By Juan Montoya
One of our eagle-eyed seven readers pointed out to us that we had missed an important contributor to Hizzoner, Da Mayor Tony Martinez's campaign.We had noted that LNG promoters Ray and Hunt Hunter, of Dallas, had donated $5,000 each to Tone, and we suppose that they would want a little something in return, like perhaps support in their future endeavors in the energy industry around South Texas.
But what we hadn't noticed was Carlos Varela's $2,500 contribution. Who is Varela?
We have been told that it's none other than the son-in-law of Origo Works owner Javier Huerta. You remember Origo Works. But not only that, he is also a partner with Huerta as can be seen in the Texas Secretary of State's website in two companies, Origo Partners and Origo Works Properties.
It's the architectural company that has done lot of work for the mayor's office and businesses.
Huerta is said to have attended St.Joseph Academy with one of Martinez's kids. Origo works was also the company whose inclusion, according to the architects in charge of the expansion of the Brownsville south Padre Island International $50 million face lift, increased the cost a bit. Originally, the project was estimated to cost around $38 million, but a tweak here and a tweak there ballooned the cost.
Among some of the "tweaks" was the federal government's requirements for more space for its customs and security services. But a nice chunk of it was Martinez's insistence with the company that Origo Works be hired to provide the local touch. This, according to a letter sent to the airport manager, not only increased the cost, but also delayed the implementation of the project for months.
The funny thing, though, is that when the letter got to the city, the offending paragraph outlining the mayor's interference on behalf of Origo Works was deleted. How and why has never been explained since an identical letter without the paragraph made its way into the commissioners' packet.
CH2MHILL of Englewood, Co. requested the change order from Airport Director Bryant Walker in a letter dated Sept. 21 saying that original terminal was originally planned to be approximately 65,000 square feet with another 9,000 square feet designated by Custom and Border Protection for Federal Inspection Service (FIS) areas.
That, however, has changed and now the terminal is now planned for 85,000 square feet and the FIS areas to 23,000 square feet. The additional design and architectural work will increase the fees by CH2MHILL by $850,925.00, bringing ti from the original $1,650,000 to $2,500,925.00, which represents approximately 6.6 percent of the estimated construction value.
"The other item that has caused additional design and management effort is the coordination with our local architect, Origo Works," wrote James Kirshbaum, the engineer for CH2MHILL.
"As requested by the mayor, we engaged Origo Works to help incorporate "local" architectural features and elements into the original design. This effort extended the conceptual design phase of the project by approximately five months, resulting in significant additional efforts by CH2M, Corgan and Origo Works."(See graphic at top right. Click to enlarge.)
It's worth noting that the offending paragraph in Kirshbaum's letter (circled in yellow in the graphic) was removed when it was presented to the city commission.
(See graphic at right. Click to enlarge.)
Except for the paragraph dealing with the mayor's interference, both letters are identical, including the date, Sept, 21, 2017. Did Kirshbaum write the two letters the same day? Or was the sanitized letter tampered with?
It is also worth noting that no one has filed a complaint against the mayor for tampering with a government document as they did when commissioner Jessica Tetreau tried to correct the vote on the appointment of a new member of the GBIC.
And less than three month later (Feb. 6, 2018), Da Mayor was at it again. Origo Works was refurbishing a building to set up shop along the frontage road but there was a snag. It did not have enough parking space as required by the city. Without it, as many other would-be business people know, the permits would be denied and no business could take place.
But not to worry, there's where knowing Tony pays off. The firm lists work done on the mayor's businesses, including Spanky's Burgers and Rincon de la Paz off Palm Boulevard on their website. Both businesses list their principal as Martinez, and list his law firm's address at 1206 E. Van Buren Street as their mailing address.
The Feb. 6 agenda item placed by Engineering (not Tony?) reads: Consideration and ACTION to execute a License Agreement between the City of Brownsville and Origo Works Properties, LLC. (Engineering).
It does not say that Varela - thoiugh his company Varco Venture - owns the building for which the hike and bike trail is to be moved.
In exchange, Origo Works will build a parking lot, fence, and maintain it for the next five years with one-year options for renewals.
Commented one of our readers:
"The free give-away of city land to Origo Works for parking spaces with no consideration for the existing six business entities affected by this license agreement shows no mercy. These six businesses will no longer be able to access the rear of their buildings including the garbage collections via the alleyway which will be replaced by the relocated hike & bike trail.
No notice to the owners no due diligence by the planning & zoning or building permits department including the engineering department. WHAT IS GOING ON?"
It seems pretty simple to us. If you scratch Martinez's back, he will scratch yours. But if you're a regular city taxpayer, check your wallet after you shake his hand or kiss his ring.
Keeping friends like Varela is good political business. After all, Varla is also a a director of Texas Regional Bank since 2010 and currently chairs the Information Technology Committee.
Varela is a partner in Varco Investments, a real estate company with holdings in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. Varco Investments owns the VentureX building where Origo Works and the Brownsville Herald has its new offices.
He was a partner in Pronto Insurance, an insurance managing general agency with over 200 retail locations in Texas, and Florida. which he sold to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance broker.
He was a partner of TransMex, an international freight company which became the premier full truckload carrier in Mexico before he sold it to Swift Transportation in 2004.
With Martinez apparently ready to "fix" things for Huerta and Varela, In this case, it seems that the Varela contribution is just his way of priming the pump to to keep his and his father-in-law's business in Da Mayor's good graces.
"The free give-away of city land to Origo Works for parking spaces with no consideration for the existing six business entities affected by this license agreement shows no mercy. These six businesses will no longer be able to access the rear of their buildings including the garbage collections via the alleyway which will be replaced by the relocated hike & bike trail. No notice to the owners no due diligence by the planning & zoning or building permits department including the engineering department. WHAT IS GOING ON?"
It seems pretty simple to us. If you scratch Martinez's back, he will scratch yours. But if you're a regular city taxpayer, check your wallet after you shake his hand or kiss his ring.
Keeping friends like Varela is good political business. After all, Varla is also a a director of Texas Regional Bank since 2010 and currently chairs the Information Technology Committee.
Varela is a partner in Varco Investments, a real estate company with holdings in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. Varco Investments owns the VentureX building where Origo Works and the Brownsville Herald has its new offices.
He was a partner in Pronto Insurance, an insurance managing general agency with over 200 retail locations in Texas, and Florida. which he sold to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance broker.
He was a partner of TransMex, an international freight company which became the premier full truckload carrier in Mexico before he sold it to Swift Transportation in 2004.
With Martinez apparently ready to "fix" things for Huerta and Varela, In this case, it seems that the Varela contribution is just his way of priming the pump to to keep his and his father-in-law's business in Da Mayor's good graces.
16 comments:
Hey Juan, the Varelas owned the Pronto Insurance Sham.... pronto insurance got a million dollars from GIBIC! They also contribute a lot of money to Eddie Treviño. The mayor and Treviño would have never aided these greedy Varelas with help getting that One million dollars from GIBIC WOULD THEy...naahhhh
Wow. I'm not wasting my vote on Tony this time around. He got it before but you can't fool me again. I'm a little wiser after this article. He lost my vote for sure.
Tony Martinez has done almost nothing for Brownsville, but during his tenure he has made a number of his friends very rich. No jobs have been created, but Tony's friends have made lots of money....and seem to be willing to pay to keep him in office. Tony Martinez is an arrogant asshole who knows nothing about leadership or management, but is a master at making "The Deal" that ends up costing taxpayers money.
Where in the world is W. Ringgold Street? Does Varela live at Sharp Elem or St. Joe? And that street is not W.Ringgold?????? Fake addresses like the children in BISD schools who at least try to hide that they come across from Matamoros everyday.
soungs like a little bit more for santa clause, a little bit more for the reindeers, etc. Is Mayor tony martinez related to anyone of those folks over at City of Weslaco water plant scam? It sure does look and smell like it.
Tony Martinez your time has come you have to go SHAME IN YOU TONY
Puro ca-ca mayor Martinez!
As 4/16/2019 @ 6:47 said. The varela's were the owners of Pronto Insurance, they sold their majority stake to a private equity fund from NY a couple of years ago. Carlos Varela is on the board of directors of Texas Regional Bank. The plaza where Johnny Rocket's is located is his or of his organization, plus the restaurant and Russos.
https://www.texasregionalbank.com/about-us/directors/carlos-varela/
http://www.restaurantnews.com/russos-new-york-pizzeria-inc-signs-3-unit-franchise-agreement-with-vkl-franchise-llc-for-laredo-and-the-rio-grande-valley/
El Nuevo Director
tony martinez the soon to be ex mayor of brownsville reminds me of that old tv show, Lets make a deal with Monty Hall. lol
A note on the father/son Hunt and Ray Hunter team donating $5,000 each to Mayor Tony Martinez's reelection campaign and their multiple connections to the oil industry (including LNG).
Here's the professional bio on Ray from March 2019 conference in Houston: "Hunter Hunt is Chief Executive Officer of Hunt Consolidated Energy, LLC and Co-Chief Executive Officer of its holding company, Hunt Consolidated, Inc. Mr. Hunt oversees the operations of Hunt Oil Company, Hunt Power, and the other energy activities of the Ray L. Hunt family of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Hunt has led the efforts to expand the energy focus of the Hunt affiliation of companies to include the electric power industry. He established Hunt Power in 1998 to develop and invest in entrepreneurial opportunities in the electric and gas utility infrastructure industries. In 1999, he created Sharyland Utilities, L.P. as a regulated electric utility within Texas. Over the years, Hunt Power and its subsidiaries have worked closely with Sharyland Utilities on a variety of innovative projects including the development of the first commercial interconnection between the electrical grids of Texas and Mexico; the development and construction of approximately 300 miles of new transmission infrastructure in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains as part of the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) process; and the creation of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) for electric and natural gas transmission and distribution assets. Prior to joining Hunt Consolidated, Mr. Hunt worked with the investment bank Morgan Stanley for eight years, both in corporate finance and commodity trading. Mr. Hunt graduated from Southern Methodist University summa cum laude, earning Bachelor of Science degrees with honors in both economics and political science. He serves in several capacities at SMU, including serving on the Engineering School's Executive Board. Mr. Hunt is Co-Founder of the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute of Engineering and Humanity, which focuses on bringing innovative technological and business solutions to the global poor."
NOTE THAT HE HAS A PLACE WITHIN HIS HEART FOR "THE GLOBAL POOR." Perhaps that's why he's financially supporting Martinez, as part of a plan to selflessly and generously help out our so poor poor flea bitten part of the world?
You can see the father and son team's 45 minute 03-13-2019 presentation at the conference at https://ondemand.ceraweek.com/detail/videos/ceraweek-2019-highlights/video/6014174913001/voices-of-innovation-with-ray-and-hunter-hunt-with-dan-yergin:-a-father-and-son-dialogue?autoStart=true. See if you can spot Ray's empathy for use poor folks oozing out of this presentation.
Or perhaps you'd rather spend the 45 minutes helping those of us locals fighting against the LNG 3. Check out SAVE RGV from LNG's website at www.savergvfromlng.com/ and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/saveRGVfromLNG/. We're not the only folks actively opposing the LNG 3 here -- we're just the group most focused on the issues involved.
He's gonna need a bigger pocket.
Pure pinche rata de dos patas
Cry baby John. LNG IS A DONE DEAL. It is about JOBS not retiree snow diggers who decided to stay. Admit how many people were at your last meeting and that will tell you how influential your group is. You should hold your meetings at Ebony Lake old folks home. More people would show up.
Come on cry baby anonymous. Stand up and be a man / woman / whatever, an adult and post your name like I post mine.
We're not FERCed yet, still have ways to fight the LNG 3 threatening a number of our already established economies (retirement communities, shrimping, tourism, etc) and threatening our clean air (in ways that will promote more asthma, diabetes, COPD, etc).
The South Padre Island City Council voted 04-17-2019 to continue its opposition to LNG development at the Port of Brownsville, Texas. Today, SPI posted its 09-02-2015 Resolution opposing LNG FERC's eLibrary docket for each of the LNG 3:
On the Annova LNG Docket at http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20190419-5085
On the Texas LNG Docket at http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20190419-5077
On the Rio Grande LNG Docket at http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20190419-5084
Look for SPI to take further actions opposing the LNG 3 in the near future.
Rio Grande, Annova, and Texas LNG need more than FERC approval before they can put spade to ground here. There's still much we can do to delay the projects -- encouraging investors to abandon these projects and invest their money elsewhere.
Next year, we can support Port Commissioner candidates willing to work with all of us to create a greener, healthier, more vibrant future for all of us rather than committing us more and more to long term oil, natural gas, and LNG operations that will dirty our air, harm our health, and hurt and even endanger local communities both inside and outside the Brownsville Navigation District.
Even after Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, South Padre Island, and Long Island Village passed resolutions against LNG in 2015, they still continued to strongly support all three LNG projects. They prevailed upon our Cameron County Commissioners to approve a tax cut deal for Rio Grande LNG (our County Judge being the only one to vote against it).
The Port Commissioners knew about the Valley Crossing Pipeline but didn't let us know about it. We didn't learn about the TCEQ permits the project needed until they were approved without any Public Notice or any Public Meetings.
Now Centurion has resurfaced under the name JupiterMLP. It wants to build a polluting Heavy Condensate Upgrader Facility at the Port. We're keeping an eye out for a TCEQ Public Notice, at which point we can start submitting public comments against it, request a public meeting on the project, and request Contested Hearings on the projects. Before the project disappeared from view in 2017, it involved two trains a day, 120 rail tanker cars each, each loaded with highly flammable condensate, running down the Union Pacific Track from San Antonio to the Port. Lately, Jupiter's been boasting about building an oil pipeline to the port and its plans to build an offshore dock here to accommodate Very Large Crude Carrier tanker ships.
They say LNG stands for Liquefied Natural Gas. But it really stands for Lies 'N' Greed. We need to eliminate the Lies 'N' Greed LNG, LNG, pipeline, compressor station, and heavy condensate upgrader facility type deals being made here behind our backs.
Also check out "Feds echo endangered species concerns in Annova LNG review," Sergio Chapa, 04-19-2019, Houston Chronical, FERC has expressed concerns about the effect the combined three LNG projects could have on endangered species in the area (https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Feds-echoes-endangered-species-concerns-in-Annova-13780649.php). And note that today activists demonstrated at a French bank that's backing the Rio Grande LNG project (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-france-idUSKCN1RV0ID).
That pipeline was built before the ink on your protest sign could dry! You all were really asleep on that one John. If the port was at fault, why have you not sued them ? You are crazier than Bernie . Once again, how many people at your last meeting? Your Sierra club spun bogus talking points are exhaustingly boring.
Those clowns at the port need to be voted OUT together with the director puppet...
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