IS TONY REALLY GONE? OR DID HE LEAVE PROXIES AT P.U.B.?

By Juan Montoya
Former Brownsville mayor Tony Martinez went down to inglorious defeat in the May 4 election  limping into last place among three candidates.

Martinez drew a paltry 2,893 compared to Charlie Cabler, the second place finisher and eventual runoff winner Trey Mendez. Mendez garnered 4,329 in the May 4 election and eventually beat Cabler in the runoff.

Just before the election, in the June 18 meeting agenda, there was an item regarding the appointments to replace board members in 11 boards and commissions - including the all-important Brownsville Public Utility Board. The commission, that included lame-duck Martinez and District 1 commissioner Rick Longoria, voted to table the item pending the June 22 runoff for their positions and after the eventual swearing-in of their successors in the July 2 meeting.

At the time, there were eight applicants to the board of the PUB. And the rules for the appointment of board and commission members reads (click to enlarge.):

Interestingly, none of the three individuals eventually appointed to the board (Sandra Saenz, Sandra Lopez-Langley and Jude Benavides) had applications to be PUB members. Langley filed her application on June 30, a Sunday, and two days before the July 2 commission meeting.

Saenz filed hers on June 26, a Wednesday, seven days before. Benavides also filed it electronically June 30.

But - as in most Brownsville ordinances and codes of ethics, there are "exceptions." The loophole here was two paragraphs below where the 15-day requirements for appointments was discarded by giving commissioners the "discretion" to name someone who was not on the applicants list for that board or commission. (Click to enlarge.)

In other words, the hell with the 15-day requirement. The platforms of transparency and accountability of the candidates turned out to be fodder for the masses.

In the July 2 commission meeting where new mayor Trey Mendez, and commissioners Nurith Galonsky and John Cowen were sworn in,  commissioner Rose Gowen nominated Langley, a former member of the board of the Brownsville Economic Development Council and past chair of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation even though she only has a high school diploma.

Lets's not forget that it was under her watch that Jason Hilts, the former CEO of  BEDC and company depleted millions of the GBIC economic development contract money junketing around the world at the public's expense. Martinez himself was one of the frequent flyers jetting to Turkey, Italy and all over Central and South America. Commissioner Ben Neece seconded Gowen's motion and it passed unanimously.

Galonsky nominated Sandra Saenz, one of the partners's in Spanky's Burgers with her husband Ronnie, a former Cameron County Sheriff's deputy. (In the photo at right, she and hubby Ronnie posed in support of Martinez's foiled bid for re-election.)

Saenz has a B.A. in Business Administration. She also happens to be Martinez's law firm secretary and has had a close relationship with the mayor and his businesses for decades. At one time Saenz was hired at the city manager's office, but assigned as Martinez's personal secretary when he was mayor.

The third PUB board member nominated was Jude Benavides, a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering. His nomination passed unanimously with Galonsky making the motion and commissioner Jessica Tetreau seconding it.

Tim Lopes, the fourth appointee to the PUB, also filed Sunday, June 30.

But it's the two Sandras (Saenz and Langley) and their close association with Martinez that has raised the suspicion that Martinez had struck a deal with the new commission members (and Gowen and Neece)
before leaving office.

Langley, if you will recall, as a BEDC member, traveled on the public dime to Bogota, Colombia and accompanied Martinez to scout for business clients with Jason Hilts, the former CEO of the BEDC. She is pictured here on the bicycles which eventually generated the establishment of the "Cyclobia" farce in Brownsville.

And Saenz, in her long association with Martinez and her employment as his law-firm secretary, will no doubt continue his failed policies on utility rate hikes and the Tenaska fiasco that has raised utility rates artificially with no construction of the plant in sight.

 Now that he has these close associates inside, will he be privy to the inner workings and deals at the PUB, including the lucrative real-estate inside information that will be discussed before his two proxies? 

Has Martinez, whose candidacy and policies were soundly rejected by the electorate and shown his  way out the door, - by the appointment of these two fellow travelers - snatched victory from the jaws of ignominious defeat?

And the new guys? This was not an auspicious start in public service. Hold on for the ride.