P.U.B. OVERHAUL: WILL BOARD ACT OR DODGE THE BULLET?

 By Juan Montoya

By now the members of the Brownsville Public Utility Board know that the utility is probably the most hated entity in the city.

Power blackouts during a freeze, a failed $125 million venture into building a $500 million gas-powered 800 MWs electric plant paid by the ratepayers through seven years of city-commission mandated higher utility bills, and the lavish salaries of administrators while residents' bills soared, are just the tip of the iceberg at the PUB.

On Wednesday, with former PUB board president Sandra Saenz now replaced by member Art Rendon in part due to the glaring conflict of interest because of her ties to the former mayor Tony Martinez and her inaction during the controversial period that the Tenaska boondoggle was in full swing, the board will consider revamping its image by considering several items of their agenda. 

By far the most expected one is the item dealing with the possible termination of PUB CEO John Bruciak who was given a  paid two-month leave of absence after an explosive forensic report was released in which a case is made that he and Martinez played a major role in continuing the deception – and artificially high rate hikes – that the plant was still viable and allowing the spending of the $125 million raised with the higher bills. Protesters have called for Bruciak's firing and the filing of criminal charges against him, something the board has not done before this item was posted on their agenda.

Interestingly, there may be a new member on the board of the PUB after Tuesday's city commission meeting where an item on the agenda calls for "2) Consideration and ACTION on Resolution Number 2023-001, to appoint, re-appoint and/or remove one (1) Board Member(s) of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board. (City Attorney's Office)." Will it be former chair Saenz getting the heave-to? According to the city agenda packet, her term does not expire until July 2025.

Two PUB members' terms set to expire in July 2023 are Jude Benavides and Sandra Lopez Langley. It's anybody's guess who will be removed or appointed. Two prospective applicants are listed as Emilio Barrera and Mark Steven. 

Pursuant to City Charter Article VI, Utilities Board, Section 1, Management, subsection e, the City Commission may remove only one member of the Board in any twelve-month period of time and may do so only upon a unanimous vote of the entire City Commission. Any vote for removal of a Board Member of PUB will be by roll call, with each member of the City Commission being required to verbally state that member's individual vote on the record.

  

There are also items dealing with choosing an in-house counsel and a decision to continue condemnation proceedings into the acquisition of right-of-way for the Valley Pipeline, part of the Tenaska power plant process that seems unjustified since Tenaska terminated the plant's  construction since 2017.

Now the question becomes, will the board have the wherewithal to pull the trigger on Bruciak and do away with the outside board counsel that costs the utility ratepayers millions annually? Or will they dodge the bullet and continue the farce that passes as the administration of the municipal utility on the backs of the suffering ratepayers?