PUB HEFTY LEGAL FEES TO INCREASE BY $2.5 MILLION?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The mouths of the principals of every law firm south of San Antonio virtually water when they see anything that emanates from the Brownsville Public Utility Board. They know that PUB – besides the fact that its ratepayers live in the poorest community in the country – actually pays top dollar to its lawyers.

In one and a half years (see graphic) from 2019 to June 30, 2020, the PUB paid seven firms a total of $3,133,904. How much it has paid from June 2020 until today is hard to say, but a public information request is already on its way there. In the last 12 years, the PUB's payment to differing law firms more than $20 million. 

Now we hear they want another $2.5 million?

One of our correspondents has alerted us to the fact that an item (#9 on the agenda) for this 

Wednesday's meeting is requesting that those fees be increased an additional $2.5 million. PUB, unlike the City of Brownsville and the Brownsville Independent School District, does not provide public access to backup materials for the particular items.

If they did, the public could scrutinize where the PUB administration is targeting the additional monies and to which firm, if any. As the news of the proposed multi-million increase in legal fees some city commissioners  are saying privately that the item should be tabled until GM John Bruciak and his financial gurus hold a public workshop to detail how they can possibly justify that kind of increase and where the money is going before they can consider voting to approve it.

And it goes further, they say that like the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC) and the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC), the city commission should require PUB to submit their budget for the commission's approval.

"With $2.5 million you could set up your own legal firm and pay an army of lawyers," said a local attorney. "Why do they have to have that? Shouldn't the ratepayers be told what they're paying for. Don't tell me it's Tenaska all over again."

There are also questions on the Memorandum Of Understanding between the City of Brownsville and Tenaska that has been kept secret from the city ratepayers because Tenaska protested its release saying that there was competitive and proprietary information tat would damage their firm. How the ratepayers – the owners, proprietors, of the PUB – can be prevented from seeing what obligations they are under to the utility and the energy supplier is beyond comprehension.

Apparently, someone who has seen the MOU but prevented from copying or getting a copy of it by Tenaska and PUB, said the renewed MOU was not approved by the city commission, but was entered into the renewal with Bruciak's signature, not a vote of the city commission after consideration, discussion or approval.

Does that make PUB ratepayers exempt from the MOU obligations and all actions emanating from its signature void?

Nonetheless, the ratepayers ended up paying millions under the MOU and the $500 million plant was never built. And every time someone asked for a copy of the MOU, the San Antonio law firm of Davidson Troilo Ream and Garza filed opposition briefs with the Texas Attorney General and the MOU was kept under wraps.

That firm – from 2008 to 2018 – was paid $16,283,612 for its efforts. Add that to the $2,707,825 it got paid in the year and a half since then and PUB ratepayers have paid them $18,991,437 in 12 and one-half years. Payments from June 2020 to today will easily increase that total to that firm beyond $20 million. (Click on graphic to enlarge) Why do you need to increase the PUB budget another $2.5 million?  

Then only other firm, a local one, that has gotten anywhere near that is distant second Treviño and Bodden, from Brownsville. Treviño, by the way, is now the Cameron County Judge, but while as counsel with the PUB he had a direct hand in creating the MOU between Tenaska and the city. PUB documents indicate that in the 10-year period from 2008 to 2018, Treviño and Bodden got paid $1,995,600.