By John Young and Barbara Hill
The Port posted an announcement about the candidate filing deadline on a gated building at the Port on 12-07-2017, visible only to those visiting that building.
The building where the Port's Board Meetings are being held while the Port Administrative Building is being remodeled. The Port didn't post it on the Port website until 02-07-2018, after KVEO reporter Marlene Rodriguez called the Port to ask about the candidate filing deadline.
See "Voters Concerned with Lack of Notice of Upcoming Port Election," Marlane Rodriguez, 02-09-2018, KVEO Channel 23 RGV Proud,http://www.rgvproud.com/news/local-news/voters-concerned-with-lack-of-notice-of-upcoming-port-election/963688238
Did Port Communications Patty Gonzales really say that the Port's only obligation, according to Port protocol, was to post a public notice at the entrance of a gated building at the Port on 12-07-2017? In addition to being gated, the building's a temporary location for Board Meetings while the Port Administrative Building is being renovated.
Our Port's ranked among the top three US Foreign Trade Zones in terms of exports. And the Brownsville Navigation District includes portions of Brownsville, Los Fresnos, Ranch Viejo, and Olmito. If the notice was posted according to Port protocol, then the protocol is irresponsible and inappropriate.
The protocol should be based on the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) Board Policies. The Board Policies used to be posted on the Port's website but disappeared from the website when it was upgraded. The copy I downloaded 01-16-2016 is not user friendly. It's 120 pages long but not word searchable.
Looking at the Board Policy pages covering the eligibility, qualifications, and elections of Board Members, several things caught my attention:
A notice of the voting date and locations is to be published once a week for four weeks in a local newspaper. It appears that there's no similar requirement regarding the candidate filing deadline, that it need only be posted on a bulletin board where Board Meeting notices are regularly posted.
Our Port's ranked among the top three US Foreign Trade Zones in terms of exports. And the Brownsville Navigation District includes portions of Brownsville, Los Fresnos, Ranch Viejo, and Olmito. If the notice was posted according to Port protocol, then the protocol is irresponsible and inappropriate.
The protocol should be based on the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) Board Policies. The Board Policies used to be posted on the Port's website but disappeared from the website when it was upgraded. The copy I downloaded 01-16-2016 is not user friendly. It's 120 pages long but not word searchable.
Looking at the Board Policy pages covering the eligibility, qualifications, and elections of Board Members, several things caught my attention:
A notice of the voting date and locations is to be published once a week for four weeks in a local newspaper. It appears that there's no similar requirement regarding the candidate filing deadline, that it need only be posted on a bulletin board where Board Meeting notices are regularly posted.
It appears (I could be wrong) that the filing deadline occurs before the election notices are to be published in a local paper. Shouldn't the general public be better informed about the candidate filing deadline in time to take advantage of it? Shouldn't the general public be better informed about the voting date and locations before reading about the election results?
There's a residency requirement for candidates, but the Port appeared to ignore questions about the residency of one of the 2016 candidates for Place 5 (Ed Rovera). As you well know.
There's information about write-in candidacies, but I have a dim memory from the 2016 Port Commissioner election that write-in votes ARE NOT ALLOWED under present law.
Whoever gets a plurality of the votes wins -- no runoff (except as an option in the case of tie votes).
And if a Commissioner resigns or is removed from office, the remaining Commissioners get to appoint a replacement – no BND vote required.
There's a residency requirement for candidates, but the Port appeared to ignore questions about the residency of one of the 2016 candidates for Place 5 (Ed Rovera). As you well know.
There's information about write-in candidacies, but I have a dim memory from the 2016 Port Commissioner election that write-in votes ARE NOT ALLOWED under present law.
Whoever gets a plurality of the votes wins -- no runoff (except as an option in the case of tie votes).
And if a Commissioner resigns or is removed from office, the remaining Commissioners get to appoint a replacement – no BND vote required.