BULLETIN: PERMITS DIRECTOR EVARISTO GAMEZ RESIGNS

By Juan Montoya

We have received reports – unconfirmed by the the City of Brownsville administration – that City of Brownsville Building Department Director Evaristo Gamez has handed in his resignation.
The news emerged just a few days ago after applicants for occupancy permits before the City of Brownsville Building Department complained that a member of the staff was taking bribes in return for facilitating the approval of their applications.
Other sources say that Gamez had submitted his request for his retirement  but that he was talked out of it until his replacement had been found and the mess inside the permits department had been straightened out.
Jaime Alberto Buentello, a Commercial Plans Examiner was charged with two felony and three misdemeanor charges.

Buentello was charged with bribery, a second-degree felony and Theft, a state jail felony. Other charges include two Class A misdemeanor charges of tampering with government documents, and abuse of official capacity .

Buentello turned himself  himself in to face the charges. At least one – maybe two – applicants for the permits have said that part of the fees charged by Buentello was a $1,000 "consulting" fee to expedite the permit process.

At the same time, we understand that some residents who have had their application for occupation permits languish at that department have been approached by members of the staff under director Gamez to inquire whether there's anything that they can do to get them their permits.
In one case, we have learned that Gamez personally invited an applicant whose permit had been denied for at least three months and bought him dinner to see how he could help. Then, as if by a miracle, the long-south permit was issued to the applicant this Monday.
"It seems like they are going through all the permits that had been delayed and are trying to clear up their waiting list," said the relative of one applicant who was contacted.
Apparently, the list has a good many names on it since Gamez and his staff were trying to whittle it down before too much time passes.
We first reported that Buentello was being investigated after an applicant complained that he had paid $3,500 for a commercial permit and still had been denied. This was followed by a second complaint where the applicant said he had paid him $2,500 for the permit and another $1,000 for "consulting" and seven months later no permit was forthcoming.