BROWNSVILLE HAS BEEN VERY, VERY GOOD TO THE GOOD FATHER

By Juan Montoya
At one time, it was said that those aspiring to the priesthood would take a vow of   chastity, poverty, and obedience.
Nowadays, we wonder whether that still applies.
Not long ago – when the decision was being made by the Texas Southmost College trustees whether to divorce from the abusive "partnership" with the UT System – a man of the cloth burst upon the scene with a fury toward the majority on the board.
He was the Rev. Armand Mathew, associated with the UTB-TSC partnership through his position on the Center for Civic Engagement.
He specifically targeted TSC trustee Trey Mendez and led a protest to his office doors on Elizabeth street. Then, reveling in his holy crusade, he in no uncertain terms (and in writing) threatened trustee  Mendez with professional destruction in Brownsville and vowed to use every ounce of his remaining strength to achieve this goal.
"The straightforward statement: If you do not rescind your vote, I will spend every last ounce of my energy organizing this community against you and your career as a lawyer in Brownsville. This is not a threat, Trey. It is simply an honest statement of what I intend to do," Mathew wrote.
So much for the obedience part from someone of whom once was said had "dedicated his life to God."
We wondered why the vitriol and then found out that since March of 2001, Mathew has been provided a nice cushion that the Oblate Order probably didn't include in their recruitment literature to would-be priests.
According to an information request by El Rrun-Rrun, we have learned that Mathew was drawing a $50,000 annual salary from the UTB-TSC for heading the Center for  Civic Engagement from March 2001 to November 2002. Prorated, it meant that he drew $83,330 to provide political and spiritual guidance to our young impressionable youth (Remember Kids Vote?)
Of course, such largess from the taxpayers is not (to use a current term in vogue) a sustainable expense. After UTB-TSC hired a professional administrator for the CCE, Mathew's hours were reduced to 20 hours at $11.94 an hour for providing the spiritual guidance to the Center.
From March 2003 to April 2009, that meant that the good father earned $74,505 for part-time work during those six years. We wouldn't expect, of course, that he would need to punch in daily, or even weekly. But then again, talking to God on our behalf is probably a 24-7 job.
UTB President Juliet Garcia lowered his responsibilities starting May 2009 until now at only 19 hours, again as part-time with the CCE staff. During those three years, the information provided by UTB indicates that he drew $35,390 for his assistance to the center.
Of course, there are some perks, the mule has to rest. Besides providing the benedictions at UT functions, he also tend to the spiritual needs of the faculty and administration.
Toward that end, Garcia has specifically reserved a parking space (worth gold for UTB-TSC students) with a personal sing identifying that particular piece of asphalt for the "University Spiritual Mentor."
What was that about a vow of poverty now?