BND - April 23, 2008

Brownsville Navigation District Board Meeting - April 23, 2008
Agenda.

UTB-TSC - March 27, 2008

UTB-TSC Board of Trustees Meeting - March 27, 2008
Agenda.

BISD Board - April 15, 2008

BISD Board of Trustees Meeting - April 15, 2008
Agenda.

Brownsville PUB - April 14, 2008

Brownsville PUB Board Meeting - April 14, 2008
Agenda.

Cameron County - April 15, 2008

Cameron County Commissioners' Court - April 15, 2008
Agenda.

Cameron County - April 7, 2008

Cameron County Commissioners' Court - April 7, 2008
Agenda.

City Commission - April 15, 2008

City Commission Meeting - April 15, 2008
Agenda.

GTC® Appoints Brother to Review Charter.Thereby Violating Same.

Oh, sweet Irony. Thou art a fickle and cruel mistress.

GoodTime Charlie® whiffed again.

This time he skirted established nepotism laws with the appointment of his brother, recently canned by the Mercedes School District.

Emma Perez-Trevino reported yesterday:

Another appointee, Richard Atkinson is Commissioner Charlie Atkinson's brother.

Richard Atkinson, the former principal at Mercedes High School was fired at a special board meeting March 22, an MISD staff member verified Friday. Herald archives reflect that this was in connection with the alleged treatment of students.

Commissioner Atkinson said Friday that he doesn't believe appointing his brother represents a conflict or concern.

"He's a fair guy," the commissioner said of his brother. "They are just boards. They just recommend. It's not a board where they issue thousands of dollars here and there. They are an advisory board."

Commissioner Atkinson also said his brother lives in Brownsville and did not know if he had been fired or not.

I guess, as EP-T reported, it's "no concern" to GTC® that Article V (Administrative Provisions) of the Brownsville City Charter reads:

Section 30. Nepotism.

No person related within the second degree by affinity, or within the third degree by consanguinity, to the mayor or any of the commissioners, shall be appointed by the city commission, nor a person thus related to the city manager shall ever be appointed by him to any office, position, clerkship or service to the city.

Folks, I swear, these blog posts sometimes write themselves. The 1hr 5min mark of the below City Commission meeting video captures the moment in all its... whatever.

City Commission - April 1, 2008

City Commission Meeting - April 1, 2008
Agenda.

BISD BOC - April 3, 2008

BISD Bond Oversight Committee Meeting - April 3, 2008

BISD Board - April 1, 2008

BISD Board of Trustees Meeting - April 1, 2008
Agenda.

Why Annexing the Port of Brownsville Is a Dumb Idea.

Did I just fall victim to an April Fools Gag?

GoodTime Charlie® displayed a shocking lack of business/economics sense Tuesday night. The below was excerpted from the Commissioners' Report segment of the agenda.

Adding insult upon injury, GTC® commented elsewhere that:

"Anybody with real business sense can see that (his critics are) full of crap. Read the statement again. What proof is mentioned that Brownsville is benefitting(sic)from an entity that doesn't pay taxes or help Brownsville grow."

I'd want to break down his "report", piece by piece:

- The "seaport" actually ISN'T in his district, or we wouldn't be talking about annexation to begin with. What IS in his district however, is an arguably greater proportion of residents who make a living at the "seaport" than in any of the other 3 city districts. But more on that in a bit.

- GTC® actually gets this one right, in that the Port IS its own entity. And Brownsville can no more annex the Port than it can annex Rancho Viejo, the City of Harlingen or the Town of South Padre Island. These things don't often happen unilaterally and the denizens & officials of the coveted entity (unfortunately for GTC®) kind of have a say on annexation. My guess on their views on annexation: no chance.

- GTC® then goes on to state "it's hard to invest in it (the Port of Brownsville), when we're not getting anything out of it". Is he serious? I can't tell anymore. Where's HIS business sense? Ballpark estimates of number employees at Amfels, the Port's largest employer, hover around 3,000 people. Percentage estimates of those employees residing in Brownsville hover around 70%. That's BROWNSVILLE RESIDENTS, GTC®! And that's just at Amfels. These folks don't exactly take their earnings and invest them in out-of-state hedge funds! They spend them HERE! On mortgages, rent, and taxes. And groceries, clothes, cars and sales taxes.

- "Taxes go to Port Isabel", explained GTC®. But that's not quite accurate. The Point Isabel School District is the entity that receives property taxes from the "seaport". But GTC®, take a drive around your district; particularly around the Rivera cluster/zone. Have you SEEN the residential development out there? All the countless neighborhoods southeast of Hwy 48? Can you imagine more than a few of those residents paying their property taxes (county & BISD) off of "seaport" wages?

GTC® touted total support from our area's legislators on Port of Brownsville annexation, but my research shows that's not quite accurate either. The state legislators and Congressman Ortiz know a little better than to just recklessly plunge into such folly. Here's an email addressed to principals at the BND, from Wednesday morning:

Good Morning,

I hope everyone is doing well. This morning you may have read that Congressman Ortiz supports the annexation of the Port of Brownsville by the city (excerpt below). I want to make sure you all know the Congressman didn’t discuss this during any of the meetings with the City and I don’t believe he has actually spoken to Atkinson about it. I don’t know where this is coming from, so I wanted to make sure you all heard from us.

Patricia Villarreal
Deputy Chief of Staff
Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz
Ph: (202) 225-7742
Fax: (202) 226-1134
Web: http://ortiz.house.gov

And a direct statement from Congressman Ortiz, himself:

STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN ORTIZ

"Any discussion about annexation of the Port of Brownsville would first need to be worked out between local officials, and then should be presented to the people for their approval. I have not taken a position on this issue."

Rene Oliveira even weighed in with:

I was contacted by Commissioner Atkinson who indicated the annexation proposal could be beneficial to all interested parties.

In meetings with Port of Brownsville Director Eddie Campirano, port commissioners, and others, it is clear our port needs considerable financial assistance for capital improvements. If made, those improvements could aid large-scale job creation and economic development that would greatly benefit Brownsville.

Further, the port may benefit by receiving certain city services in addition to city-supported infrastructure improvements. Likewise, the city could potentially benefit by increasing its tax base.

I stated to Commissioner Atkinson that all the stakeholders need to do their own cost benefit analyses, iron out many issues, and be in agreement, before I would commit to carry legislation regarding annexation. Above all, I would want voter approval of any proposed annexation.

Respectfully,

Rene O. Oliveira
State Representative
District 37

One might inquire of Rep. Oliveira precisely what "certain city services" can Brownsville provide more efficiently and cheaper than BND. But that's for another post, another day.

But if you're a GTC® constituent and reside in District 2 , shouldn't you expect more basic business sense from your "common sense guy"?

ETA 4/6/08: The Herald weighed in on GTC®'s premature confabulation.

Cameron County - April 1, 2008

Cameron County Commissioners' Court - April 1, 2008
Agenda.

BND - April 2, 2008

Brownsville Navigation District Board Meeting - April 2, 2008
Agenda.