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RANCHER, CONSERVATIONIST FRANK YTURRIA DEAD
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YTURRIA'S ANCESTORS LIVED COLORFUL, CONTROVERSIAL LIFE
(Frank Yturria died at a Houston hospital on Nov. 26 at the age of 95.Yturria was a lawyer, but dedicated most of his life to his ranch and conservation projects, including huge easements to protect ocelots and other endangered species. His book about his ancestor "The Patriarch" gives an insight into his background. We reprint this review in his memory.)
"The Patriarch"
By Frank D. Yturria
Pub. UTB-TSC
2006
319 pages
By Juan Montoya
Knowing the author personally, I had hesitated to write a review of Frank's book.
It is a well-known fact that I consider Charles Stillman, Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King – all of the contemporaries and associates of Francisco Yturria – as Robber Barons who ultimately dispossessed the rightful owners of their property in South Texas with the help of the Texas Rangers and have been portrayed as the saviours of civilization in paid narratives passing off as history.
His ancestors Francisco and Felicitas Yturria could not bear children for four years after they married and despite traveling to New Orleans to get expert medical advice, were told to forget about having offspring.
Yturria himself relates this in his tale. After the couple found out they could have no children, a friend advised them to look for a likely child to adopt.
The boy's father had "moved on," and the couple contacted S. G. Cole, a friend in Edinburg, and "arranged" to adopt Dolores Serna's second child. She was "understandably hesitant" to part with her second child.
Negotiations continued until November 1860, when Yturria accompanied by a priest fetched the 18-month-old child. The boy's name was Daniel and he traveled with his mother to Brownsville because she was still breast feeding him. She remained with the boy for a short time and weaned him before returning to Guerrero.
He spent the closing months of the Civil War in 1865 with his mother before returning to Brownsville. After helping her financially "for at least a number of years," they ruptured all contact with the biological mother.
Yturria outlines the methods used by his ancestor along with King, Kenedy and Stillman to acquire huge amounts of land. Even though he assures us that everything was on the up and up as they swallowed huge estates from the heirs of the original grant holders, most historians are not as charitable. They cite instances where "questionable" methods were used to cheat the heirs of their valuable lands.
However, Yturria claims that his ancestor went the extra mile to convince the heirs of land-grant families like the Cavazos family to sell him and his partners thousands of acres for a song.
In the history books, Yturria is known as a "Civil War profiteer and banker," son of Capt. Manuel Maria and Paula Navarro (Ortuzu) Yturria, was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on October 4, 1830. He was married to Felicitas Treviño, daughter of Ygnacio Treviño, an original Spanish land grantee in Cameron County, Texas. True to form, both Kenedy and King also married to daughters of families who inherited land grants and used that relationship to buy off the rest of the family members.
Yturria began his career in business by working as a clerk for Stillman, the founder of Brownsville, Texas, and by purchasing lands adjoining those of his wife's inheritance.
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As a top aide to Stillman, Yturria was involved in the formation of Mifflin Kenedy and Company, the Rio Grande river boating monopoly that Stillman financed and that Kenedy and King operated. Yturria became the leading cotton broker of Matamoros during this time.
He not only established and operated the Francisco Yturria Bank of Brownsville under a private charter, he also owned and established a mercantile house in Matamoros.
When the Civil War ended, Stillman, King, and Kenedy fled to Matamoros and to Yturria's protection; in 1867 they returned to Brownsville, and Yturria fled to Europe to live in France. He returned to Brownsville two years later to again take over his many business enterprises and continue his service to his old friends Stillman, Kenedy, King, and others.
At the time of his death Yturria owned 130,000 acres in Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Kenedy, and Starr counties.
The vast Punta del Monte Rancho was the headquarters of an 85,000-acre tract of land in Willacy and Kenedy counties, which produced 2,000 steers per year. Yturria would travel by boat to New Orleans and by train to Kansas, where he sold his cattle; he returned to Texas by way of New York, where he made his deposits in the Hanover National Bank.
He was one of the wealthiest and most influential men of his time in southwest Texas. Yturria died on June 12, 1912, in Brownsville. And his descendant Frank Yturria died at 95 on November 26, 2018. RIP.
By Frank D. Yturria
Pub. UTB-TSC
2006
319 pages
By Juan Montoya
Knowing the author personally, I had hesitated to write a review of Frank's book.
It is a well-known fact that I consider Charles Stillman, Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King – all of the contemporaries and associates of Francisco Yturria – as Robber Barons who ultimately dispossessed the rightful owners of their property in South Texas with the help of the Texas Rangers and have been portrayed as the saviours of civilization in paid narratives passing off as history.
Nonetheless, as I read Frank's book carefully, I came to the realization that writing about your ancestors forces your hand and gives you an insight of people's lives that you would otherwise see in a different light.
The first thing that strikes you as a contradiction in Yturria's book about his great-grandfather is that he wasn't his great-grandfather at all. And the next thing is that the book's title, "The Patriarch," is a misnomer of the first degree.
His ancestors Francisco and Felicitas Yturria could not bear children for four years after they married and despite traveling to New Orleans to get expert medical advice, were told to forget about having offspring.
The current batch of "Yturrias" are the descendants of an ill-conceived offspring between an Irish soldier who came with the invading U.S. Army and a poor Mexican woman from old Guerrero, upriver from Brownsville.
Yturria himself relates this in his tale. After the couple found out they could have no children, a friend advised them to look for a likely child to adopt.
In 1858, Dan Sullivan, a San Antonio businessman, offered to help them adopt one. He was talking about a child born to a Dolores Serna from her relationship with Sullivan's business agent, an Irishman who came with Zachary Taylor's army, one Daniel Louis McGraw.
So in reality, Frank and his brother Fausto and the descendants of his grandfather Daniel are really McGraws.
"It took some persuading, but the arrangements finally were complete," Yturria writes of the couple's first adoption.
According to his account, the friend told Francisco that "You and your wife have so much to offer a child, much more than a poor family can...They might consider letting you adopt the child since you could give him all the things she never will be able to."
According to his account, the friend told Francisco that "You and your wife have so much to offer a child, much more than a poor family can...They might consider letting you adopt the child since you could give him all the things she never will be able to."
Francisco and Felicitas arranged for McGraw to deliver the boy – and named him Santiago – after Francisco's younger brother. The boy died from a fever a year later.
The boy's father had "moved on," and the couple contacted S. G. Cole, a friend in Edinburg, and "arranged" to adopt Dolores Serna's second child. She was "understandably hesitant" to part with her second child.
Negotiations continued until November 1860, when Yturria accompanied by a priest fetched the 18-month-old child. The boy's name was Daniel and he traveled with his mother to Brownsville because she was still breast feeding him. She remained with the boy for a short time and weaned him before returning to Guerrero.
He spent the closing months of the Civil War in 1865 with his mother before returning to Brownsville. After helping her financially "for at least a number of years," they ruptured all contact with the biological mother.
"As far as I know, my grandfather (Daniel) never reestablished contact with his birth mother, nor sought to discover her ultimate fate or that of his father," Yturria writes. "Neither did my father, nor have I, as yet."
Yturria outlines the methods used by his ancestor along with King, Kenedy and Stillman to acquire huge amounts of land. Even though he assures us that everything was on the up and up as they swallowed huge estates from the heirs of the original grant holders, most historians are not as charitable. They cite instances where "questionable" methods were used to cheat the heirs of their valuable lands.
However, Yturria claims that his ancestor went the extra mile to convince the heirs of land-grant families like the Cavazos family to sell him and his partners thousands of acres for a song.
In the history books, Yturria is known as a "Civil War profiteer and banker," son of Capt. Manuel Maria and Paula Navarro (Ortuzu) Yturria, was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on October 4, 1830. He was married to Felicitas Treviño, daughter of Ygnacio Treviño, an original Spanish land grantee in Cameron County, Texas. True to form, both Kenedy and King also married to daughters of families who inherited land grants and used that relationship to buy off the rest of the family members.
Yturria began his career in business by working as a clerk for Stillman, the founder of Brownsville, Texas, and by purchasing lands adjoining those of his wife's inheritance.
As a top aide to Stillman, Yturria was involved in the formation of Mifflin Kenedy and Company, the Rio Grande river boating monopoly that Stillman financed and that Kenedy and King operated. Yturria became the leading cotton broker of Matamoros during this time.He not only established and operated the Francisco Yturria Bank of Brownsville under a private charter, he also owned and established a mercantile house in Matamoros.
For his business friends in Brownsville during the Civil War, Yturria became the registered owner of record of boats belonging to King, Kenedy, and Stillman, allowing their boats loaded with cotton and bound for European ports to sail past vessels of the Union blockade flying the Mexican flag.
In 1864 Emperor Maximilian of Mexico knighted Yturria and appointed him customs collector on the Rio Grande, a position he held until 1867.
In 1864 Emperor Maximilian of Mexico knighted Yturria and appointed him customs collector on the Rio Grande, a position he held until 1867.
When the Civil War ended, Stillman, King, and Kenedy fled to Matamoros and to Yturria's protection; in 1867 they returned to Brownsville, and Yturria fled to Europe to live in France. He returned to Brownsville two years later to again take over his many business enterprises and continue his service to his old friends Stillman, Kenedy, King, and others.
At the time of his death Yturria owned 130,000 acres in Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Kenedy, and Starr counties.
The vast Punta del Monte Rancho was the headquarters of an 85,000-acre tract of land in Willacy and Kenedy counties, which produced 2,000 steers per year. Yturria would travel by boat to New Orleans and by train to Kansas, where he sold his cattle; he returned to Texas by way of New York, where he made his deposits in the Hanover National Bank.
He was one of the wealthiest and most influential men of his time in southwest Texas. Yturria died on June 12, 1912, in Brownsville. And his descendant Frank Yturria died at 95 on November 26, 2018. RIP.
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NEW BISD BOARD REORGANIZES, ELECTS NEW OFFICERS
Discussion, consideration and possible action for Re-Organization of Board of Trustee Officers.
President
Vice-President
Secretary Dr. Prisci Roca-Tipton
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STOLEN HUSKY FOUND, RETURNED TO ITS OWNER
Special to El RrunRrun
That husky pictured above was missing and its owner suspected someone had stolen him. He asked for the public's help to find his pet after it was taken from the Land-O-Lakes area November 18th. The owner now reports that his pet is back at home. Thanks to our Rrun-Rrun readers for their help in reuniting him with his owners.
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BROWNSVILLE WORK CREW ON CHARRO DAYS BEFORE MACHINE STREET SWEEPERS
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INS UPGRADES MEXICO ALERT, CITES NEW ADMINISTRATION?
A source in Mexican diplomatic circles in Mexico City sent us this missive credited to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services saying it is upgrading its inspection of luggage and documents coming from that country. (Click to enlarge.)
In a latter allegedly issued Nov. 26 by the USCIS states that "as of today, the immigration amber alert from Mexico has become red, due to their political environment facing the new administration taking power this coming Dec. 1, 2018.
"In the past few week, the United States of America has received record visitors from Mexico and deposits on the US financial system."As a result, the letter continues, the USCIS "will be conducting severe and meticulous inspections of all documents and luggage from Mexican nationals."
Them, toward the end, it continues: "We strongly suggest to all Mexican nationals that reside in the United States of America with non-immigrant visas, not to travel out of the country as they will be subject to the same inspection as any other Mexican national coming to our country."
Some of the awkward language of the letter has raises some suspicions, and a check of the USCIS website (https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts?field_article_news_topic_tid=All&topic_id=_&field_release_date_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Bmonth%5D=&field_release_date_value_1%5Bvalue%5D%5Byear%5D=&multiple=mexico+alert&items_per_page=10) did not yield any such alert dated Nov. 26.
The government of president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is scheduled to take office Dec. 1 (Saturday). The letter's reference to "their new political environment facing the administration" is apparently, a misspelling or typo of "the new political environment."
It's ironic that AMLO just announced yesterday that investors have received assurances that their investments will be protected and said his administration has already started talks with U.S. and Canadian heads of state to assure a smooth financial transition.
And the reference to record visitors and increases in deposits from Mexico in the U.S. financial system would indicate a run on the Mexico financial system. Is this a legit letter, or a ruse to fuel a run on the Mexican financial system and fuel fears of the Mexican people and foreign investors of the incoming administration?
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HANNA'S MARK GUESS SURVIVED BISD POLITICAL ANTICS TO LEAD GOLDEN EAGLES TO HISTORIC THIRD-ROUND MATCH
Sources within the Brownsville Independent School District say that Hanna Golden Eagles Coach March Guess was able to overcome the political machinations of past district trustees at Memorial High School to land at Hanna and steer his football team toward a historic performance and a shot at third-round regional competition in the post season.
The Brownsville Herald reported that no Golden Eagle team has advanced to the third round of regional competition since the school started competition in the sport way back in 1909. Only five teams, the paper reported have had a 10-win season and only four have advanced to the second round.
This included the Brownsville High School Golden Eagles under Joe Rodriguez in 1969. That year, they shared the District 26-4A championship with Harlingen and advanced to the state playoffs by virtue of a 27-0 win over the Cardinals in the regular season.
In bi-district, they won 25-15 over a Corpus Christi Miller team boasting three future NFL players. The Golden Eagles then fell 47-14 to Seguin in the regional round to finish 10-2.
Guess left Memorial after serving there as head coach through the 2010 to 2011 seasons and then made BISd Athletic Director in 2012. He would become the Hanna coach in an interim role in 2016 and then finally made head coach under Principal Blanca Lambarri, who withstood the political pressures of the board to install Guess as head coach.
Rodriguez, who was a BISD trustee for 19 years, coach for 17, and Athletic Director for 27, cast a wide shadow over the district's personnel and purchases of sports equipment as a vendor for BSN Sports and Herrf Jones (ringmaker). During a Level III grievance by Veterans Memorial former principal Mary Solis, her complaint included allegations that he and other trustees had tried to bypass Human Resources recommendations, lean on the principal hire their favorite coaches, purchase equipment from their "friends" and manipulate the administration to replace personnel at the different schools.
Even though Solis won her grievance and the board ordered the BISD administration to return her to her former level, she never returned to Memorial after having been sent to Lucio Middle School.
Obviously, Guess was not one of Rodriguez's favorites. In her complaint, Solis said Rodriguez, himself a vendor for BSN, pushed for the school's coaches to buy from that outfit.
Her complaint also stated that Rodriguez's pushed for his preferred vendor for graduation products Herff Jones. The same sources say that Rodriguez told Solis that "You need to give business to these people. They take care of us."
It's fortunate for Guess and his Golden Eagles that he was able to course through the byzantine BISD politics and guide his team to a historic shot at a third-round regional title. Had he and Lambarri had not, who knows how the team would have fared.
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SHAME OF THE BISD: CANALES ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN
(Ed.'s Note: While the Brownsville Independent School District board and administration fell over themselves trying to spend the $120 million over five years and naming facilities after their cronies, the state of some of the BISD buildings on school campuses have become hazardous eyesores.
Take, for example, some of the buildings that are still on the J.T. Canales Elementary campus on International on the northern fringes of Southmost.
Although they are no longer in use, they have been allowed to deteriorate to the point where they constitute a danger to students and people who may have to work in the area. In fact, the buildings have been left lie fallow for so long that some of them even sport burglar bars, long prohibited by the fire code. Parents from Canales sent us these photos and say that the old buildings have been falling apart for years and have been visibly deteriorating. They are afraid some curious kids may wander among the ramshackle buildings and get hurt by a rotten beam or cut by glass or a piece of corrugated metal sheet. The condition of this campus would make most administrators cringe in horror. Will it take concerned parents to get the new board to nudge the administration to action to remove this hazard? We'll see.) ↧
FOR LOSING SBOE DISTRICT RACE, HASSE MADE A GOOD SHOW
Early Total
Charles "Tad" Hasse REP 123,681 47.09% 176,530 46.20%
Ruben Cortez, Jr. - (I) DEM 138,957 52.90% 205,520 53.79%
By Juan Montoya
People looking at just the counties along the Rio Grande or the urbanized areas could say that Charles "Tad" Hasse, was soundly beaten by incumbent Ruben Cortez in the State Board of Education District 2 race.
But a closer look at the numbers indicates that Hasse not only gave it the old college try, but in fact won 12 out of 17 counties in the district that stretches from the Rio Grande river to just east of Austin and San Antonio encompassing Corpus Christi and Victoria.Out of a total of 382,050 votes cast in that election, the difference between Hasse and Cortez was only 28,990, a little bit over 7 percent of the total.
When you take into consideration that Hasse campaigned on a shoestring, that Cortez spent thousands to get out the vote, and that the Democratic incumbent was boosted by the last year of the palanca and the Betomania effect on this year's elections, the results should give Democrats room for pause.
In fact, out of the 17 counties in District 2, Hasse beat Cortez handily in 12. The only counties Cortez won were those along the river (Cameron. HIdalgo), neighboring Cameron (Willacy) and Kleberg and Nueces.
Those river and urban areas were enough to give Cortex the win. Hidalgo alone gave Cortez 71,305 compared to Hasse's 27,624. We should not forget that Cortez is a member of the Region One board and as such has cultivated friendships among countless vendors and school district administrators.
Put another way, Hasse got more votes than the number cast in the whole of Cameron County (146,121). More tellingly, there were 30,044 straight-ticket (palanca) Democratic votes cast in Cameron County, more than the difference between the two (the 28,990) enough to have swamped Hasse from the get-go.
That he wasn't and still came within some 7 percentage points of a victory gives you an illustration of how close he came to winning.
The tragedy of it all is that we will have Cortez ,– a GED graduate known for his penchant for twisting vendors' arms for cash contributions and milking the system with very slim ties to education – instead of someone who truly wanted to improve our kids' education.
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THE ROOSEVELT STREET ROUGH RIDERS, RIDE AGAIN
(Ed.'s Note: Depending on the condition of your car, the first thing that will go will be either the suspension, the tires, the shocks, your tailpipe, or your windshield will crack. That is if you don't hit one of these craters on the road and lose control of the car and veer off the roadway or into an oncoming car. Is this the reason used tire shop and muffler shops proliferate in this town?
(In case you are stumped, this is the Roosevelt Street section between 13th Street and McDavitt adjacent to Victoria Elementary.)
We have grown weary of writing (and we're sure you have grown weary of reading) that Brownsville lacks a credible drainage system to prevent the breakup of the roadways every time it rains. These past few days we never really got a downpour in town, but the chipi-chipi over a few days has resulted in the usual pothole appearing on the streets.
If these seem familiar, they should. They are the same ones that City of Brownsville Public Works crews patched up last time it rained. And they will be the same ones they will patch when it rains a few weeks from now. We are literally providing job security for these guys and throwing money down the drain.
The city fathers (and one particular mother or nannie) have seen fit to spend millions on deluxe bike and hike trails that don't flood to attract the millions of tourists that will come to ride them, they tell us. So far the millions of "active" tourists have not appeared, but we're sure seeing a lot of our fellow city residents actively dodging the holes and oncoming traffic. Incidentally, after this post appeared, one of our bike-riding friends says he thought a small puddle on one of our streets was nothing and he rode over it only to end up on the pavement when he found out it was a deep water-filled pothole.
Hopefully the elections next May will see candidates who are conscientious men and women who will run to address the most basic of all city services, drainage.)
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THREE BROWNSVIL JPS HANDLE MOST CASES FILED IN COUNTY
The Cameron County annual report on the performance of the Justice of the Peace courts for 2018 shows that the commissioners' decision to even out the staff in the Brownsville courts was well justified.
During this year's budget deliberations, commissioners voted to shift one clerk from the JP 2-1 office (Salazar) to JP 2-3 (Maria Ester Sorola) citing the workload and cases processed through those offices. That made the number of staff at the three Brownsville JP offices the same.
Records from the JPs office indicate that in 2018, there was a 103 percent increase in fines collected in that office. In contrast, the JP 2-1 office (Linda Salazar) had a 1 percent increase.
From the outset, it should be noted that the courts have had a steady backlog of cases dating back at least a decade or more. And if you will notice, the bulk of the JP filings are with the three JPs in Brownsville.
Like JP 2-2 Johnathan Gracia, many of the JPs have urged the Cameron County District Attorney's Office to dismiss those that date back to the 1990s and early 2000s because of the difficulty in prosecuting cases that stretched back 10 to 20 years. Instead, they have relied on mailing out notices of possible prosecution in hopes of nudging defendants into comply with the fines.
Still, as in JP 2-2 Gracia's case, the backload of cases left over from the late Tony Torres and then his successor Erin Garcia leave 13,215 cases remaining open.
On the other hand, at JP 2-1 Salazar's office, 25,658 cases remain open even though she has been at that post more than three terms (12 years.) Only JP 1 Benny Ochoa at Port Isabel has more, 31,599.
Some of these numbers are skewed, such as JP 5-3 Mike Trejo, who handles the fines and citations from the Los Indios Bridge, which are issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Sheriff Dept. fines on 18-wheeler trailers traveling from Mexico into the U.S. Those fines can total into the thousands and throw off any apples-to-apples comparisons. He collected the most of any JP with $1.47 million. Being the only JP to handle those fines skewer his totals.
But looking at the Brownsville JPs as to criminal cases filed and fines collected for 2018, it is apparent that JP 2-3 Sorola and her staff have been very busy and justified the moving of a clerk from Salazar's office to hers. Sorola just got reelected to a second term in November.
In 2018, she collected $1.08 million in fines compared to $960,530 by Salazar and $916,370 by Gracia. But by far the biggest percentage increase in fines collected by all the JPs in the county from 2017 was 103 percent in Sorola's office compared to a 1 percent increase at Salazar's and 16 percent in Gracia's. Trejo had a 46 percent increase followed by Sally Gonzalez in JP 5-1 with 32 percent.
She also has the fewest cases remaining open of all the JPs in the county with 9,998.
Law enforcement filed 10,466 cases in her court, almost 3,000 more than in Salazar's court and Gracia's. Entities like DPS and the sheriff's department can choose in which court they file, indicating a preference of the JP 2-3 court. Only they know why they choose to file there.
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AFTER A BIG DOG PEES, ONCE MORE TO LAKE BROWNTOWN
By Juan Montoya
Former City of Brownsville Mayor Henry Gonzalez used to quip (he was a jock in school) that if a dog peed at Four Corners, the whole of Boca Chica Blvd. would flood.
That is not entirely incorrect. After each "flood event" FEMA would come down to Cameron County and tell officials that the county needed a countywide drainage system to prevent such occurrences.
![Image result for flooding, rrunrrun]()
Of course, everyone nodded their head in agreement until they got their disaster relief and then returned to the piecemeal systems in place: floodways, retention ponds, and the cleaning of drainage ditches until the next big dog came around and relieved himself at Four Corners again.
And there we remain.
Drainage District No. 1, which has the same board members who were appointed when the district was created back in the days when the late Pete Benavides was Cameron County Pct. 1 commissioner, has refined the task of cleaning ditches to a fine art, but the flooding still occurs despite its massive annexations of city properties,
It is still a piecemeal design that does not incorporate all the areas of the city. In fact, the same board members appointed by the county commissioners court remain in office with no elections held by the district in all those years. When its director retired, one of the board members took over the task.
Despite the obvious need for a wholesale restructuring of the system, the district is now delving into recreation uses for its land, creating a water park on Robindale Road across the street from the Robindale Sewage Treatment Plant. It is named after the district board chairman Ernesto Gamez, a sort of monument to himself. Gamez, a short man, has even had a small hill created for the park. Mount Gamez, perhaps?
Its engineer has pointed out that neither the city Public Works nor the Brownsville Public Utilities Board coordinate flood responses with the district and we end up with bottlenecks at the juncture of these systems (resacas, ditches, etc.) that make it almost impossible for the watershed to function naturally as when the water flowed to the Rio Grande.
During a recent visit, he showed us a computerized hydrology map showing the areas where water bottlenecks and flooding occurs. Using this basic information as a base for a drainage system design, it would seem that it shouldn't be too difficult for these entities to coordinate a response.
The territorial nature of these entities to protect their turf has long stopped the management of the runoff of rain water and the cooperation to handle its flow away from populated areas.
The flow of the water in the river has been greatly diminished with the construction of dams upstream and in northern Mexico. The levee system that was constructed to keep the annual spring rains upstream from flooding downtown now keeps runoff from flowing naturally into the river.
We really can't remember the last time the levees were threatened by the water coming from upstream unless it was the runoff from a hurricane that had struck northern Mexico from the gulf. Now, instead of protecting the city, the levees act to hold the flow of runoff into the river and create a reservoir of southeast Cameron County.
We have long advocated the creation of multiple outfalls to the river from San Pedro to Oklahoma Road divert the flood waters to the river instead of waiting for it to drain naturally up the main drains to the Port of Brownsville channel. If the tide is high, it will take that much longer. Instead, we spend millions on silk stocking pet projects like hike and bike trails which do nothing to address the most basic of municipal functions: good drainage.
![Image result for plastic bags, rrunrrun]()
Now that the Texas Supreme Court has outlawed plastic bag bans, the bags will be blamed for clogging up drains and cause flooding, instead of taking the bulls by the horns and create bona fide drainage system.
There will always be a 10 percent who throw away the bags and other litter. But should the other 90 percent should have never been penalized?
(The photo at right was taken about a year ago, about six years after Brownsville’s plastic bag ban was put into effect in 2011. The Texas Attorney General charged that the $1 environmental fee paid by Brownsville residents who chose to use plastic bags at checkouts was illegal.)
How many years did it take for us to realize that the Works Projectgress Administration irrigation-designed system of ditches we relabeled as a drainage system isn't going to do? After each "flood event," Public Works crews set about to patch the potholes washed away by the runoff.
We know.
Fixing a drainage system is not as sexy as riding around in an expensive bike wearing the latest designer cyclist outfit. But how long must our neighborhoods and street continue to be inundated and torn up by rain waters because we never addressed the most basic of municipal services, drainage?
Former City of Brownsville Mayor Henry Gonzalez used to quip (he was a jock in school) that if a dog peed at Four Corners, the whole of Boca Chica Blvd. would flood.
That is not entirely incorrect. After each "flood event" FEMA would come down to Cameron County and tell officials that the county needed a countywide drainage system to prevent such occurrences.
Of course, everyone nodded their head in agreement until they got their disaster relief and then returned to the piecemeal systems in place: floodways, retention ponds, and the cleaning of drainage ditches until the next big dog came around and relieved himself at Four Corners again.And there we remain.
Drainage District No. 1, which has the same board members who were appointed when the district was created back in the days when the late Pete Benavides was Cameron County Pct. 1 commissioner, has refined the task of cleaning ditches to a fine art, but the flooding still occurs despite its massive annexations of city properties,
It is still a piecemeal design that does not incorporate all the areas of the city. In fact, the same board members appointed by the county commissioners court remain in office with no elections held by the district in all those years. When its director retired, one of the board members took over the task.
Despite the obvious need for a wholesale restructuring of the system, the district is now delving into recreation uses for its land, creating a water park on Robindale Road across the street from the Robindale Sewage Treatment Plant. It is named after the district board chairman Ernesto Gamez, a sort of monument to himself. Gamez, a short man, has even had a small hill created for the park. Mount Gamez, perhaps?
Its engineer has pointed out that neither the city Public Works nor the Brownsville Public Utilities Board coordinate flood responses with the district and we end up with bottlenecks at the juncture of these systems (resacas, ditches, etc.) that make it almost impossible for the watershed to function naturally as when the water flowed to the Rio Grande.
During a recent visit, he showed us a computerized hydrology map showing the areas where water bottlenecks and flooding occurs. Using this basic information as a base for a drainage system design, it would seem that it shouldn't be too difficult for these entities to coordinate a response.
The territorial nature of these entities to protect their turf has long stopped the management of the runoff of rain water and the cooperation to handle its flow away from populated areas.
The flow of the water in the river has been greatly diminished with the construction of dams upstream and in northern Mexico. The levee system that was constructed to keep the annual spring rains upstream from flooding downtown now keeps runoff from flowing naturally into the river.
We really can't remember the last time the levees were threatened by the water coming from upstream unless it was the runoff from a hurricane that had struck northern Mexico from the gulf. Now, instead of protecting the city, the levees act to hold the flow of runoff into the river and create a reservoir of southeast Cameron County.
We have long advocated the creation of multiple outfalls to the river from San Pedro to Oklahoma Road divert the flood waters to the river instead of waiting for it to drain naturally up the main drains to the Port of Brownsville channel. If the tide is high, it will take that much longer. Instead, we spend millions on silk stocking pet projects like hike and bike trails which do nothing to address the most basic of municipal functions: good drainage.
Now that the Texas Supreme Court has outlawed plastic bag bans, the bags will be blamed for clogging up drains and cause flooding, instead of taking the bulls by the horns and create bona fide drainage system.There will always be a 10 percent who throw away the bags and other litter. But should the other 90 percent should have never been penalized?
(The photo at right was taken about a year ago, about six years after Brownsville’s plastic bag ban was put into effect in 2011. The Texas Attorney General charged that the $1 environmental fee paid by Brownsville residents who chose to use plastic bags at checkouts was illegal.)
How many years did it take for us to realize that the Works Projectgress Administration irrigation-designed system of ditches we relabeled as a drainage system isn't going to do? After each "flood event," Public Works crews set about to patch the potholes washed away by the runoff.
We know.
Fixing a drainage system is not as sexy as riding around in an expensive bike wearing the latest designer cyclist outfit. But how long must our neighborhoods and street continue to be inundated and torn up by rain waters because we never addressed the most basic of municipal services, drainage?
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FBI PROBES GALLEGOS' I.E.S.; S-WEST KEY'S SANCHEZ BARED
(Ed.'s Note: Once again Brownsville has caught the national eye, not as we would want, of course, but as a point of crisis and potential criminal wrong-doing and profiteering from a humanitarian debacle.This time it's Southwest Key's self-made millionaire Juan Sanchez,a Brownsville native, and I.E.S.'s Ruben Gallegos Sr. and Ruben Jr., also from here. The sordid details follow.)
By Kim Barker, Nicholas Kulish and Rebecca R. Ruiz
Southwest Key has collected $1.7 billion in federal grants in the past decade, including $626 million in the past year alone. But as it has grown, tripling its revenue in three years, the organization has left a record of sloppy management and possible financial improprieties, according to dozens of interviews and an examination of documents. It has stockpiled tens of millions of taxpayer dollars with little government oversight and possibly engaged in self-dealing with top executives.
Showing the ambition that brought him from the barrio to the Ivy League, Mr. Sanchez seized the chance to expand his nonprofit when thousands more unaccompanied children began crossing the border during the Obama era. When the Trump administration needed to house migrant children it had separated from their parents, Mr. Sanchez took them in.
![Resultado de imagen para casa padre, brownsville]()
As immigration intensifies as a flash point of the Trump presidency, with tear gas being fired at a migrant caravan and the price tag for separating families continuing to rise, Mr. Sanchez is central to the administration’s plans.
Southwest Key can now house up to 5,000 children in its 24 shelters, including a converted Walmart Supercenter that has drawn criticism as a warehouse for youths. The system is nearing a breaking point, with a record 14,000 minors at about 100 sites – a human crisis, but also a moneymaking opportunity.
Though Southwest Key is, on paper, a charity, no one has benefited more than Mr. Sanchez, now 71. Serving as chief executive, he was paid $1.5 million last year — more than twice what his counterpart at the far larger American Red Cross made.
Southwest Key has created a web of for-profit companies – construction, maintenance, food services and even a florist — that has funneled money back to the charity through high management fees and helps it circumvent government limits on executive pay.
The organization, sitting on $61 million in cash as of last fall, has lent millions of dollars to real estate developers, acting more like a bank than a traditional charity. It has opted to rent shelters rather than buy them, an unusual practice that has proved lucrative for shelter owners — who include Mr. Sanchez and the charity’s chief financial officer.
Marcus Owens, the former head of tax-exempt organizations for the Internal Revenue Service under both Republican and Democratic administrations, reviewed Southwest Key’s tax returns for The New York Times. Regulators, he said, seemed to be “asleep at the switch.” Describing the financial dealings of Mr. Sanchez and his colleagues, he said, “I think the word is ‘profiteering.’”
Mr. Sanchez defended his charity. It had to move fast at times, he said in an interview. But every act, he added, has been to help children.
“There are all these kids, they’re at the border, they’re in detention,” Mr. Sanchez said. “How do we get this thing done as quickly as we can so we can start serving those kids?”
Jeff Eller, a spokesman for Southwest Key, said on Tuesday that the charity was closely examining its management practices after questioning from The Times, and that there was “general acceptance” that the charity had made mistakes.
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“Could we have done things better? Yeah. And should have? Yeah,” Mr. Eller said. “But there wasn’t a desire to game the system.”
Because of the substantial growth of migrant shelters, the federal government hired an accounting firm this year to review shelter grant recipients, said Mark Weber, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. He added that the department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees migrant shelters, had also created a new division to monitor shelters’ spending.
Separately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into another shelter provider, International Educational Services, for possible misuse of federal money, according to two people informed of the inquiry. The nonprofit’s founder, Ruben Gallegos, said he had no comment on the investigation.![]()
By Kim Barker, Nicholas Kulish and Rebecca R. Ruiz
New York times
Juan Sanchez grew up along the Mexican border (in Brownsville) in a two-bedroom house so crowded with children that he didn’t have a bed.
Juan Sanchez grew up along the Mexican border (in Brownsville) in a two-bedroom house so crowded with children that he didn’t have a bed.
But he fought his way to another life. He earned three degrees, including a doctorate in education from Harvard, before starting a nonprofit in his Texas hometown.
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Mr. Sanchez has built an empire on the back of a crisis. His organization, Southwest Key Programs, now houses more migrant children than any other in the nation. Casting himself as a social-justice warrior, he calls himself El Presidente, a title inscribed outside his office and on the government contracts that helped make him rich.
Mr. Sanchez has built an empire on the back of a crisis. His organization, Southwest Key Programs, now houses more migrant children than any other in the nation. Casting himself as a social-justice warrior, he calls himself El Presidente, a title inscribed outside his office and on the government contracts that helped make him rich.
Showing the ambition that brought him from the barrio to the Ivy League, Mr. Sanchez seized the chance to expand his nonprofit when thousands more unaccompanied children began crossing the border during the Obama era. When the Trump administration needed to house migrant children it had separated from their parents, Mr. Sanchez took them in.
As immigration intensifies as a flash point of the Trump presidency, with tear gas being fired at a migrant caravan and the price tag for separating families continuing to rise, Mr. Sanchez is central to the administration’s plans.Southwest Key can now house up to 5,000 children in its 24 shelters, including a converted Walmart Supercenter that has drawn criticism as a warehouse for youths. The system is nearing a breaking point, with a record 14,000 minors at about 100 sites – a human crisis, but also a moneymaking opportunity.
Though Southwest Key is, on paper, a charity, no one has benefited more than Mr. Sanchez, now 71. Serving as chief executive, he was paid $1.5 million last year — more than twice what his counterpart at the far larger American Red Cross made.
Southwest Key has created a web of for-profit companies – construction, maintenance, food services and even a florist — that has funneled money back to the charity through high management fees and helps it circumvent government limits on executive pay.
The organization, sitting on $61 million in cash as of last fall, has lent millions of dollars to real estate developers, acting more like a bank than a traditional charity. It has opted to rent shelters rather than buy them, an unusual practice that has proved lucrative for shelter owners — who include Mr. Sanchez and the charity’s chief financial officer.
Marcus Owens, the former head of tax-exempt organizations for the Internal Revenue Service under both Republican and Democratic administrations, reviewed Southwest Key’s tax returns for The New York Times. Regulators, he said, seemed to be “asleep at the switch.” Describing the financial dealings of Mr. Sanchez and his colleagues, he said, “I think the word is ‘profiteering.’”
Mr. Sanchez defended his charity. It had to move fast at times, he said in an interview. But every act, he added, has been to help children.
“There are all these kids, they’re at the border, they’re in detention,” Mr. Sanchez said. “How do we get this thing done as quickly as we can so we can start serving those kids?”
Jeff Eller, a spokesman for Southwest Key, said on Tuesday that the charity was closely examining its management practices after questioning from The Times, and that there was “general acceptance” that the charity had made mistakes.
“Could we have done things better? Yeah. And should have? Yeah,” Mr. Eller said. “But there wasn’t a desire to game the system.”Because of the substantial growth of migrant shelters, the federal government hired an accounting firm this year to review shelter grant recipients, said Mark Weber, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. He added that the department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees migrant shelters, had also created a new division to monitor shelters’ spending.
Separately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into another shelter provider, International Educational Services, for possible misuse of federal money, according to two people informed of the inquiry. The nonprofit’s founder, Ruben Gallegos, said he had no comment on the investigation.
(I.E.S.'s 2015 tax filings show that President Ruben Gallegos earned $519,200; Chief Operating Officer Ruben Gallegos Jr., the president’s son, made $505,202; Chief Financial Officer Juan J. Gonzalez earned $390,273; Vice President of Business Affairs Norberto Perez made $201,601; and grant writer Nelly Weaver earned $194,414. All of those figures include benefits.
(The newer returns for I.E.S. show that the salaries increased tremendously – by more than $100,000 for Gallegos Sr. and Jr. – the following year. Before they were shut down, Gallegos Sr. was paid $677,242 and Jr. $633,240. Even State Rep. Eddie Lucio III was paid $139,312 as "legal counsel."
Still, just recently Gallegos Jr. posted on social media that: "the stars are lining up and people that doubted them should be ashamed of themselves.)
Mr. Gallegos’s charity – which Mr. Sanchez helped create but cut ties with years ago – lost its federal contacts in February for renting shelters owned by charity officials and paying those officials well above the government salary cap from migrant-shelter grants.
Last year, Southwest Key paid eight people more than the federal salary cap of $187,000. In addition to Mr. Sanchez, they included his wife, Jennifer Sanchez, who earned $500,000 as a vice president, and Melody Chung, the chief financial officer, who was paid $1 million.
To read the complete article, click on link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/us/southwest-key-migrant-children.html
(The newer returns for I.E.S. show that the salaries increased tremendously – by more than $100,000 for Gallegos Sr. and Jr. – the following year. Before they were shut down, Gallegos Sr. was paid $677,242 and Jr. $633,240. Even State Rep. Eddie Lucio III was paid $139,312 as "legal counsel."
Still, just recently Gallegos Jr. posted on social media that: "the stars are lining up and people that doubted them should be ashamed of themselves.)
Mr. Gallegos’s charity – which Mr. Sanchez helped create but cut ties with years ago – lost its federal contacts in February for renting shelters owned by charity officials and paying those officials well above the government salary cap from migrant-shelter grants.
Last year, Southwest Key paid eight people more than the federal salary cap of $187,000. In addition to Mr. Sanchez, they included his wife, Jennifer Sanchez, who earned $500,000 as a vice president, and Melody Chung, the chief financial officer, who was paid $1 million.
To read the complete article, click on link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/us/southwest-key-migrant-children.html
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APPEALS COURT: SAENZ, TX. RANGERS GAVE COP A PASS
The family of Jose Roman Rodriguez can be vindicated that Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, the Texas Rangers and the Internal Affairs Division of the Brownsville Police were wrong in determining that police officer Rolando Trujillo Jr. did not use excessive force on a misdemeanor case July 17, 2015.
But that's not going to help their son. He is dead. He died at 24 after being shot twice – of four shots fired – in the back by Brownsville officer Rolando Trujillo Jr for the alleged theft of three cases of beer, not by him but by a passenger in his car.
Trujillo said he was horrified and feared for his life. No one asked Rodriguez how he felt.
And there is little consolation in the family knowing that a federal judge and a federal appeals court said the conclusion reached by the Rangers, Saenz and a grand jury that was presented the facts by the DA was wrong. One can just imagine the tenor of the presentation of the Rangers and DA before the jury after they had called a press conference announcing that Trujillo's actions were justified.
The federal appeals court dismissed Trujillo's appeal after the local federal court denied his motion for summary judgment.In 2016, the man’s family sued Trujillo, alleging the officer used unnecessary excessive force resulting in Rodriguez's death.
“Wounded by the gunfire, Mr. Rodriguez was removed from the vehicle and handcuffed before being taken to the emergency room,” the lawsuit states. “After failed life-preserving efforts, Mr. Rodriguez died from gun shot wounds at 3:15 a.m. – slightly more than one hour after the shooting.” Trujillo, who in a voluntary video-taped statement given to the Texas Rangers, said be believed Rodriguez reached for a gray object that was a deadly weapon, was never in danger.
“Faced with no threat to his safety or to any others, Officer Trujillo made the unreasonable decision to apprehend a fleeing misdemeanor suspect with deadly force,” the lawsuit states.
In September 2015, less than two months after the fatal shooting, a Cameron County grand jury cleared Trujillo of any wrong doing, agreeing with the Texas Rangers investigation that the officer’s use of force was justified.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen disagreed.
The appeals court said, according to an account by the Brownsville Herald, that:
“The district court denied Trujillo’s motion as to qualified immunity, holding that genuine disputes of material fact over what happened at the traffic stop precluded summary judgment,” the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its Nov. 28 order dismissing Trujillo’s appeal of Hanen’s order.
“The district court found that Trujillo never mentioned seeing a weapon at the time of the events in question. Trujillo only mentioned the dull gray object six days later, after he met with counsel,” the order of dismissal states. “Trujillo also gave inconsistent testimony about touching a screwdriver that was found in the car, claiming both that he did not recall whether he had touched it and that he pulled it out of the center console and put it back.”
Hanen determined that if a jury viewed the dash cam video it could reasonably arrive at either conclusions, which is why he denied Trujillo’s motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
“The district court denied Trujillo’s motion as to qualified immunity, holding that genuine disputes of material fact over what happened at the traffic stop precluded summary judgment,” the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its Nov. 28 order dismissing Trujillo’s appeal of Hanen’s order.
“The district court found that Trujillo never mentioned seeing a weapon at the time of the events in question. Trujillo only mentioned the dull gray object six days later, after he met with counsel,” the order of dismissal states. “Trujillo also gave inconsistent testimony about touching a screwdriver that was found in the car, claiming both that he did not recall whether he had touched it and that he pulled it out of the center console and put it back.”
Hanen determined that if a jury viewed the dash cam video it could reasonably arrive at either conclusions, which is why he denied Trujillo’s motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
Now – years after the tragedy – the case will go forward in federal court for a jury to decide. But the family would rather have had DA Saenz charge the officer in local courts and a jury decide on the case instead of having had to bypass the local judiciary and seek their redress from the federal courts.
The family might yet get some redress for Trujillo's actions and those of the BPD, the DA and the Texas Rangers. But it won't bring Roman back. And Trujillo is still armed, and on the job.
The family might yet get some redress for Trujillo's actions and those of the BPD, the DA and the Texas Rangers. But it won't bring Roman back. And Trujillo is still armed, and on the job.
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POST ON TRUJILLO JR. FOR WHICH WE WERE TAKEN TO TASK
(When Cameron County District Attorney Luis v. Saenz, two Texas Rangers (wasn't it one riot one ranger?) and former BPD Chief Orlando Rodriguez held a press conference to say a county grand jury had no-billed officer Rolando Trujillo Jr. for the shooting of 24-year-old Roman Rodriguez after they presented them with evidence showing no crime occurred, we posted this. We were taken to task for it. But now, in light of a federal appeals court agreeing with the district court in denying the officer a motion for summary judgment and ruling that questions of fact should be decided by a federal jury, we repost.)
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El Rrun-Rrun
Sept. 3, 2015
The fact that Trujillo admitted that he had fired four shots at very close range and missed two indicates that the officer was not emotionally stable. The two times he shot him he hit him in the back. And the crocodile tears in his taped statement reek of a rehearsed performance seemingly aimed at eliciting sympathy for his plight.
Anyone who sees the video will see that at one point Trujillo has the door to Rodriguez's SUV open and that the cab light is on and the inside is open to view. If there was a "deadly" weapon in the cab (and no on has proven that yet), it would have been plainly visible.
(DA Luis V.) Saenz fairly bristled when he was asked what specific evidence was presented to the grand jury to lead to the no-bill.
"Why am I going to stand here and give you a synopsis when you are gonna see it? That's why I'm going to give you the video," he snarled at the reporters.
Since Saenz is asking that the "evidence"in the edited disk should be taken at face value by the public and he refuses to show the media what and how the "evidence" was presented to the grand jury, we are asked to imagine what it was. An imagined scenario of the presentation follows follows below:
DA; Ladies and gentlemen of the grand jury, we are here for you to determine whether this fine public servant and keeper of law and order who shot an alcohol-crazed aggravated barrio thief in self defense was guilty of anything else but of defending his life and the safety of the public. The name of this fine officer is Rolando Trujillo Jr. and I will ask him the questions.
DA: Officer Trujillo, how are you today?
TRUJILLO: Fine, sir. I feel safe now.
DA: Why is that fine officer?
TRUJILLO: Because at the time when I stopped that alcohol-crazed barrio thief I was IN FEAR FOR MY LIFE!
DA: Tell us about the events, officer.
TRUJILLO: I was on patrol and got a call about a beer run at a convenience store and rushed over to follow the suspect's SUV and eventually stopped him. I then walked over and opened his door. He looked at me and I could sense that my life was in danger and I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!
DA: What do you remember most of all as you focused on the suspect's hands?
TRUJILLO: The tattoo of the star. I didn't know if it was the tattoo that corresponded to Los Vallucos, La Eme, El Syndicato, or any of those prison gangs. At the very moment I saw the tattoo, I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!
DA: What led you to believe that fine officer?
TRUJILLO: I saw him with a long gray object that I took to be a deadly weapon and I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!
DA: At what time did you feel justified in shooting the alcohol-crazed barrio suspect?
TRUJILLO: When I saw him look at me with those shifty eyes. I've seen that look before and my dad Rolando Trujillo Sr. who used to patrol 14th Street bars and keep those punks in line told me not to trust those shifty barrio types. He shot one, too. Now every time I see one I FEAR FOR MY LIFE!
DA: When you searched the car and looked for a deadly weapon, what did you find?
TRUJILLO: We found a screwdriver, a weapon of choice against a regulation 9 mm handgun by alcohol-crazed barrio thieves. One look at the screwdriver and I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!
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MAYOR TONY MARTINEZ: THE PEASANTS ARE REVOLTING, YUCK
A) Discussion regarding the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee (MPO) membership.
B) Discussion regarding the Audit & Oversight Committee.
C) Discussion regarding Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC) board appointments.
By Juan Montoya
No one knows who fills the role of Fletcher Christian, the chief mate on Mutiny on the Bounty, but if there is one in the City of Brownsville Commission, one can imagine hearing Mayor Tony Martinez sharply redressing him for the state of affairs on the Good Ship Browntown.
"Mr. Christian, flog those scoundrels!"
In short, Martinez is facing the most direct challenge of his control of the commission with the inclusion of the three items listed above for a workshop scheduled this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the city manager's conference room before the 6 p.m. commission meeting.
But even of there is no action taken after that discussion, the same three items are scheduled for votes in the regular meeting, including removing Da Mayor as chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and commissioner Ben Neece as a member and appointing their replacements (Item 18).
The other action item related to that action is to appoint a new chairperson to the MPO to replace Martinez. (Item 19)
Item 20 deals with the proposal to abolish the Audit and Oversight Committee and Item 21 deals with consideration and action to appoint three members to the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation.
All items were placed on the agenda by commissioners Commissioners Joel Munguia and Ricardo Longoria, Jr.
If the action items can get a four-vote majority, then Martinez and his minority on the commission (Hizzoner, Neece and Rose Gowen) will have little to say about the actions of the majority composed of Mungia, Longoria and commissioners Cesar De Leon and Jessica Tetreau.
Martinez has long held out against merging the Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito with that of Hidalgo County claiming it would put Brownsville at the mercy of the larger county upriver. Even though estimates provided by Texas Dept. of Transportation District Engineer Pete Alvarez showing that the city would receive at the very least an additional $2 million if the merger occurred, MArtinez has been adamant about losing local control."It is the policy of this board not to pursue the merger," he wrote Alvarez in October 2017. "We continue to discuss this ad nauseum...It will obliterate the local control fro Brownsville. We are being asked to give up the autonomy we have to control the destiny of our community."
But Alvarez countered that under a governance scheme that in the bylaws being formulated by TxDoT, is includes the concept of a supermajority where the bigger cities in the three existing MPOs would get weighed votes, with Brownsville possibly getting 6 votes and a small community like Los Indios one.
The model envisions the merged MPOs having a board of 42 members, with Hidalgo accounting for 66 percent of the vote. However, in order for any project to be approved, the item would have to get 75 percent of the vote (supermajority), giving Cameron County leverage to decide the outcome of any agenda item with 9 or 10 percent of the vote.
"If 9 or 10 percent of Cameron County votes against any item, it will be quashed," Alvarez told Wood.
Alvarez said that so far, all nine Texas State Representatives in both counties have signed a resolution in favor of the merger as has a unanimous Cameron County Commissioners Court. Cameron County elected state officials including then-State Rep. Rene Oliveira, Rep. Eddie Lucio III, and Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. have also voiced their support for the merger idea as long as a model making a supermajority included in the bylaws.
Do the MPO rules require the mayor of the city to be its chair? And can a majority on the commission bypass that requirement through a vote? The answers are up in the air and should be decided this Tuesday at the city commission meeting.
The other item that directly challenges Martinez and Neece is the abolition of the Commission Audit
and Oversight Committee. When it was formed, commission members cited the inaction on the part of city administration to investigate and audit city departments, notably the Brownsville Fire Department under then-Chief Carlos Elizondo. In the abeyance of the administration, they formed and passed the committee and Martinez appointed its members.Now, apparently, the majority feel that with the hiring of a professional city manager in Noe Bernal, the audit and oversight should be left in his hands and the commissioners should refrain from intruding into his purview. Left in the air is the committee's other reports, including one on former city manager Charlie Cabler. Will it be now up to Bernal, his successor, to determine whether to make that public?
Any decision he makes will be politically tainted, since Cabler has announced his intentions to run for Martinez's position as mayor. Martinez has not formally declared he will be a candidate for reelection and neither has local attorney/businessman and Texas Southmost College trustee Trey Mendez.
There is, indeed, mutiny afoot,
"Mr. Christian!"
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PARA ENTENDER A LA GENTE, HAY QUE LEER LOS ROTULOS
(Ed.'s Note: Our monolingual friends (or it it bilingually-challenged?) friends will probably not grasp the meaning of the admonition in Spanish in a man's bathroom at one of the local Brownsville dives. The owner – apparently an exasperated soul – is pleading for the patrons of the joint to make sure they aim inside the toilet bowl when they use it and to throw the toilet paper in a trash can next to the bowl.
It is hilarious that someone had to actually make a sign to scold basic toilet training violators, though isn't it? We don't know where the sign is at, and maybe we don't need to know. Anyway, it's funny as, well, you know what.)
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WILL GBIC APPOINTEES KEEP MAYOR'S HAND FROM THE TILL?
21. Consideration and ACTION to appoint three (3) members to the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC). (Commissioners J. Munguia/R. Longoria, Jr.) Item on tonight's City of Brownsville Commission meeting.
By Juan Montoya
Once upon a time there was an economic development organization funded by a one-quarter cent share of the City of Brownsville sales tax receipts.
It was called the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and had sister corporation dedicated to quality-of-life projects called the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation. It also got a one-quarter cent share of the sales tax receipts. Each year, each of these got almost $5 million from their share of sales taxes.
But the real power at the BEDC rested in its 10-member executive committee which actually ran things an oversaw the BEDC administrators in spending GBIC's money to foster economic development and create jobs for local people.
Now, since the GBIC, BCIC and the BEDC operated in the nation's poorest community, the hopes of the city rested upon their efforts. The directors knew that job creation here was difficult and gave the BEDC guys a free hand to attract outside companies. GBIC repeatedly extended the BEDC's contract at $1.5 million a pop every three years. Their record over the years was, to be charitable, spotty.
In 2002, the BEDC board hired a director from Michigan who had little – if any – experience in economic development. Jason Hilts became the city's top economic development guru even though he never was the top person of any organization, never worked at another economic development organization, only had some college courses under his belt, and by all accounts and purposes had limited formal training in economic development.
Newspaper reports at the time pointed out that the BEDC board awarded him an $80,000 annual salary coupled with benefits and a $500 monthly gas allowance. Additionally, Hilts had access to a BEDC credit card that he uses often for travel, meals and other expenses adding up to more than $1,000 a month.Lynn Puglisi, who Hilts eliminated from the BEDC in his reorganization, charged that Hilts was disciplined for making large personal purchases on BEDCs credit card such as jewelry and clothing when he was vice president of the BEDC years ago. Hilts acknowledged the actions and says they were a mistake, but denied he was reprimanded for the unapproved purchases after an audit was conducted of his finances.
The Brownsville Herald's Emma Perez-Treviño reported in August 21, 2003, that: "When he was vice president in 1997 and 1998, the credit card facilitated the purchase of clothing from Mervyns in Los Angeles and Mission Viejo, Calif., slacks, shirts and men's coordinates from Dillards in Brownsville, more clothes from the Burlington Coat Factory in McAllen, a diamond ring from J.C. Penney in Brownsville, goods from Stein Mart in San Antonio, general merchandise and jewelry from Target in Brownsville, jewelry/repair/sales from Golden Time in Brownsville, and a $1,077.09 silver clock from the Jewel Gallery in Brownsville."
Nonetheless, the BEDC executive board made him director of that organization that used GBIC dollars.
Then, in 2015, Hilts launched something we will call the "Colombian" incentive.
A BEDC January 2016 report on the Colombian economic mission shows that in the two and one-half years of operating an office there, Hilts, with the directors' approval, spent $197,590 in salaries for three Colombian nationals and office costs, and another $116,000 in travel for BEDC, city, port, state and private individuals.
https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2017/04/hilt-jumps-ship-at-bedc-did-he-hear.html
Why the Mayor? Hilts, in the December 8 workshop, stated: "In South America, a mayor is viewed like a governor or president. The meetings we set up are better attended if the mayor is with us."
Martinez took to the publicly-funded jaunts like a catan to the muddy Rio Grande and traveled with selected public officials not only to Colombia, Turkey, the Netherlands, and all places in between on the public's dime.
In fact, Martinez took time to do some cycling there, giving truth to the lie that he was there to learn about cyclobias that have been implemented here at a huge cost to the city.
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Results on GBIC's Colombia $314,438 investment in personnel, office and jaunts for our able city and state representatives:
Jobs for local residents: 0, not counting Hilts and BEDC VP Gilbert Salinas
Jobs for Colombian nationals: 3
In fact, Martinez took time to do some cycling there, giving truth to the lie that he was there to learn about cyclobias that have been implemented here at a huge cost to the city.
Jobs for local residents: 0, not counting Hilts and BEDC VP Gilbert Salinas
Jobs for Colombian nationals: 3
Word around City Hall indicated that some of the members of the BEDC executive board were themselves drumming up business with prospective clients of the eco-dev organization and had no room to talk about Hilt's excesses.
![Image result for GBIC, brownsville logo]()
Disgusted with the BEDC board and its administration's performance, the GBIC board, now composed of two city commissioners (Cesar de Leon and Jessica Tetreau) and Cameron County Treasurer David Betancourt, opted to terminate its contract and go at it alone and hired their own executive director Mario Lozoya, a top executive with Toyota USA.
And they also hired PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network ranked as the of the Big Four auditors in the world to audit the BEDC and see how the GBIC's money was spent during the term of their contract.
So far, the results of that audit – although complete – have not been released. El Rrun-Rrun has filed an information request for a copy of the audit and are awaiting the GBIC's response.
Disgusted with the BEDC board and its administration's performance, the GBIC board, now composed of two city commissioners (Cesar de Leon and Jessica Tetreau) and Cameron County Treasurer David Betancourt, opted to terminate its contract and go at it alone and hired their own executive director Mario Lozoya, a top executive with Toyota USA.And they also hired PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network ranked as the of the Big Four auditors in the world to audit the BEDC and see how the GBIC's money was spent during the term of their contract.
So far, the results of that audit – although complete – have not been released. El Rrun-Rrun has filed an information request for a copy of the audit and are awaiting the GBIC's response.
And after the city commission passed an ordinance limiting the number of city boards that a person could serve in to one, GBIC board members Nurith Galonsky and John Cowen had to leave the board. Member Betancourt's membership is expiring due to the two-terms limit.
Tonight, the city commission will select three new members from among a list of applicants. With any luck, the commission will appoint individuals who have no association with either the former BEDC board or with the likes of Martinez who would like nothing better than to stay at the public through.
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DA SAENZ'S DIRTY DEEDS TIP OF ICEBERG OF DPS CORRUPTION
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just weeks after a KXAN investigation revealed nearly 500 official allegations of harassment, discrimination and retaliation at the Texas Department of Public Safety since 2013, a federal lawsuit has been filed alleging a "culture of corruption" at the state agency.
The 24-page lawsuit was filed by Ty Clevenger on behalf of Darren Lubbe, a retired special agent with the state Criminal Investigation Division (CID) at DPS. Lubbe says he was retaliated against after he filed a formal harassment complaint. Then he says he was harassed into taking an early retirement.
According to the lawsuit, Lubbe was a DPS investigator in 2014 when "his captain began pressuring him to attend the captain's 'cowboy church.'" Lubbe refused, which he says resulted in harassment by the captain and his colleagues.
In 2016, Lubbe reportedly filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office (EEO) at Austin's DPS headquarters. He said "that only made things worse."
Nineteen defendants are named in the lawsuit -- many of whom are high-ranking officials at the state agency. Among them is DPS Director Steven McCraw, DPS Inspector General Rhonda Fleming, and members of the Texas Public Safety Commission.
The lawsuit sources a number of instances wherein the plaintiff alleges multiple DPS Rangers took part in various illegal activities but DPS officials wanted to protect them and cover it up.
East Texas murder investigation allegedly compromised
The May 20, 2016 unsolved murder of prominent Longview businessman, Ronnie Horaney, was referenced in the lawsuit as evidence of alleged corruption at DPS.
The plaintiff points to the reported discovery by DPS supervisors in January 2018 that a Ranger was "involved in an ongoing sexual relationship" with Horaney's widow. The suit states that the Ranger was also heading up the murder investigation.
The suit alleges that the Ranger "badly compromised the murder investigation, rendering his testimony worthless at trial and raising questions about whether he diverted investigative attention away from [the woman]." It also states that the Ranger was subsequently demoted to DPS Trooper as a result and that he can reapply for Ranger status in January 2019.
Texas Ranger pulls gun on driver who flipped him off
A Texas Ranger exercised "poor judgment" in a February 27, 2017 incident where he pulled over and pointed his gun at a driver who flipped him off in traffic in Round Rock, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The lawsuit classifies it as a "road rage incident," adding that the Ranger had no probable cause to initiate the traffic stop.
After the incident, the civilian driver told officers he wanted to talk to the Ranger’s boss, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. "I want the director of DPS down here to talk to this guy. He doesn't deserve to be doing that and then when I ask him who he is, all I see is a gun," the man said.
According to the lawsuit, the Ranger lied to police at the scene about what happened, and states that the incident was "kept quiet" until July 14, 2017 when our KXAN story aired.
At the time, DPS released a statement. It reads, in part, "While exiting the vehicle, the Ranger placed his weapon in a low, ready position, due to a perceived threat."
(To read rest of KXAN story, click on link below:)
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OK, DEAL WITH THE PLAINS CAPITAL BUFFALO GETTING WEIRD
(Ed.'s Note: When we first posted the note on the anatomically correct buffalo bull of a project financed by the local Plains Capital Bank, we though that would be the end of it. But now one of our readers is telling us that the bull may not only be anatomically correct, but that it appears that it is also able to take a dump as well.He (or she) sent us this photo where it appears that the buffalo has left a road apple on its pedestal. Brownsville readers have a perverse streak in them. But we know it's all for fun, even though we think the interpretation is a bunch of bull---!)
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