By Juan Montoya
In 1996, when Mario Villarreal announced he would run for a seat on the Brownsville Navigation District, he promised to use his contacts in Mexico and in Washington to get things moving.
The port had been trying to get a Presidential permit – the last try in 1991 – and for some two decades before, unsuccessfully.
A little more than a year after he took office, and during a visit to Brownsville, then-President Bill Clinton to Brownsville and brought with him the much-coveted permit to build the rail and truck bridge on port property. With the permit, it opened up the way for pre-engineering and environmental work required for the construction of the span.
Brown & Root won the contract to work on the bridge and billed the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) $424,505 up through July 1997. Then, as these plans were being performed by Brown & Root Engineering, the port and its commissioners had a visitor. It was District 27 Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio.Brownsville Herald reporter Emma Perez-Treviño's award-winning articles indicated that Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation (DEC) hired Lucio for marketing, consulting, and public relations work.
In the course of this work, Lucio introduced the firm to the BND board. Within a month, the BND board voted to fire Brown & Root and hired DEC without requesting proposals. DEC’s original contract was for $2,053,515, but a series of supplemental contracts brought DEC’s take to $15.5 million.
Lucio told Emma that he merely "brought" the two entities together.
"I introduced them (Dannenbaum) to Port of Brownsville officials and they were hired. To that extent, that is what I did for Dannenbaum, (but) my work for the firm is not contained to the port," Lucio said, noting that he does consulting work for the firm throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
"I sit in meetings. I've gone to workshops. I have done some work on finding out what projects are available," Lucio said.
Of this money, $10,529,058 went to subcontractors in Mexico, $9.2 million of which was paid to just three companies, all of which had ties to a DEC employee. One helped startup businesses, one provided security services, and one was a real estate company.
BND was required to approve all subcontracts before any work was done, but DEC entered into 16 of 17 subcontracts without requesting that approval.
Construction of the bridge depended upon securing an agreement with Mexico to perform work on its side of the Rio Grande, which DEC representatives said was forthcoming. Despite such assurances, BND never received approval from Mexico.
In 2004, BND retained Charley Willette, Jr., as a special counsel to investigate how a total of $21.4 million in taxpayer money was spent on a project that was dependent upon Mexico’s support. Willete’s 62-page report traced the millions paid to subcontractors in Mexico and their ties back to DEC.
So much for Lucio working "side-by-side" with Mario for the betterment of the community.
In fact, his intervention on behalf of his client Dannenbaum helped to submarine the project and resulted in grave injury to the port, its taxpayers and to local residents who suffer congestion, the heavy traffic of overweight 18-wheelers loaded with hazardous materials, and potential hazardous materials spills as they rumble down the middle of the city past schools, churches and neighborhoods.And just as Mario was trying to bring a halt to extravagant spending by the board, it was found that Lucio was one of the biggest spenders of the port's dime on fine cuisine
The publicity of a credit-card audit prompted Lucio to write a $931.67 check to reimburse the port for meals he had eaten on the port's tab.
"I want to clear up any misconception of impropriety on the matter of wasteful spending by you and the other upstanding uncompensated public servants," Lucio wrote in a letter to Villarreal. "I want to do my part to assure you and the people of Brownsville that my staff and I were in no way taking advantage of the situation."
33 comments:
Juan, spectacular reporting! People, I was going to be one of the anchoring stanchions for that bridge, but it didn't happen. I stood to make billions, people! Instead, I was forced to sell my stove.
- Booby Weightman-Ramirez
Howdy partnas I want to contiue talking like I am a gringo cowboy so I need for you pochos to vote for ME ME ME and ME. muuuch asssss gggrrraaasias parrrnna.
LOL what a joke, so wheres the Port bridge senator eddie lucio jr? And you want us to continuing voting for you and your son the TURD? common on folks, time to drain the swamp. lets try someone else. Enuff of this democRAT OLD TIMERS. FUERA.
La Rata De DOs Pata, AKA Eddie Luci0. He still screwed us over by building the TOLL Rd (511) for the Port of Brownsville....AKA as the POOREST CITY in the U.S.A. HE HAS GOT TO GO NOW!
Daum its Time for new blood!! Don't be stupid and let a Pachanga buy your vote.
The indictment returned Monday has not yet been signed by the presiding judge, and no action can be taken until that happens.
The seven indictments made public in Willacy County on Tuesday included one naming state Sen. Eddie Lucio another indictment released Tuesday accuses Lucio of profiting from his public office by accepting honoraria from prison management companies. Guerra announced his intention to investigate Lucio's prison consulting early last year.
Lucio's attorney, Michael Cowen
WILLACY COUNTY
THIS WHY LUCIO WANTS TO STEAL THERE WATER IN WILLACY COUNTY. INDICTMENT AGAINST EDDIE LUCIO.
THANK YOU GOV. ABBOTT
THE LUCIOS LIKE TO STEAL
HOUSE BILL 1053
Vetoed: June 15, 2019
Author: Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grand City)
Sponsor: Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville)
Governor Abbott said in a statement:
House Bill 1053 has two fatal flaws:
First, it would exempt the Willacy County Navigation District from competitive bidding requirements applicable to all other navigation districts, allowing it to donate, exchange, convey, sell, or lease a real property interest for less than reasonable market value and without providing public notice.Second, it would authorize the Port of Harlingen Authority to impose an ad valorem tax. This exception to the general laws of our State would unnecessarily undermine the tenets of transparency.
TEXAS MONTHLY
One of the three men
Governor Perry appointed to the University of Texas Board of Regents last week has been linked to political scandals at opposite ends of the Rio Grande, according to several news outlets. The appointee is James Dannenbaum, chairman of Houston-based Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation, whose company has become enmeshed in corruption probes in Brownsville and El Paso.
The following summary of the situation in Brownsville represents my summary of stories done by investigative reporter Emma Perez-Trevino for the Brownsville Herald. The original stories can be found here and here. In the Brownsville case, the Port of Brownsville wanted to work with Mexico to build a bi-national bridge to Matamoros, Mexico. Brown & Root won the contract to work on the bridge and billed the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) $424,505 up through July 1997. That’s when a familiar name entered the picture: state senator Eddie Lucio. The Brownsville Herald has reported that Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation (DEC) hired Lucio for marketing, consulting, and public relations work. In the course of this work, Lucio introduced the firm to the BND board. Within a month, the BND board voted to fire Brown & Root and hired DEC without requesting proposals. DEC’s original contract was for $2,053,515, but a series of supplemental contracts brought DEC’s take to $15.5 million. Of this money, $10,529,058 went to subcontractors in Mexico, $9.2 million of which was paid to just three companies, all of which had ties to a DEC employee. One helps startup businesses, one provides security services, and one is a real estate company. BND was required to approve all subcontracts before any work was done, but DEC entered into 16 of 17 subcontracts without requesting that approval.
Construction of the bridge depended upon securing an agreement with Mexico to perform work on its side of the Rio Grande, which DEC representatives said was forthcoming. Despite such assurances, BND never received approval from Mexico. This is not a bridge to nowhere. It is a nowhere bridge.
In 2004, BND retained Charley Willette, Jr., as a special counsel to investigate how a total of $21.4 million in taxpayer money was spent on a project that was dependent upon Mexico’s support. Willete’s 62-page report traced the millions paid to subcontractors in Mexico and their ties back to DEC.
Peter Zavaletta, who became chairman of the Navigation District in 2004, told the Brownsville Herald that the only work that BND received was 49 black binders in which were a couple of charts.
LITTLE boy eddie lucio. Owns a gym in Brownsville and harlingen. AND OLD Man SUCIO . Does not want to pay the 150.00 a month membership. AND it shows!!!
THANK YOU GOV. ABBOTT, FOR BEING OUR PROTECTOR AT THE STATE CAPITAL.
WE DO NOT WANT TO GO BACKWARDS IN TIME, IN DRINKING GROUNDWATER.
WE WILL GO BACK AND VOTE THIS MAN OF FAITH AND OF MARIHUANA, OUT OF OFFICE.
HB 3356 by Rep Eddie Lucio, III – FAILED
Requires a groundwater conservation district to “consider” regulating the production of groundwater by retail public utilities based on the service needs or area served by the utility.
THANK YOU GOV. ABBOTT!!
BASTARDS, YOU CANNOT GET BUSES FOR BROWNSVILLE, AND TO HAVE THEM RUN ON WEEKENDS. LIGHT RAIL IMPOSSIBLE!!!
Senator, Represenative Eddie Lucio
said the United States and the Valley could learn a thing or two from Europe.
“Getting Elon Musk involved in
the Valley’s light rail project would be awesome".
“We need something affordable that will positively impact our region, because we have a high rate of poverty".
AFFORDABLE, FOR PEOPLE IN PROVERTY. GET THE FUCK OUT OF OFFICE...
The separation of UT-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College leads to hundreds of layoffs.
The bill is authored by the (2) Eddie Lucio.
Senate Bill 24 is a companion to House Bill 1000.
HB 1000 would provide for the UT System to abolish two universities: the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas-Pan Am.
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories on conflicts of interest involving lawmakers with business ties to public entities.he filings list Eddie Lucio's III law practice as a party to eight to name a few underwriting transactions between three finance companies and Cameron County — where Lucio's district is located. Lucio said that he received "nominal" payment from the underwriters'
This means a finance company paid him to negotiate directly with the public entity that wants to issue the bonds.
Bond underwriting transactions are the most common way lawmakers benefit from contracts with public entities... 3 million dollars tax payer money?
SB 535 - Authorizes Handguns on the Premises of Places of Worship - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
Senator Lucio Draws Serious Primary Challenge
The Texas Senate’s most conservative Democrat faces two opponents. Is the Valley ready for change?
Democratic state Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. starts choking up over the phone.
“Session after session, Senator Eddie Lucio comes to Austin and votes against the best interests of the LGBTQ community. … We know that Senator Lucio will not look out for all of us.”
Lucio’s two primary challengers are Sara Stapleton-Barrera, a 35-year-old trial lawyer whose father chaired the Cameron County Dems in the ’90s, and Ruben Cortez, a sitting member of the State Board of Education who won re-election last year.
THANK YOU AGAIN GOV. ABBOTT
EDDIE LUCIO III IS REDUNDANT AND UNNECESSARY.
HB1059. Vetoed: June 15, 2019
Author: Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville)
Sponsor: Sen. José Rodríguez (D-El Paso)
Governor Abbott said in a statement:
House Bill 1059 would mandate a series of reports that are redundant and unnecessary. Many cities and counties are already using adaptive strategies to manage stormwater runoff. Institutions of higher education, meanwhile, are providing sufficient information and support to local governments to promote even broader application of these stormwater-management tools.
Eddie Lucio, III
Legislators were graded along a 0 through 100 scale in 2013 and on an A through F grading scale in 2011.
2013
Lucio received a score of 17.7 in the 2013 Fiscal Responsibility Index.
2011
Eddie Lucio III received a grade of F on the 2011 Fiscal Responsibility Index
BREAKING NEWS & TOP STORIES
!!!NEW SLOGAN CAMPAIGN!!!
EDDIE LUCIO III IS NOT A REGISTERED VOTER
EDDIE LUCIO III IS NOT A REGISTERED VOTER!
Eddie Lucio III has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
By STEVE CLARK Staff Writer | Posted Feb 28, 2018
State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, received a Preservation Texas Honor Award for his restoration and adaptive reuse of the Webb-Martinez House restoration of the 1906. Lucio has repurposed it as a lawyer’s office.
A view of the Neale House front porch Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, that was built circa 1850 in Brownsville. The home is now included on Preservation Texas 2018 Most Endangered Places list. A grant application for Community Development Block Grants funds to restore and relocate the
NEALE HOUSE, a disappearing piece of Brownsville history, has been REJECTED BY MCNAIR.
01-0000-1150-0030-00 Real
1324 E MADISON ST BROWNSVILLE, TX 78520
REGULUS REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LLC $191,387 View Details
HB 489 - Expands Access to Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
SB 11 - Authorizes Concealed Handguns on College Campuses - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
SB 1 - Biennium Budget - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
HB 1340 - Authorizes Certain Children to Consent to Immunizations - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
HB 148 - Prohibits Multiple Ballots from Being Turned in by 1 Individual - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
HB 63 - Prohibits Texting While Driving - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
SB 29 - Restricts Certain Types of Touching During Searches by Government Officials - Texas Key Vote
Eddie Lucio III Did Not Vote on this Legislation.
"Rep. Eddie Lucio, III "I'm humbled by the faith and marijuana"
ANNEXATION HALT: City officials raise concerns
News by Editor
By HEATHER CATHLEEN COX
Staff Writer
Reporter@sbnewspaper.com
The City of San Benito is calling on State Representative Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) and Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville) to take necessary steps to address the City of Brownsville’s strip annexation.
Strip annexation occurs when a city, town or municipality annexes an area smaller than 1,000 feet.
San Benito, in conjunction with Laguna Vista, is expressing concern and objection to Brownsville’s strip annexation which includes areas in not only San Benito and Laguna Vista but also the following Cameron County cities: Rio Hondo, Rancho Viejo, Bayview, Port Isabel, Los Indios and Los Fresnos.
In March of 2013, Sen. Lucio filed four bills to limit such annexations that would also cause certain cities to relinquish annexations. For example, verbiage in Senate Bill 1697 states, “Any city that has more than 10 miles of strip annexation must also include in its annexation plan the surrounding extraterritorial jurisdictional (ETJ). Cities must either annex these ETJ areas within three years of adding them to the annexation plan, or release the strip annexed areas.”
Brownsville’s annexation strategy has landlocked and stifled the growth of several smaller communities in Cameron County. San Benito Mayor Celeste Z. Sanchez said, “We’re asking legislators to look at the legality of cities strip annexing, especially when they cannot provide water, safety and sewage.”
Commissioner J. D. Penny said, “We are joining in with Laguna Vista and surrounding areas because Brownsville is trying to go around some of these towns, taking little strips and trying to maneuver around these towns. We’re trying to prevent them from doing that. They’re all the way up to our doorstep. Laguna Vista, Port Isabel, Los Fresnos … we’re trying to stop them from annexing all the way to our doorstep. San Benito is landlocked.”
On Feb. 3, the San Benito City Commission passed and approved a formal resolution to request that State Rep. Lucio and Sen. Lucio file Local Bills during the 83rd Legislative Session “to counteract the City of Brownsville’s annexation strategy and reverse these strip annexations … and allow the smaller communities in Cameron County to prosper and grow.”
The official request filed by the City states, “Brownsville does not appear to be extending municipal Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) to the ends of the strip annexations … and has effectively limited potential growth and development in San Benito … and whereas the City of Brownsville’s annexation strategy is contrary to the January 2009 findings of the Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade.”
“Annexation is Vital to the Texas Economy,” stated Scott Houston, General Counsel with the Texas Municipal League. “Texas cities, unlike the cities of other states, don’t receive state financial assistance or state revenue-sharing. They don’t ask the state to help fund the facilities and services on which the city, region, and state rely. But cities do ask that their authority to take care of themselves not be eroded. The power to annex is one of those key authorities, and to lose it would be very detrimental to the state.”
Sanchez will be traveling to Austin on Tuesday, Feb. 10 for a Harlingen-San Benito Day at the Capitol. She, along with other local officials, will approach legislators regarding annexation as well as other local concerns.
Panfilo, you confuse Lucio with a democrat. A quick look at his voting record and the dogs he lies with will show you he often takes a republican stance and votes against actual democrat interest and his closest companions in Austin are republicans. When you call him a democrata you are referring to your own guys. He pretends to be a democrat because he knows he likely wont get re-elected if he runs as a republican in this part of Texas and the state and local democrat leadership don't have the balls to call him on it (Gilberto, I'm thinking of you, here).
We will never know......
The Texas Department of Transportation launched a pedestrian safety campaign titled “Be Safe. Drive Smart” to remind drivers and pedestrians to slow down, be alert and obey traffic laws.
Make illegal to carry a cell phone in your hand specially while driving. Seems like they can't do two things at the same time PENDEJOS.
Eddie Lucio buying votes with all free concert a week or so ago. This very questionable representative of the people became a millionaire being an elected official and by (allegation) pocketed the money for the rail/bridge project along with members of the Port board. Who knows that if Bistero hadn't passed away, would there have been indictments? The convicted felon, Armando Villalobos held a grand jury and unknown if anyone was indicted or not? Oh, but the other crooks, dannebaum hand to pay a million dollars back? Wow, a million compared to the over $20 million that was pocketed and all that was ever done was a few survey markers? This sorry excuse of a representative now wants to continue being in office and to make more money! He's been teaching his very ultra brite smile of a son to do the same! Only in CC, the corruption and nepotism continues!
Hee haw...
9.06 am ii agree with you, gilberto hinojete has long been part of the problem here in Cameron County, along with many others old timers. As you know the democRATAS party always trys to railroad any one who runs against any of their compadres, so thats why we have what we have.
Nice reporting Juan. It's high time to vote these bums out. THey are selfish, corrupt and have antiquated visions for the future. F those putos!
We may not see eye to eye in a lot of issues, however, this is SPOT ON
Thanks Juan! People need to know all of the two Lucios’ shenanigans!!
Vote for Sara Stapleton-Barrera!!!!!
Stapleton-Barrera is she european-hispanic from spain?
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