AHUMADA PICKS TSC BOARD CANDIDATES, DISSES OTHERS

By Juan Montoya

Some people just don't know when to keep quiet and remain on the sidelines.

Such is the case of former mayor Pat Ahumada whom the voters have roundly rejected the last two times he sough their vote and support.

Brownsville residents have voters have gotten used to seeing Da former Mayor getting arrested for everything from a DWI (pleaded down to reckless driving) and promoting gambling for operating a "Sweepstakes" computer game.

That was followed more recently by his citation for leaving his two pit bulls in his truck at the city Levee Street parking lot while he went inside to do business. That was, we believe, dismissed.

Now Pat is recommending that we support Trey Mendez and Ruben Herrera for positions left vacant when Kiko Rendon and Ed Rivera opted not to seek re-election. Both these guys, we're sure, appreciate the endorsement, but they could probably would have rather that Pat not make his support so public, so soon.

In a widely-circulated email, Ahumada said it was not his intent to impose, but to promote" those he believed were the best choices for the college board. But as usual, Ahumada could not resist the temptation to hurl a few darts of displeasure at unnamed victims while issuing his glowing endorsement.

From: ahumadapat <ahumadapat@aol.com>

To: ahumadapat@aol.com
Subject: TSC Board of Trustees
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:44:42 -0400

To Whom It May Concern:
"...Trey is a person you can trust that will do what is right, even if you disagree with him, you can be assured that he makes decisions not for personal gain, but in the interest of what is best for TSC. Please re-elect Trey Mendez to the TSC Board of Trustees Place 4.

"Ruben Herrera...was appointed to the Brownsville Housing Board when I was mayor and proved unlike others on the Board to make decisions in the interest of the Housing Authority and the community. It is sad to say, that Ruben was the only one who proved to me through his service that the agenda on the Board was not the community and what was in the best interest of those the Housing Authority was suppose to serve."

So what is Ahumada saying when he states that "unlike others on the board," Herrera made decisions that proved to him that had the interest of the Housing Authority and the community?"
Could he have been referring to Art Rendon, who was then a member?
Rendon, by the way, is also a member of the TSC board who served with Herrera on his stint on the BHA. Among those he includes under the disparaging "unlike others" category would have to include former Brownsville Independent School District trustee Pat Lehman.
And curiously, Da former Mayor conveniently leaves out his endorsement on the other race in the TSC May 7 election. That would be the Dr. Tony Juarez, the former director of the BHA and also former BISD CFO.
He is running against Dr. Tony Zavaleta, Evelyn Cantu and J.J. de Leon. Cantu and de Leon are currently employed with the BISD. Zavaleta served in various adminstrative positions under the Julieta Garcia administration, including vice president for external affairs, among others.
We remember when Ahumada was after Lehman and others to resign after they refused to endorse the BHA's involvement with plans that Ahuamda had for several projects along the river by the old Amigoland Mall on Mexico Blvd.
On April  2011, without even informing the sitting members of the board of the Brownsville Housing Authority or observing the usual niceties and protocols of replacing its members, Ahumada personally swore in three members (a majority) and replaced Lehmann, Rendon and Rosario Gonzalez.
He neglected to tinform chairperson Beatrice Lopez until after he had sworn his hand-picked appointees.
The board members he sacked complained that Ahuamda had become incensed when they proved reluctant to get involved with Odyssey  Residential Construction partner James R. (Bill) Fisher, who serves as Vice President of (ORH) and is responsible for Finance and Development. He is listed in the company's website as bringing over 10 years of significant experience in all aspects of housing development and finance, specifically affordable housing development and affordable housing finance programs.
However, the Dallas Observer contains much more in-depth coverage on the background of this partner. In 1995, after having been convicted in federal court for conspiracy to defraud, his conviction was overturned on appeal and in a retrial in 1998, he was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud investors in a Florida land deal.
His conviction was overturned by the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on multiple grounds in 1997 after he had spent more than a year in a federal prison.
It should be noted that Fisher had been seen locally at a swank dining spot in the company of Ahumada and Andy Muñiz, one of Ahumada's three new appointees to the Brownsville Housing Authority following the BHA Massacre where he removed the three recalcitrant board members and swore their replacements himself.
Odyssey challenged the application of Brownstone Construction for the construction of the 150-unit $16 million Citrus Garden project then in planning by the BHA. The company said that Brownstone had not submitted a property appraisal in its application before the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Their challenge was denied after lawyers for Brownstone lawyers submitted proof that no appraisal of the property was needed because the BHA owned the property in question.
"The only thing that could allow Odyssey (and Fisher) to get their foot in the door would be for a new board majority to issue a Request For Proposals (RFPs) instead of continuing the process," said a staffer.
So there you have it. Ahuamda's selective endorsement "to promote" and not to "impose" his candidates to the TSC board seems to stem from his grudges against the unnamed "others."
We're sure the candidates would rather he help them out with a campaign contribution and his vote and stick to trying to obey the city ordinance on the number of dogs (three) city residents can keep in their house, and not the dozens one sees when driving past his home.