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MELISSA'S MICROMANAGING RAISES SUSPICIONS OF INFLUENCE PEDDLING
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<div>By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br /></div><span><span>City of Brownsville commissioner Melissa Zamora's latest foray into the rightful purview of city management â€" the bidding process for selling services to the city â€" is raising eyebrows and suspicions about her motives.<br />Not only do our readers question her sincerity about her sudden concern for the activities in the purchasing department, but also about her interest in who gets such piddly contracts as demolition work for the city.<br />In the past, the precocious Ms. Zamora has fund her self in the maelstrom of controversy after she became embroiled in matters related to the doling out of city services and resources, often to people close to her or with whom she was known to be intimately associated with.<br />This latest brouhaha involves her questioning of city contracts to de<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgMgs1zJW6b0JmDoLvnAnl8T2IVa0FKtttxJHkVbQBEYfXr4YjsJpzNfy7D0oUVpXjbM7WD4BTEJAr9-LWnwZHo3UYOa5byFnU8o8KWSds4E5qg-mRVQ-I5hejHufJmElaFPRapuPwlTw/s400/melissa+zamora+tony+martinez.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722859948689979618" />molish condemned homes and structures, a relatively minor portion of the city's business. </span></span><div><span><span>Why she is getting involved in singling out this service is raising questions in the contractor communityand questions on whether she is running interference for those who may have bid and not received the jobs in question.</span></span></div><div><span><span>Zamora's perceiv</span></span></div><div><span><span>ed conflict-of-interest problems started soon aftershe was elected commissioner. Back in 2009 Brownsville, she announced that she had severed ties with construction giant HNTB who was doing business with the city so as to eliminate any question of possible conflicts.</span></span></div><div><span><span>The Kansas City-based firm with offices in Brownsville had been providing the city with engineering services on projects at the city’s Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport, the Brownsville Sports Park, and is in charge of engineering for the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, which is working on numerous city projects including the West Rail Relocation Project, the now-abandoned West Parkway Project and other developments.</span></span></div><div><span><span>Zamora at the time told the local daily that said that she signed a contract with HNTB to provide it with media relations work from Aug. 10 through Nov. 30 of that year.She abstained from voting on a project for which the firm had performed engineering work.</span></span></div><div><span><span>Brownsville’s City Charter states that the mayor and commissioners cannot be interested in the profits or emoluments of any contracts, job, work, or service for the municipality. The provision reflects that, to the contrary, a mayor or commissioners would forfeit their offices if such conflicts exist.<br />Sossi pointed out that Zamora was not an owner or principal of HNTB nor was she an employee. "Commissioner Zamora provided work to HNTB as an independent consultant and therefore had no interest ‘in the </span></span></div><div><span><span>profits or emoluments of any contract, job, work or service for the municipality,’ " Sossi told the local daily.</span></span></div><div><span><span>At the time city contract attorney Mark Sossi came to her rescue and said his reading of the charter exonerated Zamora</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">(HNTB, by the way, was recently named in a report by the government that charged that it had overcharged $9 million in its fees to allocate disaster money in Texas.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Just as her personal relationship with HTNB raised questions in 2009, the following year she also got into a controversy after she tried to get Brownsville Community Development Block Grant funds to build a Boys and Girls Club in Cameron Park after the charter for the Brownsville Boys and Girls Club expired.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The commissioner came up with the plan to build one in property in Camer</span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">on Park which she said had been annexed by the city. She planned to use the active charter of the Los Fresnos Boys and Girls Club to do it. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The application was asking for $1.5 million dollars.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">City Planner Ben M</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">edina said that the city committee charged with disbursing the funds reviewed $7.3 Million worth of CDBG proposals and recommended funding for $1,660,788 of infrastructure, $533,028 and $1,359,703 of commitments.</span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">As stated at the time, the city would buy the property from the county, temporarily come under the Los Fresnos B&G Club and later come under its own name when the Brownsville club regained its charter. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">But it wasn't until Zamora said that the architectural firm listed for the project, Gomez, Saenz and Mendez, was willing to donate the architectural work that suspicions about her personal relations with the principals arose that the questions arose.</span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">At the time, David Mendez and Zamora were an item and were seen at numerous civic and social functions, arousing suspicions that there was something more than ci</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">vic-mindedness behind the proposal.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">(That firm, by the way, was named in a forensic audit performed on the multi-million cost overruns â€" initially $45 million that rose to to $64 million â€" at the Veterans Memorial High School and the audit staff recommended that it be prohibited from bidding on future construction projects with the district.)</span></div><div><span><span>Still another example of the suspicions following the gregarious commish is the brouhaha that erupted after she fought off the proposals by start-up airline Fly Frontera to establish Monterrey-Brownsville air service, only to discover that she had </span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDPGo_IkKXlEfYbsuvMByPMGg9ZvuH61a7GRd9Kq-_GXZveYwL3Rrorg6mYITK-PAruy1ZeLZxrvbc6e-hjXmMMiASOI4aqj8BaGgaS5fyxSlVhG5lE0McwI_ZOzjewxaF4IdPN6Q-SE/s400/micro.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722859665750995746" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 271px; " /><div><span><span>been privy to extensive talks going on with AeroMexico to provide the same service.</span></span></div><div><span><span>Then, after the announcement of the AeroMexico service was made in open session, Mayor Tony Martinez announced that commissioner Zamora was to be in charge of the public promotion efforts on this side of the Rio Grande. A caller at the time to to Elite Promotions, where she is an marketing representative, was told that "Commissioner Zamora is in charge of that account."</span></span></div><div><span><span>Later, a livid commissioner threatened legal action against bloggers and said that she was donating the promotional work and that Elite Promotions had nothing to do with the project. And while the commissioner fought tooth and nail to prevent the city and the BEDC from providing incentives for any airline, she was strangely quiet after the Mexican airline started receiving that very thing after the dust had settled.</span></span></div><div><span><span>And just as giant construction companies and local architectural firms and international airlines have been the objects of her desire, at least one local contractor has drawn the commissioner's ire, even going as far as naming him specifically in open session of the city commission. That person is Jaime Escobedo, owner of American Contractors, a Brownsville firm that bid on the concrete demolition section of the city's specifications</span></span></div><div><span><span>."I didn't even want to bid on the concrete demolition," said a surprised Escobedo. "All I have is heavy machinery and I would actually lose money. I was surprised when she mentioned me by name in open session.</span></span></div><div><span><span>"What motives are driving Mellie and Martinez to intrude in the city's bidding and purchasing process? Contractors are mystified at their sudden interest."If there's something wrong with the bidding and purchasing process, fix it," said one.</span></span></div><div><span><span> "</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">But Zamora's and Martinez's sudden interest in this is raising suspicions that there is an ulterior motive working here."</span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 243, 219); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; "></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-7535254993848767586?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/by-juan-montoya-city-of-brownsville.html
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SUGAR-COATING THE UTB DOWN-SIZING: YOU'RE FIRED!
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<div>From: Juliet Garcia, President UTB-TSC<br />Dr. Pedro Reyes, Executive Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs ad interim<br />March 21, 2012, Spring 2012 No. 4<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4z4ao_Z9pm6gNTQR98E81OWakUDVBfQYcMVjzpGUzS9BAJPvhl3rBMcAsfFO_BdzkQKm7i0QomMNN5vK40e955_tOEpRwLgnLX1cthnmDtQPS0k2B_NSX4kbtRKVfjVPrmFHx_LJIpCE/s1600/juliet.jpg"></a><br />Dear Colleagues: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJzUlkVDVhafTpFh4kIWSgwHdLW4GT7tXBwgk7fs-2fpGDEZU0G836NBV4ZUFBE8xKZ1r4fLSQBw9t0m9J78zfeL15h4NFfLxxVXDrWeV1AwBBTgj523f1Qzyonmxhnrk2GQX77lJAPQ/s1600/juliet.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 270px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722752772901825698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJzUlkVDVhafTpFh4kIWSgwHdLW4GT7tXBwgk7fs-2fpGDEZU0G836NBV4ZUFBE8xKZ1r4fLSQBw9t0m9J78zfeL15h4NFfLxxVXDrWeV1AwBBTgj523f1Qzyonmxhnrk2GQX77lJAPQ/s200/juliet.jpg" /></a><br />This month marks one year since the final decision was made to end the Partnership between the UT System and the TSC Board of Trustees that operated UTB/TSC since 1991.<br />As progress is made in the transition process toward full separation of UT Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, it is our intent to continually provide timely and candid communication as it becomes available through both the leadership at UT System and UT Brownsville.<br />Each milestone in the process serves to design a thriving campus that benefits the educational priorities of our students.<br />As you recall, the work of imagining UTB as a separate entity began first with a new mission statement developed by our campus community, as well as business and civic leaders, which would guide our work.<br />The UT System Board of Regents adopted the new mission statement for UT Brownsville in August of 2011:<br />“The University of Texas at Brownsville draws upon the intersection of cultures and languages at the southern border and Gulf Coast of the United States to develop knowledgeable citizens and emerging leaders who are engaged in the civic life of their community. It embraces teaching excellence, active inquiry, lifelong learning, rigorous scholarship, and research in service to the common good. The University promotes the interdisciplinary search for new knowledge that advances social and physical well-being and economic development through commercialization, while honoring the creative and environmental heritage of its region.â€<br />The next order of business was to develop enrollment models that would identify community college programs that will be discontinued or transferred to TSC. The models would also address academic programs that anticipate reduced need for faculty due to projected enrollment decreases as a result of new admissions standards or programmatic changes.<br />The modeling predicts a new student body of 7,400 UTB students, or 60 percent of the current student body. It also identifies the reduced number of faculty positions needed in the resized UTB. This spring begins the process of resizing UTB’s core faculty, which will follow the guidelines as outlined in the UT System Regents Rules.<br />Therefore, a reduction in force process set forth in Regents Rule 31003, Sec. 2 began on March 19th to effectuate these decisions.<br />Review Committees: Review Committees were formed to review academic programs and faculty positions for elimination. Tenured and tenure-track faculty associated with community college programs will be reviewed by a university-wide committee (the University Review Committee). Tenured and tenure-track faculty in academic departments that will lose positions due to decreased enrollment or for other programmatic reasons will be reviewed by committees at the departmental level (Departmental Review Committees).<br />Also, Program Review Committees will be formed to review certain non-community college programs being considered for abandonment or reduction in scope.<br />*The University Review Committee is composed of five faculty members from across the university. Departmental Review Committees will have either three or five members, depending on the size of the department. These committee members were recommended by their respective Deans and the Provost and appointed by the President. Program Review Committees will be composed of five members, including representatives of the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Graduate Committee, appointed by the President.<br />*The Provost provided each Review Committee with a specific charge to guide the Committee’s work (the Provost’s Charge). The purpose of the Provost’s Charge is to clearly delineate the specific task of each Review Committee and to provide guidance for the process to be used in their deliberations and in formulating their recommendations.<br />*Each Review Committee will make recommendations for the elimination of faculty positions to the Provost, based on the Provost’s Charge and the committee’s evaluation of the faculty members being reviewed. Departmental Review Committees will have the opportunity to request permission from the Provost to deviate from his instructions in the Provost’s Charge for exceptional cases.<br />*If the Review Committee informs the Provost that it intends to recommend a tenured faculty member for termination, the Provost will notify the tenured faculty member and allow him/her to submit written statements and documents advocating for his/her continued employment to the Review Committee.<br />*An attorney from the Office of General Counsel of The University of Texas System will provide legal advice and counsel to each Review Committee as needed. Recommendations: By May 7, 2012, each Review Committee will have completed its work and will have submitted its final recommendations and rationale to the Provost. The Provost will then submit his recommendation to the President, who will in turn submit her request for approval to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.<br />Notification of Results of Decisions: On or about May 14, 2012, tenured and tenure-track faculty members whose positions have been recommended for termination will be notified and provided information about an incentive program that would allow these faculty to voluntarily resign their positions effective May 31, 2013, in exchange for compensation.<br />By August 1, 2012, UTB will notify tenured and tenure track faculty members who will be terminated as a result of the reduction in force, and who have elected not to participate in the incentive program, that their employment will end as of May 31, 2013.<br />Appeal Process:<br />*Tenured and tenure-track faculty who elected not to participate in the incentive program may appeal the termination decision.<br />*Appeal Hearing Committees will be constituted to hear appeals. These hearings will be conducted in accordance with Sec. 2 of Regents’ Rule 31003 and the procedures provided by the President or the Provost.<br />*Tenured faculty in abandoned programs may also request reassignment to positions in other academic programs at the University for which they may be qualified, in accordance with Regents’ Rule 31003, Sec. 2.6.<br />*Appeal hearings will be conducted in the Fall of 2012. Employment in a New Capacity: Dependent on need, tenured and tenure-track faculty whose positions are eliminated in the reduction in force will have priority in the filling of lecturer positions at UTB beginning in September of 2013.<br />We anticipate the review process for staff positions to begin in January of 2013. The preliminary timeline would include notification of the staff positions that will be eliminated in the reduction in force to take place during the spring semester with employment to end August 31, 2013.<br />There is no doubt that the changes ahead will be difficult. We are committed to conducting each process in a manner that is transparent and respectful of the many valuable contributions of the faculty and staff who over the years have in good faith dedicated themselves to their students and to the work of the community university.<br />Ultimately, as Chancellor Cigarroa reminded us in his recent letter to the campus community, this is not merely a transactional separation of two entities, but most important an extraordinary new beginning for generations of students who will earn a high quality University of Texas degree. <span style="font-size:+0;"></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-73369253284535531?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/03/sugar-coating-utb-down-sizing-youre_22.html
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