MARTINEZ IS RIGHT: ACTIONS DO SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

"Action speaks louder than words..." Mayor Tony Martinez chiding opponent Trey Mendez during AARP mayoral debate

By Juan Montoya

City of Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez was reminding voters that Juan "Trey" Mendez - in his role as Texas Southmost College trustee - voted to  terminate TSC President Lily Tercero who was then awarded a $13.1 judgement against the college and blaming Mendez for "wasting" public money.

Given the format of the AARP forum, Mendez having used up his time, could not respond. It was a freebie for Martinez, who prefaced his criticism congratulating the participants - himself, Mendez  and former city manager Charlie Cabler - for desisting from personal attacks.

If Mendez had the time to respond, he would ave been able to roll off a number of Martinez's actions which literally screamed of self-interest and a "waste" of public monies.

For example:

1. On Dec. 17, 2012, he pushed for and voted to raise utility rates by the Public Utility Board by electricity (36 percent), water (20 percent), and wastewater by 6 percent. During a press conference where Martinez unveiled the agreement with Tenaska to build the $500 million natural-gas fed electric plant, he predicted the plant would be built by 2016.

Now with the millions generated by the rate increases piling up in PUB coffers, there is no plant in sight. In fact, as the ex-oficio member of the PUB, Martinez has been instrumental in keeping the Memorandum Of Understanding from the public by protesting to the Texas Attorney General that release of the MOU would be detrimental to Tenaska and the city.

2. Then, as a voting member of the PUB, Martinez's didn't raise a peep when the top three executives of the utility granted themselves hefty raises of  $100,000 over three years. He simply voted for the budgets where the raises were included. It's ironic that during this time the city was recognized as the poorest community in the United States.

But that's not all.

3. Martinez considered and voted for the City of Brownsville to sell a piece of property during a tax resale which was adjacent to his law office. He has been trying to sell the property to the Rio Grande Valley Rural Legal Aid Inc., but the sale was stalled over a shortage of parking spaces. The tax delinquent property would give him enough space to address that issue. 

On  Nov. 3, 2015 regular meeting, a unanimous city commission – after emerging from executive session where John Guevara, representing Linbarger, Goggan Blair and Sampson LLD and city attorney Mark Sossi outlined the bids/offers for 16 property offered for sale for tax delinquency – Martinez voted to sell himself the property.

The street address was 1226 E. Van Buren, next to the mayor's law office. The minutes show that Martinez participated in the executive session discussion and later voted for the city to accept the bids for the 16 properties, including the one he had bid on.

The photo above is a screen shot of the Nov. 3 meeting which shows Martinez presiding over the meeting at the time that the vote was taken (17 minutes, 17 seconds into the regular meeting) and the offers for the properties, including his, were approved "unanimously," as the minutes above show.

The Texas Local §§ 171.001-.010 states that: A public official who has such interest is required to file, before a vote or decision on any matter involving the business entity or real property, an affidavit with the city’s official record keeper, stating the nature and extent of the interest. Id. §171.004(b).

In addition, a public official is required to abstain from further participation in the matter. Id. However, a public official that is required to file an affidavit is not required to abstain from participating in the matter if a majority of the members of the governing body have a substantial interest and are required to file and do file affidavits of similar interests on the same official matter. Id. §171.004(c).

We looked high and low and could find no affidavit filed with the City Secretary and we filed an information request for any such affidavit if there was one filed with the city attorney. But even if there was, the code is specific that Martinez could not participate further in the matter, not even in the discussion on whether to accept the bids for the properties.

The record shows he did and that he voted to permit himself to buy one of the tax resale properties which is now a parking lot for his law office. His bid was for $5,200 and the appraised value by the Cameron County Appraisal District was $13,500.

Those "actions" by Martinez scream volumes of his disdain for the public, the PUB ratepayers, and the rule of law. TSC is appealing the tTercero verdict and up to today it has no paid her a red penny. Meanwhile, Martinez's actions at PUB and Tenaska has cost ratepayers more than $100 million in higher utility bills.

Who needs words when Martinez's actions show naked self interest and an arrogant disdain for the public and the rule of law?