MARTINEZ LOSING CONTROL, NEW MAJORITY BIDING ITS TIME

By Juan Montoya

At one time, whatever Da Mayor Tony Martinez wanted, Tony got.

City manager Charlie Cabler would wince when yet another invoice from some gentrified consulting firm would land with a thud on his desk to be paid "as per Mayor Martinez."

Since Martinez knew that Cabler had a $35,000 cap on expenditures without going through the city commission, he went to the well repeatedly, to the chagrin of good-soldier Charlie.

This started early in his first term when he invited a snake-oil salesman to be the exclusive vendor of publicity banners to be draped on PUB light posts and fixtures. It seem that salesman had convinced Martinez that Brownsville had been chosen – from hundreds of cities around the country – to be the recipient of the company's presence here.

He had Cabler write a letter of recommendation for the sales guy, who hooked up with a dancer from Stilleto's, and the guy – who said he was a backup quarterback for the Oakland Raiders – began to knock on local businesses' doors peddling his wares.

After a while, local businesses began the trek to city hall to complain about the strong-arm tactics trying to get them to buy the deluxe package. It got to the point where the charm wore thin and he was sent packing.

This didn't stop Tony. He soon hooked up with all other kinds of outfits who promised to turn Brownsville into an Austin-by-the-Rio Grande and the invoices kept piling up on Cabler's desk who dutifully paid them. It wasn't his money after all.

The examples abound. He leaned on the city administration to fork out  cash dipping into the $3,060,000 settlement the city received from AEP Texas, a statewide utility. He had the administration (Cabler) pay $25,000 for the the movement of the historic Stillman House from the King Ranch to the lot next to the Cueto Building. Later, he had the city pay an additional $14,000 to move it to the Linear Park.

With the assistance and abetting of commissioner Rose Gowen and her gopher Ramiro Gonzalez, he contended the expenditures were for separate purposes, therefore putting them under the $35,000 cap.

Later, commissioners found out that Martinez had authorized – on his own – something called the Brownsville Downtown Revitalization Information Office and that was originally planned to be  Martinez's downtown office. As blogger Jim Barton (and late wife Nena) wrote, a lease was signed by the city to run from October 8, 2013 to October 7, 2014 at $500.00 per month. And an $3,505.91 was paid out for materials to refurbish the office that didn't include the cost of city's labor force.

That didn't go over very well with the other commissioners who put a stop to the pilferage of the AEP Settlement money. But the damage had been done.

Undaunted, Da Mayor rammed through a Certificate of Obligation issue of $13 million to buy several downtown properties, including $2.3 million for buddy Abraham Galonsky's Casa del Nylon on the pretense the UTB would buy it to establish its campus downtown. That never materialized and the hulk of a building sits there unused and off the tax rolls.

So it is any wonder that at last night's meeting of the city commission everyone was skeptical that the 44 acres "donation" to the city from an outfit called University Park LTD. did not carry any strings attached? Ostensibly, it was to be donated for a park since the Parks and Rec administrator Damaris McGlone placed it on the agenda.

But once questioned, McGlone admitted she had not seen a copy of the deed. In fact, neither had anyone except for Martinez. He swore that there were no restrictions on the land and asked the commissioners to take it as an article of faith. He fended off suggestions by commissioners, notably Jessica Tetreau, that the item be tabled until everyone had a chance to make sure there were no strings attached. Besides, there was the fact that the land sat on a Tax Reinvestment Zone (TRZ) and no one could explain whether it would have any ramifications.

He ignored her and the item sailed though.
How different with commissioner Ricardo Longoria's item to limit participation of individuals to one city board. In the previous meeting, Martinez had objected to the item, because it had no effective date, and it was tabled.

This time, when the item came up for reconsideration, Martinez objected because the effective date was not specified on the agenda, even thought the item had been delayed because of his objections for that very reason.

But Martinez ruled, despite the contract legal counsel's assertion that it was legal to move forward, that it would be illegal and that there might be "trouble" if they passed it.

So what if the city had paid a select group of attorneys over $150,000 since Mark Sossi was let go one year ago last August? It wasn't Tony's money, after all.

Now, who decides the legality of the meeting, the lawyer hired by the city? "We don't need no stinking lawyer," Martinez seemed to say.

Once again, the item was delayed until the next meeting.

Ditto for the selection of the city attorney. Martinez objected that not all the four finalists had been interviewed by him and suggested a delay until the next meeting. Grudgingly, the commission agreed and closed off the application period to give him time to interview all them.

But it is becoming obvious that Da Mayor – with only commissioner Ben Neece and Rose Gowen – is now the head of an obstructionist minority on the board and he does not like, no sir, not one bit.

It is doubtful, as one of the commissioner stated, that the commission will delay all the important matters before the city until next May's election when Emperor Martinez might be able to ram through his candidates to form a majority again. Until then, he will use all his wiles to get his way, the lack of a legal counsel or city manager notwithstanding.