By Juan Montoya
Where to start...
Let's see. Remember the City of Brownsville Commission meeting held Nov. 4, 2014, when commissioners passed a resolution proposing the "conveyance" of Lincoln Park to the U.T. System?
And remember that after the motion to deny made by commissioner Jessica Tetreau failed, a motion was made by commissioner Rose Gowen to approve that passed for the park to be "acquired" by the UT System for the ridiculously low price of $6.5 million to be used to relocate it to a site to be chosen by the city at a later date?
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It wasn't until later that it was known that Gowen was an employee – the medical director, in fact – of the UT Health CRU at UT Brownsville. As such, the Local Government Code prohibits her from discussing or voting on the matter because it is a clear conflict of interest.
Fast forward to a meeting of the Cameron County Commissioner Court Nov. 3, 2015, where commissioners discussed the creation of a countywide transportation reinvestment zone to be administered by the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (CCRMA)? At that meeting, then-Cameron County Judge Pete Sepulveda sat in and joined in the discussion advocating the proposal to make the entire county a TRZ zone.
Sepulveda was – and still is – the Chief Executive Officer of the CCRMA at a hefty $240,000 a year salary. By adopting the proposal, the CCRMA stood to gain hundreds of millions of dollars from incremental taxes that would go into the money available for the CCRMA and its board. And, of course, under Sepulveda's control.
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During that meeting, Sepulveda echoed Pct. 3 commissioner David Garza's that the TRZs allowed the CCRMA to leverage millions to build roads and other transportation projects. After engaging in a wide-ranging discussion where he pointed out the benefits of creating the countywide TRZ, he added a caveat that he had done so as the CEO of the CCRMA, not as county judge, and abstained from voting.But it wasn't until it was pointed out that a clear conflict of interest existed in Sepulveda – who stood to benefit to gain from its passage – that he was advised by legal counsel not to participate in the upcoming public hearing and to refrain from voting.
On the same day, Nov. 3, 2015, the City of Brownsville Commission held a meeting where an item dealt with the city's agreement to accept bids on the resale of tax-delinquent properties. One of those properties was one located directly adjacent to Mayor Tony Martinez's old law office at the corner of 12th Street and Van Buren.
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We knew that after months of haggling over the sale of the law office with Texas Rio Grande Rural Legal Aid, the talks had stalled because that organization required more parking space. When Martinez learned that the half lot was among 16 pieces of property at the resale, he bid to purchase it and he acquired it for $5,200.
The property was assessed by the Cameron County Appraisal District at $13,500. There is no way of knowing at what price Martinez eventually sold the law office – plus an additional 3,000 square feet of parking spaces – to the TRGRLA.
All the commission – after discussing the bids in executive session – approved the sale on Nov. 3 and the 16 properties were sold. The buyer of the half lot of Lot 3, in Block 153 with a street address of 1242 Van Buren St. was Antonio Martinez, the same Antonio Martinez who signed as mayor accepting for the city of Brownsville (See document above and the still photo of the moment the unanimous vote was cast below). Tony, in effect, signed the property over to himself with city legal counsel Mark Sossi looking on and saying nothing.
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Fast forward to the May 2, 2017 meeting of the Brownsville Independent School District.
At that meeting, the board of trustees approved the administration's proposal to change the way the districts procure goods from vendors by allowing high schools to choose the providers of $1,000 rings for state championship teams.
Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas said that the administration and the students of the Lopez Early College High School Powerlifting team that won a state championship would be allowed to choose the vendor for the rings that would be bought by the district.
![Image result for joe rodriguez, bisd]()
And taking part in the conversation to explain that the UIL on August 2016 had changed the rules on the cost of gifts that student athletes from $70 to an unlimited amount as long as the gifts came from the district and not individuals was a vendor, trustee Joe Rodriguez.
Rodriguez – who has a direct interest in selling the district rings – is a registered vendor with BSN Sports, a subsidiary of Varsity Brands. Varsity Brands, in turn, is the parent company of BSN Sports, Herrf Jones, and Varsity Spirit.
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Varsity Brands, in their website, states that they operate "three unique but interrelated businesses: Herff Jones, a Varsity Achievement Brand; BSN SPORTS, a Varsity Sport Brand; and Varsity Spirit. Together, these assets promote personal, school and community pride through their customizable products and programs to elementary and middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities, as well as church organizations, professional and collegiate sports teams and corporations."
On June 2013, BSN Sports and Herrf Jones merged under the Varsity Brands umbrella, making them one and the same. http://www.bsnsports.com/press_releases/merger%20-%2006-25-13.pdf
Is it just us, or is the fact that Coach Joe is directly tied to the ring maker (Herrf Jones) through the merger with BSN, constitutes a direct conflict of interest and that he should recuse himself from discussing or voting on any agenda items dealing with either company?
Local politicians play fast and loose with the rules of government, and there seems to be no one to keep them honest. City, county, and school district administrators and legal counsel pay no heed to the niceties in the law of governance. And we have learned from these egregious examples of thse politicians thumbing their nose at the law that we can expect little from the Cameron County District Attorney's Office. Will anyone else step up to the plate?
Where to start...
Let's see. Remember the City of Brownsville Commission meeting held Nov. 4, 2014, when commissioners passed a resolution proposing the "conveyance" of Lincoln Park to the U.T. System?
And remember that after the motion to deny made by commissioner Jessica Tetreau failed, a motion was made by commissioner Rose Gowen to approve that passed for the park to be "acquired" by the UT System for the ridiculously low price of $6.5 million to be used to relocate it to a site to be chosen by the city at a later date?
It wasn't until later that it was known that Gowen was an employee – the medical director, in fact – of the UT Health CRU at UT Brownsville. As such, the Local Government Code prohibits her from discussing or voting on the matter because it is a clear conflict of interest.
Fast forward to a meeting of the Cameron County Commissioner Court Nov. 3, 2015, where commissioners discussed the creation of a countywide transportation reinvestment zone to be administered by the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (CCRMA)? At that meeting, then-Cameron County Judge Pete Sepulveda sat in and joined in the discussion advocating the proposal to make the entire county a TRZ zone.
Sepulveda was – and still is – the Chief Executive Officer of the CCRMA at a hefty $240,000 a year salary. By adopting the proposal, the CCRMA stood to gain hundreds of millions of dollars from incremental taxes that would go into the money available for the CCRMA and its board. And, of course, under Sepulveda's control.
During that meeting, Sepulveda echoed Pct. 3 commissioner David Garza's that the TRZs allowed the CCRMA to leverage millions to build roads and other transportation projects. After engaging in a wide-ranging discussion where he pointed out the benefits of creating the countywide TRZ, he added a caveat that he had done so as the CEO of the CCRMA, not as county judge, and abstained from voting.But it wasn't until it was pointed out that a clear conflict of interest existed in Sepulveda – who stood to benefit to gain from its passage – that he was advised by legal counsel not to participate in the upcoming public hearing and to refrain from voting.On the same day, Nov. 3, 2015, the City of Brownsville Commission held a meeting where an item dealt with the city's agreement to accept bids on the resale of tax-delinquent properties. One of those properties was one located directly adjacent to Mayor Tony Martinez's old law office at the corner of 12th Street and Van Buren.
The property was assessed by the Cameron County Appraisal District at $13,500. There is no way of knowing at what price Martinez eventually sold the law office – plus an additional 3,000 square feet of parking spaces – to the TRGRLA.
All the commission – after discussing the bids in executive session – approved the sale on Nov. 3 and the 16 properties were sold. The buyer of the half lot of Lot 3, in Block 153 with a street address of 1242 Van Buren St. was Antonio Martinez, the same Antonio Martinez who signed as mayor accepting for the city of Brownsville (See document above and the still photo of the moment the unanimous vote was cast below). Tony, in effect, signed the property over to himself with city legal counsel Mark Sossi looking on and saying nothing.
Fast forward to the May 2, 2017 meeting of the Brownsville Independent School District.
At that meeting, the board of trustees approved the administration's proposal to change the way the districts procure goods from vendors by allowing high schools to choose the providers of $1,000 rings for state championship teams.
Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas said that the administration and the students of the Lopez Early College High School Powerlifting team that won a state championship would be allowed to choose the vendor for the rings that would be bought by the district.
And taking part in the conversation to explain that the UIL on August 2016 had changed the rules on the cost of gifts that student athletes from $70 to an unlimited amount as long as the gifts came from the district and not individuals was a vendor, trustee Joe Rodriguez.Rodriguez – who has a direct interest in selling the district rings – is a registered vendor with BSN Sports, a subsidiary of Varsity Brands. Varsity Brands, in turn, is the parent company of BSN Sports, Herrf Jones, and Varsity Spirit.
Varsity Brands, in their website, states that they operate "three unique but interrelated businesses: Herff Jones, a Varsity Achievement Brand; BSN SPORTS, a Varsity Sport Brand; and Varsity Spirit. Together, these assets promote personal, school and community pride through their customizable products and programs to elementary and middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities, as well as church organizations, professional and collegiate sports teams and corporations."On June 2013, BSN Sports and Herrf Jones merged under the Varsity Brands umbrella, making them one and the same. http://www.bsnsports.com/press_releases/merger%20-%2006-25-13.pdf
Is it just us, or is the fact that Coach Joe is directly tied to the ring maker (Herrf Jones) through the merger with BSN, constitutes a direct conflict of interest and that he should recuse himself from discussing or voting on any agenda items dealing with either company?
Local politicians play fast and loose with the rules of government, and there seems to be no one to keep them honest. City, county, and school district administrators and legal counsel pay no heed to the niceties in the law of governance. And we have learned from these egregious examples of thse politicians thumbing their nose at the law that we can expect little from the Cameron County District Attorney's Office. Will anyone else step up to the plate?