OTHER SHOE DROPPING IN ELIZONDO COB-BISD CONFLICT?

By Juan Montoya

Push has come to shove.

As rumors swirl about a possible lawsuit being brought against the City of Brownsville by the Brownsville Independent School District over the hike in utilities to pay for the $500 million Tenaska power plant that has never been built, the role of Brownsville Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo as a school district trustee and city administrator is being called into question.

In 2013, the Brownsville Public Utility Board got approval from the city commission to raise electric, water and wastewater rates to pay for the bonds necessary to pay for the city's $325 million share of th cost in exchange for $200 MW of the projected 800 MWs to be generated by the plant.

Starting January of 2013,  PUB increased electric rates by 36 percent  from 2013 to 2016, water rates 20 percent from 2013 to 2016, and waste-water services 6 percent over the first two years and have stayed there indefinitely.

However, a glut on the electric grid has delayed the construction of the plant indefinitely while the rates remain at the increased levels. The plant was to have been finished by 2017. However, a clause in the agreement allows Tenaska to delay the construction of the plant if it cannot sell its 600 MW share of the electricity to be produced.

The increased rates have played havoc with the energy conservation efforts of the BISD and the meager savings using insulation, energy-saving light bulbs, shades, etc., have proved minuscule to offset the PUB increases.

Historically, the BISD has been the PUB's largest electric and waste-water customer, with the district paying the utility $8,074,400 –or 6.34 of PUB's annual sales revenue for electricity – and another $635,835 in waste-water services in 2016. Only El Jardin Water Supply Corp. buys more water than the BISD because it resells its customers water treated at PUB plants.

Now, as the possibility that the BISD will file suit to recover or to get credit commensurate with the rate hikes for the years it has collected the rates and has not built the plant is a very real issue.

We understand that City Manager Charlie Cabler is under the gun to make a decision on the Elizondo question quickly, or face an agenda item in an upcoming city commission meeting where his own future with the city may be decided.

Add this new wrinkle to the growing controversy surrounding the police complaint filed by the Firefighters Association Local # 970 against Elizondo charging him with Theft by a Public Official of more than $8,000 in cash from their Political Action Committee, and the pressure on Cabler is growing untenable.

That and the added potential conflicts of interest as a result of Elizondo also holding an elected position as a BISD trustee and issues arising from the district's dealing with the city on a number of issues, have some city commissioners concluding that a clear demarcation of duties has to be made.

Should Cabler – as city manager in charge of hiring and firing department heads – require Elizondo to decide what he wants to do: stay on as chief and possibly face a grand jury indictment over the PAC's missing money? Or should Cabler demote him or make him take a lower position? Or should he give him an ultimatum to decide between job and his seat as a trustee on the BISD board?

The city's personnel policy manual's Section 702: Political Activity states that:
"B. Specifically, City Employees may not engage in the following activities:

4. Hold an elective City office or hold an elective or appointive office in any other jurisdiction where service would constitute a direct conflict of interest with City employment, with or without remuneration. Upon assuming such office, an Employee shall resign or shall be dismissed for cause upon failure to do so."
The recent firing of city attorney Mark Sossi after he became a source of controversy and the commissioners found themselves dealing with his personal problems instead of discussing city business set a precedent for a gelling majority on the commission comprised of Cesar de Leon, Jessica Tetreau, Rose Gowen and Ben Neece. This majority chose to cut its ties with the growingly embarrassing situations which embroiled Sossi's personal life and spilled over to his municipal duties.

Only commissioners Ricardo Longoria and new commissioner Joel Munguia sided with Sossi to allow him to remain on the job.

But those commissioners who voted to make Sossi a city employee in January after he promised that he would seek no outside work and continue to receive a $10,000 monthly salary plus another $5,000 monthly stipend from the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, were outraged that a month after they granted him full-time city employee status, Sossi secretly signed a $2,500 monthly retainer with the City of Mission.


We understand that the Mission contract played a large role in some commissioners making their decision to fire the beleaguered former city attorney.

Similarly, Elizondo's continued tenure on the BISD board despite city personnel policies to the contrary were laid at Sossi's desk when he was still city attorney and the issue now rests squarely in Cabler's lap.

Sossi's inaction on the matter played a role in his termination, in a way protecting Eizondo. Increasingly, the lawyer's actions were deemed obstructionist by city commissioners who conducted an audit of the fire department but were miffed by Sossi's stalling tactics.

 What will the city manager decide? Is he willing to put his feet to the fire for his fire chief? Or will he finally make a decision and follow the city's own personnel policies?

With a majority of the city commission looking at Cabler to see what he does, his decision (or failure to act) may well place his own position in jeopardy.