What is the difference between the acts of San Benito Mayor Joe Hernandez and Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez?
Besides the size of their cities, one would have to say that there isn't much difference. Both are mayors of a Cameron County city. Both have to live under thye rules of their municipality. And both ostensibly have the best interest of their cities in mind.
Yet, when the San Bene mayor attempts to revise an ordinance that will allow him to sell raspas (Noe's Snow Wiz) in the property where his barber shop is located, he also participates in the discussion presenting a clear conflict of interest. That, we could agree, is a bad thing to do. It's not earthshaking, mind you. But he really should have known better. It took nothing from the public treasury. It's not going to make him a wealthy man. It was just stupid bad.Now take the case of our learned attorney Martinez over at Browntown. During a jaunt to Orlando, Fla., he casually sings an "agreement" accepting the "award" of a three-year commitment from a banner salesman under the guise of fomenting the revitalization and rehabilitation of the city's downtown.
Nothing bad with that, is it? After all, Brownsvillians have been talking about doing just that forever and ever. But how much an advertising banner will help to revitalize and infuse the economic forces of the city is to be debated.
According to the sales pitch from David McCarthy, the self- proclaimed back-up quarterback Super Bowl ring recipient with the Oakland Raiders who persuaded Martinez to sing the agreement in Orlando before he even returned home to consult with his city commission, the banners (at a hefty price tag) would show local business people's pride in their city.All, of course, at no cost to the city.
However, before he signed the three-year agreement, Martinez should have realized that as a lone elected official, he could not encumber the city or its utility (PUB) to provide the Community Showcase Banner firm with access to its utility poles and encumber it to their maintenance. Of course, the city would be bound to replace torn banners, provide the fixtures like braces and the like, and generally make sure they didn't end up being an eyesore.
Martinez apparently forgot that there is a purchasing process, a method of Requesting For Proposals from vendors, and a whole departmental vetting process before anyone can do business with the city. Then there's that small matter of getting the approval of the city commission for the enterprise. After all, there are seven other voices on the council that may have had questions on the propriety of the mayor committing the city and PUB to the McCarthy deal.
In the case of San Benito, the city's attorney probably went to the Cameron County District Attorney and eventually the case ended with a grand jury true-billing him for the alleged offense over the snow cone stand.
Martinez, on the other hand, appears to have been in cahoots with our city attorney – Mark Sossi – the city's architect of our elusive code of ethics. It appears that the buxom babe who was on the sales tag team with McCarthy when they enticed local businesses to take the bait was a chum of Mark's.
So to expect our city attorney to seek the assistance of the DA's office or to assemble a grand jury to determine (not whether the mayor sought to change the rules) whether Martinez simply ignored them would seem farfetched at the minimum.
So, we come back to the original question.
What's the difference between the mayor of San Benito with his Raspagate and Brownsville's with his Bannergate?
Apparently, in San Bene they're sticklers for the laws and in Browntown we simply ignore them.
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