project, including costs, pricing information, and evaluation
assistance connected therewith."The meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. on a Tuesday.
After the commissioners emerged from the executive session at about 4:30, they proceeded to consider several items in open session.
In short order, they opened and closed two public hearings within a few minutes and voted to pass them unanimously before the sparse attendance.
The other item considered and passed in that fateful half hour allowed PUB to "provide for upwards adjustments of electrical, water and wastewater service rates fees and charges.
And so, in one fell swoop, the residents of the city were saddled with a huge financial burden which they will pay through utility rate increases.
The first inkling that the residents got about this was the January 11, 2013 article in the local newspaper announcing the deal between Tenaska and the city for a $500 million, 800 electric Megawatt generating facility to be built north of the city and financed by PUB for $325 million in debt to be paid by the higher utility rates.
Of those 800 MWs, the city was entitled to 200 MWs and Tenaska would look for customers for the other 600 MW.
How the ratepayers of PUB were to be indebted for more than half the cost of the plant and receive one-quarter of the power was never addressed. What did emerge later was that the Fitch Rating downgrade of PUB bonds citing ratepayer "fatigue."
PUB ratepayers are now paying for the plant through "small" increases that will see city them pay a 36 percent hike in electric rates over three years, a 20 percent increase in water rates over the same period, and a 6 hike in waste water costs over two years.
Efforts to find out the details of the city's and Tenaska's obligations to each other has been kept secret because both the PUB and the private utility claimed to the Texas Attorney General's Office that divulging more information would damage their "competitiveness" and "confidentiality." As a result, no one (except for PUB, the city commissioners and Tenaska) really knows what we're in the hook for.
In fact, the city, PUB and Tenaska fought tooth and nail in district court to keep the details secret.
The "conveyance" of Lincoln Park was also innocuously worded as) ACTION on Resolution Number 2013-015, authorizing the donation of a 55.43-acre tract of land to the University of Texas System, designating signatories, and dealing with related matters. (Mayor A. Martinez and Commissioner R. Gowen).
Martinez's propensity to bait and switch with sleight-of-hand maneuvers has become his trademark, belying the promise he made on the November 2010 to the local newspaper. Will the voters this May continue to believe this wolf in sheep's clothing?
5 comments:
"We have a diverse community"? Brownsville is 93.2% Mexican-American, one of the most homogenous cities in the world. Houston is a diverse city, you idiot.
It seems like there may be some kind of ethics violation here, at least. Lets check the city standards of conduct. Oh, wait, we don't seem to have any. Wasn't this going to be a priority item? I guess something this important takes time,
Da Mayor does City business in secret without the citizens awareness. He was observed at the Nylon Shack disguised as a Nun. He was asking for Alms.
Would you buy a used -car from Da Mayor disguised as a car sales-man?
Da Mayor was seen disguised as the devil. A disguise that belongs to him alone.
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