ST. JOE-MATA PREPPIES TURN CITY INTO ANIMAL HOUSE; GRINGO DE MAYO LATEST WRINKLE OF THE PARTY SCAM

By Juan Montoya

It started innocently enough, as a new wrinkle to the Mr. Amigo Association when the invitee - usually a novela hero or heroine with Televisa - was invited to preside over a week-long party by an inside cadre of friends out to have good time and make a little pocket change on the side.

The group would solicit participation from the local business community in the form of sponsor ships, donations, and - from local restaurants - free samples of their wares for a slight fee from the public, of course. That was the famous Taste of La  Frontera" fundraiser. The board would then all take off to Mexico City, wine and dine the MAA selection, and come back home to nurse their hangovers and hand over the baton to the next luminary of the self-appointed MAA board.

The  Charro Days crowds would get a chance to ogle at their television hero and would go home to await the next year's show. The city extended all its services to the guest and the group ranging from security by the Brownsville Police Dept., public facilities for their events, some of them restricted to the inside group. Accountability to the public? Are you kidding? We'll use public funds as we see fit and no one has the right to ask what happened to the money.

The MAA's initial mission to invite someone who has done something to unite both nations were left far behind. Instead, the focus subtly shifted to personages of mass appeal which would turn out the crowds. No more Mexican presidents, ambassadors, or artists of international stature. If not substance, then a circus would do. In other words, the bar was perceptibly lowered.

The MAA, infiltrated by Televisa and Brownsville and Matamoros "elites," this year chose unknown business tycoon Elias Ayub, whose main claim to fame was that he was the son-in-law of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

The show was a flop. In fact, Ayub stood up the city when he flew off on his jet to the Mexican Tennis Open in Acapulco while the crowds in the Charro Days International Parade sat patiently waiting for his appearance. Nothing doing, of course.

The president of the MAA, Arturo Trevino, a businessman whose family  has extensive commercial interests in Matamoros and now in Brownsville, is a St. Joe grad who saw his opportunities and took them. He has had some experience politicking. His brother Armando was a candidate for political office in Matamoros. If anyone knows all the tricks, they would.

His example of "giving back to the community" is MAA's purchase of 400 bicycles for students from Matamoros attending Brownsville schools with funds raised from Brownsville businesses and individuals.

Trevino, besides his St. Joe's connections to the twin cities' elite, is now a member of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and knows where the bucks can be tapped for his "building new traditions" schemes.

Just as Trevino saw the MAA formula as the blueprint for a quick, easy buck, so have a a number of local "boosters" and "organizers" of various events who grabbed on quickly to the city's brass ring. Promote and get approval for an event that would "promote" the city, use public facilities, security, and assets for nothing, and pocket the proceeds. "Beerfest," Una Noche en Garibaldi, "Tacos y Tragos," etc., are the brainchildren of this bunch.

At each event, there is some slight mention of the event being a "fundraiser" for some good cause as a justification for free use of the public's assets and facilities while the books are kept under wraps and accountability is nil.

Even the use of the $450,000 electronic billboard at the old Visitors and Convention Bureau, a cost that usually soars past $3,000 to $4,000 was provided by the city for free for use by the private school alumni.

The latest wrinkle is the so-called "Gringo de Mayo," a for-pay event to be held at Market Square which has been refurbished at enormous cost by the public and celebrates the "memory" of the late Alan Jeffrey "Jeff" Lewis whose claim to fame seems to have been that he attended St. Joseph's Academy with his pals from Brownsville and Matamoros.

When he died in 2017, his honorary pallbearers included Rick Cardenas, Rene Cardenas, Les Gloor, Dr. Karen Brooks, along with his "Brothers" from the Charro Days Beard Posse- Wesley Reed, Joe Kenney, Leo Trevino, Raul de la Llata, Mike Pashos,
Rusty Harwood, Doroteo Garcia, Pancho Parker, Narciso Cortez, Johnny Champion, Joe Lee Rubio, Tiny Barrientes, Bean Ayala, Craig Grove, Lloyd Young, Will Putegnat, Danny Loff, Bobby Walker, Javier Garcia, and Mike Garcia.

The organizers of the event make no bones about it.

They say the idea for the event was born during a group drunk that included "everything that Jeff loved during a good party; avocado, good drinks, and a great time with new and old friends."

This, according to the St. Joe FB page will "bring culture and fun" to Brownsville. Trevino, who owns a produce company, has already posted that he has "secured" 500-plus pounds of avocados for the event. Don't hurt to make a little pocket change while we're at it, no?

The entry fee is between $30 for pre-sale, $40 at the door and $50 per couple. That should keep the rabble out.

Almost as an afterthought, the organizers say that the Brownsville Historical Association will get a cut (they don't say how much) as will something called the Jeff Lewis Endowment. Let us take a wild guess. We would wager that any grant or scholarship might include a St. Joe student. What do you think?

We don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but Mr. Lewis had his demons and that included behavior that resulted in his being removed from his coaching job at Rivera High School for activities better left unsaid. Let's just say he was hardly a role model for the students there.

It's high time that the city fathers (and mothers and nannies on the city commission) take control of the activities by groups like the MAA and others who piggyback their money raising activities to line their coffers. Why should public funds and facilities be used to host a good drunk and a few bucks for a select few?