Saying she was proud of "my legacy" as a board member of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, District 2 Commissioner Jessica Tetrau said she had effectively resigned and cited her daughter's heart illness for her departure.
It was a classic case of making it appear as if she was leading the parade while she was being chased out of town.
That poignant revelation of her daughter's imminent heart procedure (it was discovered at birth, 12 years ago) came about only after an item had been placed on the agenda declaring that she had automatically triggered her resignation by racking up three or more consecutive absences from the board that oversees the disbursal of some $5 million annually with its share of city sales receipts.
The commission then appointed Port of Brownsville businessman Nick Shaefer, of Shaefer Stevedoring, to fill Tetreau's vacancy.
According to GBIC attendance records of the last two years, Tetreau missed on the following dates and was late or left early on others. They were:
09-07-2017 (left early)
11-29-2017 (absence)
01-31-2018 (absence)
02-01-2018 (absence)
03-01-2018 (was late)
04-04-2018 (absence)
04-19-2018 (absence)
05-03-2018 (absence)
08-16-2018 (absence)
09-20-2018 (absence)
10-12-2018 (absence)
01-03-2019 (absence)
3-21-2019 (absence, prior commitment)
4-18-2019 (absence)
5-14-2019 (absence)
6-17-2019 (absence)
6-21-2019 (absence)
7-18-2019 (absence)
3-21-2019 (absence, prior commitment)
4-18-2019 (absence)
5-14-2019 (absence)
6-17-2019 (absence)
6-21-2019 (absence)
7-18-2019 (absence)
Under the rules, because of her numerous consecutive absences she could be "automatically deemed to have resigned from his/her appointment with no further action from the commission."
Not content with the commission poised to vote to remove her, Tetreau tried twice to nominate her replacement, nominating Carlos Guerrero, an unsuccessful candidate for the city commission and Erasmo Castro, a sitting trustee on the board of the Brownsville Independent School District. Both failed on votes.
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On another issue, after having heard from Juan Rene Hernandez, a longtime resident of E. Fronton Street on how changing that street's name to McNair Family Drive contradicted the historical preservation efforts in the city, commissioner Ben Neece said that an item on the next city commission agenda would be placed to reconsider the renaming of the thoroughfare.
Hernandez pointed out that while the residents had nothing against the McNair family, the history of the thoroughfare in the city's existence bore more importance than an individual family. He pointed out that:
1. El Fronton was one of the original city streets dating back to 1850.
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2. That the street dated back some 169 years
3. That it was the only street in downtown Brownsville with a Spanish name
4. That it was the site where Afro-American populations had lived since the 1900s, and that Mitte Pullam, a black educator, ran the very first Frederick Douglass Elementary schoolhouse on Fronton St. before desegregation in Texas.
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She was the teacher for all grades and the principal of the school for black children and lived there. According to newspaper reports of the time, the school was exceptional and the children were being taught at the same level as the best of the white private schools.
After desegregation, she taught at Skinner Elementary and was recognized Teacher of the Year. Pullam was honored by having a new $40 million dollar elementary school building named after her in Brownsville.
5. That in 1889, E. Fronton Street it was the site for the switching yards of the newly-established St. Louis, Brownsville, Mexico Railroad.
Hernandez pointed out that the McNair family already had a park named after them on nearby St. Charles.
The commission also voted to adopt the ordinance defining the process by which streets are named. When the street was renamed after the McNairs, commissioner Rose Gowen asked city manager Noel Bernal to study the possibility of passing a city policy on renaming streets.
Interestingly, one of the first no-nos in city manager Bernal's policy included in Resolution Number 2019-069 is that streets should not be named "after living persons, other than a recognized national figure...," which would have prevented the name change if it had been in the books before the May 21 meeting.
While addressing the commission in the May 21 meeting, pro-renaming resident Enrique Mellizo assured the commissioners that "only 14" property owners of the 144 lots on the stretch of E. Fronton mailed letters of concern about the renaming.
What he didn't say - and that which Engineering Director Carlos Lastra included in this month's meeting packets - is that "only" four letters were received in support of the name change. Mellizo was able to procure "only" 30 names for the petition of the 144 property owners.
Obviously, there wasn't a groundswell of support for the change although Mellizo made it seem like the natives were clamoring for the McNair family to be enshrined forever along the historical route.
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On another issue, the commission approved the reinstatement of the Audit and Oversight Committee with parameters of structure, operation and interaction with the Internal Auditor’s Office.
Under the envisioned resurrection of the committee, Mayor Trey Mendez will name the members of the committee which at one time included two city commissioners - Neece and former city commissioner Cesar de Leon.
After the members are approved at the next meeting, bylaws guiding the conduct of the committee will also be proposed for the commission's consideration.
Bernal said that an Internal Auditor will be hired through a selection process who will report to the committee in collaboration with the city manager who will proceed to propose action by the full commission to address concerns or findings that that might arise.
Not content with the commission poised to vote to remove her, Tetreau tried twice to nominate her replacement, nominating Carlos Guerrero, an unsuccessful candidate for the city commission and Erasmo Castro, a sitting trustee on the board of the Brownsville Independent School District. Both failed on votes.
Hernandez pointed out that while the residents had nothing against the McNair family, the history of the thoroughfare in the city's existence bore more importance than an individual family. He pointed out that:
1. El Fronton was one of the original city streets dating back to 1850.
2. That the street dated back some 169 years
3. That it was the only street in downtown Brownsville with a Spanish name
4. That it was the site where Afro-American populations had lived since the 1900s, and that Mitte Pullam, a black educator, ran the very first Frederick Douglass Elementary schoolhouse on Fronton St. before desegregation in Texas.
She was the teacher for all grades and the principal of the school for black children and lived there. According to newspaper reports of the time, the school was exceptional and the children were being taught at the same level as the best of the white private schools.After desegregation, she taught at Skinner Elementary and was recognized Teacher of the Year. Pullam was honored by having a new $40 million dollar elementary school building named after her in Brownsville.
5. That in 1889, E. Fronton Street it was the site for the switching yards of the newly-established St. Louis, Brownsville, Mexico Railroad.
Hernandez pointed out that the McNair family already had a park named after them on nearby St. Charles.
The commission also voted to adopt the ordinance defining the process by which streets are named. When the street was renamed after the McNairs, commissioner Rose Gowen asked city manager Noel Bernal to study the possibility of passing a city policy on renaming streets.
Interestingly, one of the first no-nos in city manager Bernal's policy included in Resolution Number 2019-069 is that streets should not be named "after living persons, other than a recognized national figure...," which would have prevented the name change if it had been in the books before the May 21 meeting.
While addressing the commission in the May 21 meeting, pro-renaming resident Enrique Mellizo assured the commissioners that "only 14" property owners of the 144 lots on the stretch of E. Fronton mailed letters of concern about the renaming.
What he didn't say - and that which Engineering Director Carlos Lastra included in this month's meeting packets - is that "only" four letters were received in support of the name change. Mellizo was able to procure "only" 30 names for the petition of the 144 property owners.
Obviously, there wasn't a groundswell of support for the change although Mellizo made it seem like the natives were clamoring for the McNair family to be enshrined forever along the historical route.
Under the envisioned resurrection of the committee, Mayor Trey Mendez will name the members of the committee which at one time included two city commissioners - Neece and former city commissioner Cesar de Leon.
After the members are approved at the next meeting, bylaws guiding the conduct of the committee will also be proposed for the commission's consideration.
Bernal said that an Internal Auditor will be hired through a selection process who will report to the committee in collaboration with the city manager who will proceed to propose action by the full commission to address concerns or findings that that might arise.