Imagine Brownsville Public Forum

Yes fans, I was there.

What we were presented with was classic urban planning, which was just a narrow sliver of the scope of the Imagine Brownsville study.


I found that curious, as I had expected far more be presented to the public before the next phase of the study was implemented. If I had to make a guess, and unfortunately I have no choice but to do so, I would say the urban planning was given to the public because it was more comfortable and recognizable to the general citizen who was invited to participate.


Each audience member had a little electronic polling transmitter, that I did not have time to disassemble. The explanations of the different urban planning strategies were well explained by experts in that type of scenario.

On each question, we were given four options:
1) Strongly agree
2) Agree
3) Disagree
4) Strongly disagree


The types of urban planning scenarios offered were:
Regional
Village
Ecological
Downtown centric


Each has its pros and cons and the final plan will have elements of each.
I did find it a bit of a letdown that some of the polling questions were "no brainers" for answers. Having a, shall we say, better than average knowledge of statistical methodology, I found that intellectually insulting, but then again, I do insult quite easily when it comes to matters of the intellect.

Some of the responses that the consultants clearly thought would be 75%+ Strongly agree brought in the low 50's and they were visibly shocked that it wasn't higher.
I don't recall the exact question that caused the biggest shock, but the way it was worded touched on landowner rights vs. eminent domain. That was what I felt at the time and was one of the "Agree" votes when they expected far heaver in the "Strongly Agree" category. Your mileage may vary, but that was how I explain it.



The walls were plastered with the major objectives from all the different sub-committees. An usually high number of the objectives from all the subcommittees began with the word "Want". I again was a touch bothered by this because I associate "want" with "wish" and the word "objective" has military overtones of "do" to me. "Want" is a wishy-washy word in my mind. I'll still have to see how that plays out as the rest unfolds.

Overall, it was professional and concise. I had expected a broader scope, but then the meeting would have taken at least 6 more hours. There were water and cookies, but no coffee. If I had my desire for full involvement, there would have been major casualties as the night wore on and I wore out, so perhaps it was for the best that a small sliver of the overall schema was presented for polling to the public.

I will answer any questions that I can on the presentation.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

I found this funny, I do not know why.

Cameron County Hillbillies

I know you all know the tune, so lets all sing along!
(The theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies)






Come and listen to my story about Armando V.
Needed Gilbert’s blessing when he had to take a pee.
Then one day the Port’s money he had found,
And squeezed Dannenbaum when no one was around.

Graft it is. Power-play. Perry’s stooge.

The date on the check and indictment didn’t jive.
The Grand Jury’s page he did hastily contrive.
“No way they will buy it down in Cameron County.”
So the big load of crap was read by Mattingly.

Lies it was. Fabrication. Balderdash.




"Of course I know. It is my business to know." The Merovingian

She's Back!!!!!

Bloggin' All Things Brownsville
I have not the words to express my joy and happiness. So here is a picture I stole.

This little piggie went to market.....

Mayor asks commissioners to repay city for benefits
May 10, 2008 - 11:18PM
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO/The Brownsville Herald

.......
Present Brownsville City Commission members that receive insurance at taxpayers' expense: Commissioners Carlos A. Cisneros, the family of Ricardo Longoria Jr., and Charlie Atkinson.

Photo not part of the original article,unfortunately.

The day of the Corpus Christi ruling, you would have thought these people would have seen the writing on the wall and requested immediate removal from the "program" themselves. But no! They have to wait and push until they get the same bad news for exactly the same reasons as given in the Corpus ruling.

I know that when you were little, mama told you that you were special and not like the other little children. Guess what? Mama was wrong again!

There appears to be a long list of things that mama was wrong about during your formative years. Your personal agendas seem to be high on this list.

"But mama says..but mama says....", no! Fix the streets. Quit pushing debt on future generations. Put qualified people on boards. Lower the number of these boards. And for God's sake, quit micro-managing! We have a city manager form of local government. Turn off your cell phones during meetings: The Heads of State that you seem to be advising can get your "sage wisdom" after the meeting concludes.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

Readers Choice

Since many of us are hard core news and fact junkies, and BATB is on hiatus, I would like to make my site more friendly and useful to you all.

My first poll question really applies to PDA's. Fewer main posts make the page load a lot faster. The downside is for the desktop user who needs to click archives instead of scrolling down the page for the past few posts.

I personally find it annoying to access my blog with a PDA because of this, but I didn't do this blog because I like to read my own stuff. Let me know how you, the readers feel about this. If there are other PDA issues, let me know and I'll try to accomidate.

Guest Posting
I am not a prolific poster of articles, as you all know. I don't wish to bore everyone who is checking 4 times a day just to see that I have posted nothing new within the last 3 days. Are there some people that you would like to have guest post here? They don't have to be the 'usual suspects', and it would not keep me from writing about them, should they be, shall we say, lacking in the personal privacy department.

Is there more of a type of posting you would like to see? My usual MO is when something strikes my fancy, or I come across something peculiar or stupid, I simply write about that. I am not promising to go wiretap phones, or setup camouflaged video feeds on certain somebodies, but I keep this blog so you can have access to the same information I do, which some of you may have noticed is pretty extensive.

In short, I am doing what most newspapers won't or don't: Asking what you want, then doing my best to deliver the content that satisfies you and doesn't waste your time.

In no way could I ever replace BATB. No one could. But I am suffering withdrawals here, as all of us are. I just want to help.

M.

Ran across this, for anyone who has older kids

Problems with Bloggin all Things Brownsville

The blog shows as deleted, but I am not panicing yet. I have seen that problem before when blogger loses an entire blog. If the archives are gone, that will make me sad.

Could someone let me know what is going on here? I know that "it is my business to know", but at this point I am in the dark as anyone else.

[EDIT]

It is official. Bloggin' All Things Brownsville is off the air. I can not find the right words to express my sorrow, yet if Melissa felt it was the best decision, then I will respect that and will surmise no more. Buena Suerte, Chica!

Your friend,

M.

Why do they bother playing hanky-panky with numbers?

When clicking around to find where they burried what used to be a front page item on PUB's website, I once more took a look into public documents burried in their links to the much vaunted Golden Palace. Bad numbers cause an immediate reaction of disgust and revultion in me akin to that of a nun overhearing the football players the day after the homecomming dance.

For those of you that like the Play at Home Version of What disgusts The Merovingian Today, Right click on the following link and pick "Open in New Tab" or "Open in New Window"
2006 Technical Memos

Every one of the scenerios has an explaination of assumptions at the bottom of the table that reads like this:

"Power Costs were added in the annual water treatment estimate of $.40 to treat a gallon of water. It is a line item under O&M Costs."

Now if this is the case, how come I can go to a Watermill and get 5 gallons of ultrapurified drinking water for .... $1? This price includes buying the source water from PUB and yet the company still shows a profit after ALL their overhead expenses related to selling me that water at 20¢ per gallon.

Making water cost more is the ONLY way these folks can justify the Golden Palace.

Call in the cleaning crew, 'cause they wee-wee'd on the carpet again.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

From the Houston Chronicle

Sunday, May 4, 2008
Contributions to the Harris County Commissioner's Court


Harris County Commissioners Court members — commissioners Jerry Eversole, Sylvia Garcia, El Franco Lee and Steve Radack; former county judge Robert Eckels and current judge Ed Emmett — have raised more than $10 million for their campaigns since 2003, despite rarely facing significant challengers.

This database contains a record of each donation made since January 2003, as reported in campaign filings kept by Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman’s office. Court members may accept checks of any size but are not allowed to provide favorable treatment in direct exchange for contributions.


ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77006 2003-06-26 $5,000
EMMETT DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2007-05-11 $25,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2003-08-02 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2004-06-18 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2005-05-26 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2005-06-28 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2007-05-24 $5,000
ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2006-04-25 $10,000
ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-02-24 $10,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2003-06-23 $5,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2004-06-28 $5,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-07-07 $10,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2006-07-05 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2003-04-23 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2004-04-12 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-04-21 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2007-04-10 $10,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2003-02-10 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2004-01-30 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-04-05 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2006-07-09 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2007-06-25 $5,000
ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES D & SHIRLEY M 77098 2004-05-05 $10,000


And they say that money can't buy happiness!

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Ahem.....

Judge: City officials not entitled to benefits

BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO/The Brownsville Herald
2008-04-28 14:28:00
A state district court in Corpus Christi ruled that city council members there are not entitled to medical insurance benefits in a taxpayer lawsuit that mirrors a pending case in Brownsville regarding city officials.

Judge Nanette Hasette entered her ruling April 24.

"The case is very similar to ours in that it involved compensation. The judge ruled that insurance was compensation and the charter limited the amount they could get," Moses Sorola, who filed the local lawsuit that is pending against Brownsville city commission members, said.

"We hope that this will impact our case favorably," Sorola added.

IN YOUR FACE!

I couldn't have said it better

Places to Find One Million Dollars

Sealed indictment delivered in port bridge case
DA recovers $1M from Dannenbaum
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ and EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO/The Brownsville Herald
2008-04-23 23:16:00

Mattingly said Dannenbaum had been "instrumental and cooperative" in locating the $1 million that should not have been paid in success fees, but said that he had no idea where Dannenbaum located the money. "You are going to have to contact Dannenbaum Engineering Corp about that," he said. He did note that the district attorney's office continues attempts to locate more funds.


Oh! I know! It was put away by mistake with the Christmas decorations. No, wait! It was in an overlooked cabinet in the coffee break room. Maybe it was in a secretary's petty cash box.

Hey Mattingly! A small hint: Quit trying to blow smoke; you do it ever so badly. If your office is still attempting to locate more funds, might I suggest doing a search in the Brownsville Herald archives for TBX. Please stop listening to the small, fairy-like dufitti that swarm around your head causing you to think and say such Atkinsonian things such as, "no idea where Dannenbaum located the money"

Did God Almighty reach down from the heavens and beat everyone in the DA's office half to death with a "Stupid Stick"? Even I have a hard time believing that anyone in an investigatory capacity could be so incredibly stupid.


"instrumental and cooperative"? Oh give me a break! You have already broken my BS detector and I have to buy the new model with the Hilary front end overload protection option. Before you spend that money on a required steam room for law enforcement stress relief, or schedule the staff for a two week conference on reading and interpreting a traffic ticket that will be held next winter at Lake Tahoe, could you please cover the cost of my new BS detector, less the cost of depreciation for the old one which you broke into a thousand pieces. I do wish to be fair with MY claim against part of the $1 million.

Speaking of money, it seems that you and your merry band of idiots can't add nor count, either. Dannenbaum paid itself $1.7 million in success fees. When rounding numbers, the rule is to round down when the last digit is less than five (5). The math lesson I throw in for free as I am a generous guy. If Trey Martinez had to point that out to you, it would have cost you thousands.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Port Bridge Money Stolen Again

DA to release findings into BND's failed bridge projectApril 22, 2008 - 10:49PM
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ/The Brownsville Herald

The Cameron County District Attorney's office today will release information on its investigation into the Brownsville Navigation District.

........

The press conference comes a day after Villalobos's office seized $1 million of success fees paid to the Mexican contractors on the international bridge project. The money was seized on Tuesday following a civil forfeiture the district attorney's office filed against Dannenbaum, Villalobos said.

"It (the money) will probably go back to the community," Villalobos said on Tuesday. "We are limited as to what" can be done with it. Under state law, the funds must be used for law enforcement purposes.


Villalobos' office gets to keep a million bucks of seized "Bridge to Nowhere" money. No wonder he found a reason to actually pursue something!

I got an Idea for ya, bright boy! Put it in the victims compensation fund and let the Port make a claim against it.

If Villalobos is sure that the million bucks was Port bond money, and he seized it, then claims it will be the property of his office, does that make the DA guilty of Theft by Conversion?

I am still waiting on some more facts, but I am not happy with the smell I am getting so far.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

Coverage of the Leaky Bucket Awards Ceremony

The awards ceremony was held last night at an undisclosed location. I was allowed to attend, provided that I agree first to a pad-down and wand sweep. I was to be taken blindfolded to the awards site. Even my Blackberry was confiscated from me for the duration of the event. I had been willing to risk almost everything to live blog the action, but because of the intense security surrounding the event, and possible violations of the Mann act, you will have to settle with my report of festivities as clearly as I can recall them.

A recorded fanfare comes from overhead…… Da! Dadadada Daaaa…..

As the house lights dim and everyone's eyes adjust, a spotlight irises open on the left side of the stage. Behind the podium, a slight man with horn rim glasses and a bow tie clears his throat, causing the sound system to emit a dull howl which peaks out with a scream as the sound man adjusts the levels.

"Good Evening! And welcome to the first annual LEAKY BUCKET AWARDS!"

There was polite applause from the crowd, with just a couple of whistles.
"As you know this non-prestigious honor is bestowed upon candidates who squander as many public resources for as little in return as possible. This year’s dishonorees will be brought up on stage, whether willing or not, to receive their Awards, along with the ceremonial beating. We would like to recognize and thank this year's Sergeants at Arms whose mission it was to round up this year’s recipients using any means at their disposal and bring them here with as little damage as practical to receive their awards.”

There was semi-enthusiastic applause from the audience, as a second, larger spotlight fills the center of the stage on a group of men standing at parade rest. Each raised a hand and waved to the crowd when recognized, followed by friendly applause.

“Mr. Fernando Ruiz!”

“Mr. Alex Resendez!”

“Mr. Francisco Sifuentes !”

“Mr. Robert Uresti!”

“And the esteemed, the loud, the animated…… Mr…. Dagoberto….. Barrera!”

There was wild applause as Mr. Barrera lifted his trademark hat deftly with his right hand in a salute to the audience. The audience responded with a positive increase in applause volume. The gentlemen filed off the stage as smartly as their years allowed.

“Mr. Roman Perez is keeping watch at the front door.” , the MC continued,” And we wish to thank him for his continued vigilance.”

“We would also like to recognize an honored guest in the audience, so everyone please give a warm welcome to ……..Dr. Jerry McHale!”

The crowd rose to its feet in groups…loud applause…whistles and various calls of good wishes. McHale simply raised a bottled beer in high above his head in acknowledgement, while motioning with his other for another bucket of Indio. The attendees took their seats and decorum returned.

“So without further fanfare and hoopla, let’s start the first annual LEAKY BUCKET AWARDS!”

The audience applauds, as at center stage the curtains parted.

There standing was undoubtedly a woman poised regally with a black hood over her head and face down to her shoulders, covering what may have been a wide brimmed hat. The effect was somewhat like a black shrouded beekeeper. She stood: feet slightly apart with her hand folded over a common, thick handled, commercial kitchen broom propped vertically before her with the brush end squarely against the floor. There was no question as to her purpose in tonight’s agenda.

“Our first recipient ,the ever popular ……….City of Brownsville Public Works!

A ripple of applause cascaded through the room as the announcer continued, “Accepting on behalf of the department is Mr. Santana Torres.”

Mr. Torres was prodded toward the podium by those seated as he passed tables on his way to the podium. He was handed his award and took his place at center stage and smiled at the crowd.

Three thunderous blows fell in rapid succession, as the MC glanced in horror and raced across the stage to stay the broom before it fell again. In a tone probably louder than he intended, I could faintly hear from the stage: “THE BRUSH END, THE BRUSH END!”

A muffled voice from under the hood said “Sorrryyyy” in a sing-songy voice. She didn’t really convince me that she was. As the MC walked smartly to his podium, I heard someone say from the direction of McHale’s table, “That’s GOTTA hurt!”

As the dazed recipient was led staggering from the stage, the MC darted a glance toward the broom wielding woman who had attempted to resume her stance, but the effect was lost due to her shoulders shuddering and an occasional snicker being heard. The MC turned to the microphone and said, “We didn’t have time to rehearse the show, so please bear with us.”, then quickly glanced again at the woman who had still not regained her composure.

Clearing his throat, he went on to say, “Our next recipient is in the category of multi-agency funded boondoggle is…….. Cameron Works ! Accepting for Cameron Works is Francisco Castellanos !”

“Do you have a few words for the people? Castellanos started what looked to be a glare that was interrupted by the unmistakable snick-snack of a 12 gauge round being chambered in a pump action shotgun from backstage. It sounded to me like a Remington, but I was pretty far back in the crowd. Wide eyed and pale Castellanos stumbled zombie-like to the podium, and stammered out, “I won’t do it again?” The crowd clapped appreciatively, then Castellanos was guided to center stage for the ceremonial beating. The MC caught the eye of the woman I began to think of as the ”Minister of Punishment “ and firmly held up one finger. The woman shrugged her shoulders upward while holding the broom diagonally across her chest, brush end upwards this time as if to ask, ”Que Onda?”. The MC firmly repeated his indication of “one” with his index finger. She nodded affirmation, then turning the broom 90 degrees, flat edge on, she took one step backwards and let fly with a mighty swing that would have impressed Barry Bonds. The MC turned away and winced as the edge of the broom, right where the bristles were cross stitched for strength, caught Francisco Castellanos squarely across his jaw.

He pivoted like a floppy, fleshy pinwheel with his head contacting the floor a mere fraction of a second before his feet came crashing down. The MC gave the woman what can only be described as “The Hairy Eyeball” and again she said “Sorrryyy” in the same, unconvincing singsong. The observers in the crowd however, nodded their approval. McHale waved for another bucket of beer.

While the stage was being cleared, and quickly mopped I might add, the MC and a couple of stage hands forcefully relieved the woman of her broom and replaced it with a rolled up newspaper. She looked none too happy at this change of fortune and resumed her stance, occasionally lowering her head to look at the newspaper with what can only be described as contempt as she rolled it over and over in her hands.
“Our next recipient is in the category of public education...BISD for being a dropout factory with rising TAKS scores that still doesn’t prepare kids for a decent chance once they’ve finished. Accepting on behalf of BISD will be….. Mr. Otis Powers! “

After the applause died down the MC cupped his hand over the mic and addressed the Sergeants at Arms. “This is it?” Mr. Ruiz answered back, “He was all we could find. I called his office, said I had a problem, he said “Come over to my office and let’s talk about it.” so we went over and bagged him.” The MC shrugged and removed his hand from the microphone as a large green military equipment bag was unzipped and a disheveled Otis Powers was extracted and led up to receive his due.

Powers made a break for it when he reached the stairs leading up to the stage. Someone in the crowd let fly with an expertly thrown chankla, which had to have been brought for the purpose, as this was a strictly black tie affair, catching Mr. Powers squarely in the back of the head, as flying chanklas tend to do. The dazed Powers was snatched up as quickly as a misbehaving kid in the grocery store and pulled by his ear up to the podium to receive his honor. The MC reached over and pulled open Powers’ jacket front and shoved the award packet in. As Mr. Powers was led to center stage, the MC with an air of smug satisfaction rolled his left arm outward, palm upturned, toward the newspaper wielding woman as if to say, ”All yours!” She looked at her target, then back at the paper. She repeated these actions once more, and then with a huge back-handed uppercut, the now hard rolled paper came to a dead stop in an area that made every man in the room involuntarily jerk in sympathy, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath between clenched teeth. The now mercifully unconscious Powers was carried from the stage accompanied by a scattering of applause from the ladies and the few men who had recovered from what they had witnessed.

Another brief conference was held with the woman at center stage with even more stage hands involved; her newspaper was grudgingly exchanged for a pillow. Although it was impossible to see through the hood, her body language was that of sheer exasperation at this turn of events.

“Our last major award recipient for the evening is UTB/TSC! Receiving on behalf of this institution of higher learning and lowered expectations is ……..Dr. Juliette Garcia!”

She made a dash toward the stage. It appeared that she was drawn to the spotlight on the microphone. Fate seems to have played a part in this, for at the same moment as she was running toward her goal; Jerry McHale turned half way around in his seat, with a beer still pressed to his lips as his feet nonchalantly entered the aisle leading toward the front of the stage. Juliette’s forward sliding motion was only stopped by her head contacting the bottom stair step. Jerry didn’t spill a drop. Amazing!

The crowd rose to its feet. There was electricity in the air that you could almost touch. Even Dr. McHale had put down his beer to rise and join in the applause as a stunned Garcia was led forth to receive her due.

She quickly gave that pillow three twists and folded it in half, and before the MC could get one step from the podium, she had bent halfway backwards with that pillow-brick extended as far over her right shoulder as humanly possible, and she came down with a blow that would have felled Paul Bunyan’s ox.

Skidding to a stop, the announcer returned to his microphone, as it was too late to do anything about it and it was the last public award.

“Sergeants at arms!”, he called. They rose in unison and answered as one, “Yes Sir!”. “I believe that you have a remaining duty to the dishonorable mentions?” he asked in a knowing voice. Mr. Sifuentes answered for the group, “Very good, Sir! Gentlemen?” The platoon filed toward the door on the right where a push cart stacked high with cartons of eggs and a second cart with two large Charmain boxes waited. They disappeared through the door into the night with the unmistakable look of men on a serious mission.

This years ceremony was over and I was blindfolded and taken back to where we met up. As the sedan pulled to a stop, I was unceremoniously pushed out of the back seat onto the pavement. The broom was tossed out after me, as were my other personal belongings “It’s already been wiped for prints, my ‘host’ hollered at me through the rolled down window. “Keep it for next year!”

And that I shall.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian