AMENDMENTS TO REIN IN ROGUE BCIC, GBIC BOARDS ON TAP: IS THE CITY CLOSING STABLE DOOR AFTER THE HORSE HAS BOLTED?

 Special to Run-Rrun

Amendments to ordinances having to do with the day-to-day operations of boards appointed by the Brownsville City Commission will come before the commissioners Tuesday during their regular meeting which will codify the legal obligations, duties, and responsibilities of members appointed to city boards.

The amendments were drafted by city attorney Will Treviño after numerous reports of inadequate performance in governance and due diligence by the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and the Brownsville (GBIC) and the  Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) have come to light in the awarding of grants involving $1000,000 with little or no oversight.  

Specifically, the proposal states that the ordinance amends "The procedures relating to the Commission's appointment of board members shall apply to all City Boards, including the Brownsville PUB, the GBIC a Type-A corporation, and the BCIC a Type-B corporation."

"WHEREAS, the City Commission now deems it advisable and necessary to update the City Board policies and codify the aforementioned policies into the City’s Code of Ordinances, thereby regulating the operation of and appointment to the City’s various boards, commissions, and committees; and

WHEREAS, the City Commission deems it necessary, expedient, and in the best interest of the City to adopt the below revisions..."

Among the recommendations are:

* For the city manager to establish a board liaison. A BOARD LIAISON means the city staff member assigned by the City Manager, or their designee, to work and provide support to the board. The board liaison’s role is to:

a. Prepare meeting agendas, staff reports and supporting information to the City Board prior to meetings.

b. Ensure compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, where applicable.

c. Prepare board recommendations to the City Commission and make presentations to the City Commission on behalf of the City Board.

d. Respond to board member requests for information related to the business of the board.

Further, the ordinance amendments prohibit board members from personally contacting city employees of any department and authorizes the liaison to acquire information for the members thusly:

"e. Board members do not have authority over the work program of city staff. Rather, the liaison acts as an information resource and provides technical assistance. City Board members may not direct city staff in the performance of their commission-related activities, nor can they assign projects or direct the work of staff. A City Board may request staff’s assistance on various projects; however, the City Manager, or their designee, must approve all requests which create a substantial demand for a work product."

In other words, if member of a board administration gets wind of inquiries regarding grant recipients or learns of some non-compliance in the board rules, they cannot personally intervene or inquire of city employees in planning, permitting, or other city department to find out what the individual or the information they were seeking about their board. 

And, in an effort to give at transparency and accountability to the activities of these boards, the amendments beef up and clarify the potential conflicts of interest in awarding funds from the boards to board members and their relatives, city elected officials and employees, and others which their bylaws prohibit from receiving funds. 

The conflict of interest section amendment to the ordinances states that it is "aimed at local officials’ conflict of interest. Under the measure, if a local official (or his/her close relative) stands to gain a financial benefit from a matter pending before a public agency upon which the official serves, the person must publicly disclose his/her interest in such matters and then abstain from voting on it."

The awarding of grants to family members was the modus operandi at the BCIC with then-chairman Michael Limas 's brother Fabian, who co-owns Las Ramblas with his brother, getting in on the action the next month on June 27, 2019. This despite the GBIC's own express prohibition against the practice in its policy manual. A proposal by Cori Peña, BCIC CEO and Executive Director, to make relatives eligible  was voted down, indicating that the smell proved too much for some queasy BCIC board members.

On July 30, 2020, BCIC board member Arturo "Turi" Treviño's brother Alejandro got $10,000 for a his business as did Pedro Cardenas for his Mi Pueblito Restaurant, before he was elected as a city commissioner. Then-Chairman Limas also cashed in on the action, as did his brother Fabian who double dipped for his law firm and Las Ramblas.

For years, the BCIC has awarded board members, past board members, and their relatives cash grants wiothout any of them filling out a conflict-of-interest form stating their personal relations or their personal financial benefit to be derived from the awards. 

Other amendments to the ordinance includes:

(c) Criminal Check. No individual may serve on any city board or committee who has a felony conviction or who has, within the past ten years, been convicted of any crime of moral turpitude.

(d) Vendors or Grantees. No individual who is presently a city vendor, or who presently owns a substantial interest in any company which is a city vendor, is eligible to sit on a city board which contracts directly with that vendor. No individual who has obtained business incentives from a city board, or individual who owns a substantial interest in any company which has obtained business  incentives from any city board, may serve on that same city board or committee within five years of receiving such incentives.

This would prevent the awarding of money to individuals or their organizations who would then be named to a position on the board. 

For example, before BCIC chairman Jill Dominguez was appointed to the board her IDEA Schools received $713,454 on April 29, 2019 to purchase land and establish a swimming retreat and summer camp. Even without the amendments, under the existing rules, she should have waited five years (2024) before she could be named to the BCIC. 

One would think that these rules equate to  closing the stable door after horse has bolted. But given the instances where these common sense rules were ignored or violated, their codification now would seem to be an effort by the city to stanch the flow of money to non-eligible applicants related to members of the board, their relatives or individuals employed by or elected to the city.