WITH NO VOTING ABILITY, WHY ARE VASQUEZ, FARIAS AT PUB?

 By Juan Montoya
Just yesterday, the members of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board had their monthly meeting.
Sitting on the board – and voting – were two members whose terms expired June 30.
They were Emmanuel Vasquez and Arturo Farias.
This is ironic to many who remember the November 2007 PUB debacle when two members whose terms had expired – Chris Valadez and Dr. Joe Zavaletta – were allowed to vote even after their terms had expired. 103rd District Court Judge Janet Leal ruled that the holdover members had no right to keep Vasquez from takin his place on the board or from voting on any issue since their terms had expired.
Eddie Trevino, a former mayor, acted as Vasquez's attorney and obtained temporary restraining order against majority that the Herald called "insurgents" that eventually resulted in a ruling.
As part of the ruling, Leal said that the members whose terms had expired were prohibited from:
– Permitting Valadez, whose term had expired, from carrying on the duties of a board member;
– Deliberating or voting on any matter in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act;
– Executing any document, contract or note
Vasquez, who is represented by former Mayor Eddie Treviño Jr., also got a court’s ruling that all actions taken on a previous meeting where the members whose terms were expired attended and voted were null and void.
Fast forward to Monday's meeting of the PUB.
At that meeting, we are told (PUB meetings are not televised) that Vasquez and Farias took part in discussion of the agenda items and voted on the items on the agenda. Included in the agenda were documents, contracts and notes, voted on by the board. The city charter specifically limits a person's participation on the PUB board after serving two four-year terms.
Given the precedent of 2007 in the 103rd, shouldn't they have been excluded from participating in the meeting as a board member?
It's not like as if anyone didn't remember, After fighting to get Vasquez on the PUB, Trevino got appointed as PUB counsel with Vasquez's vote. As counsel, and as Vasquez's legal representative in the 2007 debacle, he, more than anyone else, should have known better.