Wednesday, April 1, 2020

WAS LANDIN (ZAMORA) WAS NOT QUALIFIED WHEN HIRED?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Remember the run by Melissa Landin (Zamora) when she streaked across the local professional and political landscape?

The Pleasanton native first came to Brownsville as a reporter for the Brownsville Herald, a mentor at the Texas Southmost College newspaper the Scorpion, a city commissioner, public information officer for the Cameron County Judge's Office, a PIO for the District Attorney's Office  and an ad agency executive, to name a few.

In July 2019, Landin managed to get hired by the the Falfurrias Board of Aldermen to supervise city departments, support maintenance of the city budget and to represent the municipality vis-a-vis community groups and state and federal governments.

This might be seen as somewhat of a comedown from her previous positions as elected official and PIO for the DA's Office , public relations and marketing for the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville, administrator of marketing and communications for the RGV MultiBank, and before Communications Director for the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau before being named  Harlingen Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director.

She, most will agree, somehow always manages to land on her feet after a ruckus.

Falfurrias is hardly a metropolis.

Perhaps that's why she was hired without any credentials as a city administrator. Now we learn that she got the minimal requirements for the position just last December. 

In fact, it was five months after she was hired that she got the bare-bones minimum certifications for the position, a managerial certificate.

Falfurrias had all of 6,200 souls in the llano of Brooks County as of the 2010 census. 

It is about as far away from modern civilization as one would want to get. It is also the site where bodies of dead migrants are routinely found as they seek to avoid the Border Patrol checkpoint on US 281. It is 81 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, 90 miles southeast of Laredo, and 36 miles south of Alice.

Brownsville is 117 miles south as urraca flies.

As city administrator, she is responsible for overseeing  six (6) department and division managers who supervise 50 employees. She is also responsible for the development of program and policy alternatives for consideration by the mayor and council, as well as the implementation of those policies and programs adopted by them.

Other responsibilities include meeting with private citizens, community groups, and public/private entities regarding city policies and programs.

One major responsibility is the formulation and administration of the City budget in order to assure a solid base and rationale for the allocation of funds and resources. 

And in 2019, the tax-poor city projected  collecting $470,173 in property taxes and work with a tourism fund of $73,000. Compare that with her claim that as vice president for promotions with Elite Promotions implemented a marketing plan that resulted in revenue of more than $350,000 dollars within 18 months.

For that matter, in her resume she lists that she managed the departmental budget of more than $500,000 while in Harligen with the HVCB.

As administrator, she is projecting that the 2020 budget she will administer will total $2.5 million.

When she left her position at the the office of the Cameron County District Attorney's Office she stated left for "personal advancement."

And she was at the Harlingen Convention and Visitors Bureau for only about a year before she was involved in a full-blown controversy. 

When she left the position of administrative assistant for then-Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, she left under similar circumstances. Fellow staff members said she had demanded Cascos name her in charge of the office when he left town and that he had refused.

Harlingen City Manager Dan Serna told the Valley Morning Star that Landin was fired for “insubordination or other disrespectful conduct,” according to the city’s notice of termination. Serna told the paper that details of the firing were confidential and that he didn't "discuss personnel-related matters.”

The newspaper reported that city’s termination notice stated Landin “refused to follow (Serna’s) instructions” on Jan. 17 for preparations for Mayor Chris Boswell’s State of the City address on Feb. 3. 

“You were confrontational and clearly stated your refusal to follow the directions of the city manager,” the notice states. “(T)his type of behavior is unacceptable at any level.”

So far, Landin appears to have gotten along with her fellow staffers in Falfurrias. But will her ambitious nature come through again as it has in all he previous positions? 

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

RGV cities setting up checkpoints to enforce stay-at-home orders

Do it here where's the mayor?

Anonymous said...

Let sleeping dogs lie, said the daft man, when he saw the dead hound before him.

Anonymous said...

Donations Sought: Gladys Porter Zoo sets up GoFundMe page
What is the salaries of these zoo employees I hear they range into the 200k a year.
The solution is simple you people reach into your very deep pockets and contribute to YOUR cause. When has this ZOO ever help the citizens of this community NEVER

Anonymous said...

No matter that Donald Trump says about the Coronavirus, that does not mean he did a “good job.” It means that, with months of warning and near-infinite resources, he did a worse job than every other government on the entire planet — a job so awful that when a decade from now someone is unlucky enough to think of Trump, this is what they will remember. This is all they will remember:

There was a crisis, Trump failed the nation, and the cost was many, many times worse than 9/11.

Anonymous said...

You must be running out of writing material...

Anonymous said...

Elite Promotions they still around did they pay off all the fed tax liens?

Anonymous said...

Juan that program at utrgv-edinburg is run by a former city manager John Milford, gives out those diplomas to only those who kisses his ass and he promotes them via his consulting firm on the side. Makes you wonder what else he asks and gets???. Wonder how the city overnight grew to a $2.5 million dollar budget, sounds like a lot of Hot Air too. Puro pedo de la melly landin. Anyway good riddance just like it says on the trash trucks. lol

Panfilo said...

Juan the city of falfurrias is in great shape now because Noel Bernal was there before as city administrator , so Brownsville now should become gooder.

Forrest Gump said...

juan btw the utrgv cpm program, anyone can attend, just pay $595.00 and your in and once you complete the 7 items on the program you get a diploma, so any tom, dick and harry plus melissa landin can attend and get a diploma. Will that make you smarter?

Anonymous said...

gooder? que pendejo must be the asministrator who wrote this.

Anonymous said...

What is the reason for this article. She doesn't live here. You just keep following her around intent on destroying people. Let it go already. She has done well and landed on her feet like you say. Give credit where credit is due and move on. This is petty and obnoxious.

Anonymous said...

Melissa Landin is a pillar of this community. She is a fine lady with high moral standards.

Anonymous said...

Really Juan. We’re in the middle of one of the greatest crisis in our country’s history and this is what you write about. If you had an editor, he would have fired you for submitting this story. Wake up and smell the fucking coffee pendejo. The stories are right outside your window.

jmon said...

It's very simple critics (and village cynics). She is a public person, sought the public spotlight, is working in a public position, and getting paid by the public. Her expectations of privacy are nigh nil. If you are of a different opinion, simply don't click on hiss blog.

Anonymous said...

Certified Public Manager (CPM) is a designation that can be earned by public sector middle managers who want to further their careers working in federal, state, local governments, and non-profit organizations. The certification is the equivalent of getting a Masters in Public Administration degree (MPA).

Copied word for word from a Google search. Sounds pretty legit to me. Cost is about $600 per 7 classes. She also has a college education from what I read. Good for her in furthering her education and not relying on a good ole boy network to advance.

Yeah yeah she is a public figure but not in this community and lacks relevance for us here. I am sure she knows she is a public figure elsewhere but constant missives against this person via this gossip blog diminishes any credibility you just might have.

Anonymous said...

Nobody gives two shits, remember smelly.

Anonymous said...

We need to leave people alone when they are not a public figure in Cameron County. Everyone has right to grow in the job market.

Anonymous said...

simple critics and village cynics are these the 7 readers Juanito just asking

rita