AFTER $335K PAYOUT, CABLER'S $318K SLUSH FUND LEFT

By Juan Montoya

Whatever Charlie wanted, Charlie got.

At the last meeting of the City of Brownsville Commission, members were asked to approve several budget amendments to the general fund, most notably the $335,000 "payout" to former city manager Charlie Cabler.

Cabler was cut a $219,000 golden parachute final check by the city when he resigned early October 2017 amid scandals and terminations that included former Brownsville Fire Dept. Chief Carlos Elizondo, Asst. Fire Chief Ernie Estrada, and City Attorney Mark Sossi.

The difference between $219,000 and the $335,000 transferred covered other costs including retirement, FICA, health insurance, etc.

Eizondo was indicted by a grand jury for theft and Sossi violated his promise to the commissioners when he was caught moonlighting with the City of Mission after he had promised the commissioners he would work exclusively for the city if he was employed as a full-time employee and not on a contractual basis. That would make his child eligible for the city's health insurance and comply with a court order, he said.

Now we find out that aside from the authority of the former city manager to spend up to $35,000 at his discretion without going to the city commission for approval, he also had personal control of another fund, the so-called Benefit Youth Recreational Program funded through donations to his annual City Manager's Golf Classic.

People would often see Cabler eating breakfast at downtown restaurant  or being wined at downtown drinking establishments surrounded by contractors who gladly picked up the tab for him and his municipal workers entourage.

Today, we have found out after making an information request, that the fundraiser fund total stands at $318,160 sitting there in Acct. # 01-9115848. The future of that sum, now that Cabler is gone, is in limbo.

The list of contributors to that fund reads like a virtual list of vendors for the city. Whether Cabler solicited the money from the vendors or had someone in the city visit and strong-arm them to giving "voluntarily" is anyone's guess.

Brownsville's GMS Waste Disposal , which has handled the city's commercial and industrial waste work worth some $60 million over a five-year contract, was notable as one of the main contributors multiple times over the 2015-2017 period as were Spawglass Contractors, Estrada Hinojosa & Co., the city's financial consultants, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Simpson, the city's delinquent tax collectors, Terracon, Republic Services, the Public Utility Board, and SCS Engineers, the firm charged with keeping the city landfill in compliance with state regulatory agencies, EPA and others.

SCS, of Houston, since it was first hired by the city in 2011, has continued to do expensive engineering work (in the millions of $$$) to keep the city's landfill – a moneymaker for Brownsville – in compliance with the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Their latest work is addressing the use of resaca contaminated silt to be used as a cap daily on the city's landfill.

Cabler went to the well multiple times to GMS for contributions, each time at $750 a pop (23 times multiplied by $750= $17,250). The company has been trying to hold on to its $60 million contract over the objections of some city commissioners who have kept it operating on a month-to-month basis despite recommendations of  Purchasing director Robert Luna who was often supported by Cabler.

Republic Services' contributions were of $10,000 each time (2) as were PUB's.

Firms like Denton Navarro Roccha Bernal Hyde & Zech, P.C., which handle labor mediation cases, the Consolidated Electrical District, Gulf Coast Waste Paper, AGH Engineering & Surveying, Inc. Charlie Clark Nissan, etc., were among the most prominent donors.

The recipients of Cabler's largess could be said to be charitable and noteworthy. Prominent among them were donations to individuals in sports like boxing, soccer, baseball and golf. But there were other more selective gifts such as those to the Guadalupe Regional Middle School ($5,000), Brownsville Police Dept. Christmas Party and the annual Toy Drive, city parks, Hooked for Life, Police Explorers, and some high schools and elementary campuses.

There were donations to the Rio Grande Valley Coaches to assist with their tournaments, East Brownsville Little Miss Kickball, Harlingen Bronco League, and even the Cameron County Bar Association. The Brownsville Historical Association was a recipient as was the Brownsville Falcon Team.

The Texas Exes got a good chunk of cash (thee donations of $5,000 in 2016 alone), and even the UTRGV  for after-school programs.

Notably, there were no donations to Texas Southmost College in the list of recipients.

There was no board to vet and approve the collections or donations. Cabler decided who and when to give the money to exclusively.

Now that Cabler is gone, some commissioners think that the city manager should not have total control of money generated from city vendors who might think that giving to his fund will give them an edge over their competitors for city work. Already, there is talk of having the commission's Audit and Oversight Committee study the issue and make recommendations on whether to continue the fund, or to do away with it.

What to do with the $$318,160 sitting in the account? Tad Hasse, a candidate for the Republican primary nomination for the Texas School Board of Education District 2 seat wants it donated to the Southmost College Endowment Foundation to assist students in the community college.

"That way the fund can be controlled and managed by a neutral foundation which will help local students with their tuition and it can grow to help even more," he said. "It should not be left up to one person's predilection of recipients. I didn't see any barrio recipients or Jewish schools on the list. Help out all the students."