City Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

I look forward to begin. Yeah. Good afternoon and welcome to the City Commission of the City of Brownsville. Mayor, may we call the meeting to order?

Yes, ma'am.

Pursuant to Chapter 551, Title 5 of the Texas Government Code that the Texas Open Meetings Act Notice is hereby given that the City Commission of the City of Brownsville, Texas, in accordance with Article 5, Section 12 of the Charter of said city, will convene at a regular meeting on July 7, 2026 at 5 p.m. here in the Commission Chambers on the second floor of the Brownsville City Hall Old Federal Building located at 1001 East Elizabeth Street, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, 78520. We will proceed with the roll call, starting with Mayor John Cowan Jr. Present. Commissioner Tino Villarreal. Commissioner Norent Galansky. Commissioner Brian Martinez.

Present.

Commissioner Linda Macias. Commissioner Gustavo De Leon.

Present.

and commissioner pedro cardinal we do have a quorum to proceed the invocation will be led by miss alicia justillian and following we will have the pledge of allegiance being led by members of the boy scout troop number 11. good evening please join us in prayer

Father in heaven, we come to you, Lord of all, to praise you and thank you for another day of life and to be present at this meeting. Thank you for the blessings of our country's 250 years of its birth, our founders who put their faith in you, and one of them who said, it is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a supreme being. Father God, set up your will for what will be heard and said tonight pour out your understanding and wisdom to mayor cowan and city commission lay out before them and the citizens of brownsville what your plans are for our city and place in each one of us the strength and ability to work together as in your word that says to serve one another humbly in love we pray in jesus name amen

troop 11 mr larry jopel please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flags i pledge allegiance to the flag the states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice to all honor the texas flag i pledge allegiance to thee texas one state under god one and indivisible

And for the record, we have Commissioner Macias present. We will proceed with the proclamations. The first one is recognizing parks and in the recreation month.

If I can please have the Parks Department come up here. It is an honor to be given this proclamation in recognizing Parks and Recreation Month. Whereas the City of Broncos Parks and Recreation Department plays a vital role in enriching the quality of life for all residents by managing more than 40 parks, miles of trails, athletic fields, recreational facilities, and open spaces that support physical health, mental well-being, and environmental stewardship. And whereas the Parks and Recreation Department delivers inclusive and high quality programming, ranging from youth sports and cultural events to senior wellness activities and summer camps that bring our community together across generations and backgrounds. And whereas Bronzel's parks are essential to the city's public health strategy, providing access to safe spaces for outdoor recreation, exercise, and relaxation that combat chronic illness, support emotional resilience, and enhance overall quality of life. And whereas the department is currently leading the development of a parks, health, and recreation master plan to ensure equitable access, modernized infrastructure, and long-term growth aligned with Bronzel's values and future vision. And now, therefore, we, the members of the City Commission of the City of Bronzeville, Texas, do hereby recognize and commend the City of Bronzeville Parks and Recreation Department of its invaluable contributions to the quality of life of all residents. And we encourage the community to support, celebrate, and participate in the programs, services, and initiatives that continue to strengthen and enrich our city. Done. On this, the 7th day of July, 2026.

And commissioner Galowski is present for the record.

One more. Here we go. Ready? One, two and three. Okay. Thank you.

mr mayor uh commission honored guest our city leadership i i wanted to first say thank you very much for recognizing our department during this uh month because it is national parks and recreation month as you know our department's very diverse uh we just are coming off of one of our bigger annual events in 4th of July, which I don't know if you saw, and we'll have numbers for the actual attendance next week. It was a banner year for us as far as the 4th of July. In addition to that, we are getting ready for our mobile rec unit this week, as well as other activities. But I did jot down some notes. Normally I don't, but I wanted to just read something off to you. Parks and Recreation is one of the few professions that truly serve every resident, every day, every stage of life. Our team helps build healthier communities, stronger neighborhoods, memorable experiences, impacts economic validity. We create safer public spaces and places where people connect. This is a profession that on any given day we're able to be doing planning for multi-million dollar capital improvement projects, implement a maintenance plan, host a luncheon, prepare a concert, prepare for a concert, national tournament, mentor a young lifeguard, sponsor a senior fitness class, respond to an emergency, celebrate a child's birthday, and climb into a skid stair and serve wherever we need to be served. in one hour we're planning a future the next we're creating memories that's the beauty of Parks and Recreation is not as simple as maintaining parks it's about creating spaces where life happens my team is one of the most diverse teams in the land from sea to shining sea from edge to edge we are that we have everything from people that work with seniors and children to people that weld lay concrete mow and everything in between. And we appreciate the fact and the honor that we're given by not only you, but the citizens of Brownsville to serve them every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So thank you for that. Also, as a quick reminder, this is budget season. Remember how much and all that we do when you go to approve the annual budget. Thank you very much.

The next proclamation is recognizing the Brownsville Fire Department.

Rick recognizing the browser fire department. Whereas on June 15th, the browser fire department displayed extraordinary courage, professionalism and unwavering dedication while responding, responding to two significant fires, emergencies within the community. Whereas in the early morning hours, fire crews were dispatched to a major residential fire on three 30 West Jefferson street, deploying three fire engines, one aerial truck ladder, one water tender, one ambulance and assistant chief and E. M. S. Supervisor. Whereas upon arrival, firefighters encountered the structural structure heavily involved in flames and acted swiftly to contain the fire protecting neighbors properties and ensure that no occupants were trapped, demonstrating exceptional skills and commitment to public safety. Whereas later on that evening, Bravo Fire Department responded to a commercial fire at Wellington Plaza involving six emergency fire engines, two ladder trucks, one water tender, one ambulance and five command staff members. Whereas the fire spreaded rapidly through the attic space, threatening multiple businesses and nearby occupancies, requiring a requiring a complex multi hour operational marked by coordinated teamwork, endurance and decisive action. Whereas the collaborative collective efforts, bravery and steadfast dedication of all responding personnel, the browser fire department successfully contained both incidents. and upheld the highest standards of service to residents of Brownsville. Now, therefore, we, the members of the City Commissioner and the City of Brownsville, do hereby recognize and commend the Brownsville Fire Department for its exceptional performance, terrorism, and service provided on June 15, 2026, and for our community. Done on this date, the 7th of July, 2026.

Good evening. I just want to thank you, Mayor Commission. My name is Jared Sheldon, Fire Chief for the City of Brownsville. Thank you for recognizing the Brownsville Fire Department. These men and women work day in and day out and are always ready to respond. That's why they're walking out right now. They're already excited to get back on the trucks and get back on the streets. So they're truly a dedicated public servant and really heroes to Brownsville, all the men and women out there, and they truly love what they do. But I just want to thank you for recognizing them. Thank you.

And next is recognizing the Brownsville Dynamite Volleyball Club.

So this is a proclamation of the City Commission of Brownsville, Texas, recognizing the Brownsville Dynamite Volleyball Club, whereas the Brownsville Dynamite Volleyball Club 13 and up, I guess, team has demonstrated exceptional dedication, teamwork, discipline, and sportsmanship throughout the 2025-2026 volleyball season. And whereas through hard work, perseverance, and a strong commitment to excellence, these outstanding student athletes proudly represented the city of Brownsville and their community both on and off the court. And whereas the Brownsville Dynamite Volleyball Club 13 and up team earned the distinguished title of Lone Star Regionals Elite Division Champions during the tournament held in Houston, Texas on May 9th through 10th, 2026, And whereas the members of this championship team are proudly recognized as number one, Andrea Vela, number six, Lilibeth Cisneros, number seven, Abigail Silva, number eight, Gigi Rodriguez, number nine, Paola Garcia, number 10, Kate Chapa, number 12, Suri Hernandez, number 15, Marisol Gonzalez, number 24, Paola Monse Coronado, and number 26, Zuleika Laniz. and now therefore we the members of the city commission of the city of brownsville texas do hereby recognize and commend the brownsville dynamite volleyball club 13 and up team for their remarkable accomplishments exemplary sportsmanship and for bringing pride and recognition to our community done on this the seventh day of july twenty twenty six

Okay, one more. Here we go. One, two, and three.

Final one.

One, two, and three.

Okay.

Next we will be moving on to the public comment period. We did receive four pre registered forms. The speakers have acknowledged that they will follow the rules and that are displayed on the screen. You will have up to three minutes to speak. You will be required to say your name and your address for the record while addressing the City Commission. As a reminder, please address them as a whole and not to an individual members. We will start with the first speaker, Antonio Caldwell. Please come to the podium. The time will begin after you complete your naming your address for the record.

Antonio Caldwell, 3130 Creekwood Drive. Good evening, Mayor, Commissioner, City Manager and members of city leadership. My name is Dr. Antonio Caldwell. I am the founder and principal consultant of Caldwell Humane and Animal Services. I am one of only 25 certified animal welfare administrators in Texas. And I have probably called Brownsville my home for more than 20 years. First, thank you so much for your service. I know that leading a city is not easy, and I appreciate the work that it takes to put your community first. We all appreciate that. Brownsville is becoming known for technology, economic growth, and space exploration. Those are incredible achievements. But as we build the city of tomorrow, let us not forget one of the greatest reflections of any community. how we care for its animals. Nearly 65% of Texas households own at least one pet. In a city of nearly 200,000 people where households own multiple pets, that means our companion animal population far exceeds our human population. Animal welfare is not a small issue. It is a community issue that requires a community solution. If our police department or fire department were expected to protect our community with only six frontline responders, we would immediately recognize that they needed more resources. Yet our animal control officers have been expected to do more with less for years. while pending service calls have grown to more than 1,000. I recently attended an Animal Advisory Care Committee meeting where it was announced that there are more than 1,800 pending requests for spay and neuter services. It was also announced at that meeting that a monthly spay and neuter clinic would soon launch that would begin with a goal of 40 surgeries per month. I applaud that effort, but at that pace, we will never get ahead of the problem. We must address the root cause of pet overpopulation. Investing in animal services isn't just about helping animals. It's about protecting public health, improving neighborhood safety, reducing nuisance complaints, and preventing animal bites and making Brownsville a better place to live. Gandhi once said, the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Tonight, I asked you to make animal welfare a top priority. invest in dedicated people who serve this community, invest in a modern state-of-the-art animal services facility, provide staffing and resources needed for the department to succeed, and build a comprehensive spay and neuter program that matches the size and needs of our growing city. Brownsville has proven that when we choose to invest, we can accomplish extraordinary things. I believe we can become a model of animal welfare in Texas as well as across the nation. Thank you for your time, and thank you for your service.

Next, we have Yolanda Spies. Please come to the podium. You will have three minutes to speak.

My name is Yolanda Spies, and as I said, I don't want to give you my address for security reasons. Last month, my neighbor's house went up in flames. I'd been packing things from my old house and in the morning I was gonna take everything over first thing. I was so exhausted I fell asleep about 8.30 at the old house. Midnight rolls around and my neighbor tells me that my house was on fire. Wasn't my house, but my next door neighbor's house. Fire department worked diligently all night and well into the afternoon to kill the fire so my house and my neighbor's houses would be protected. yes indeed they went above and beyond to do their job above and beyond I believe those were the words that PD Commander Paschal used to describe Officer Efrain Cervantes when he not only violated police protocol and the city ordinance on property laws, but then Paschal tampered with my civil case, which I was going to win until he interfered. Is this what the Brownsville Police Department considers going above and beyond by violating police protocol to circle the wagons and protect themselves when their behavior is being called out? Sounds unethical and illegal to defend a thin blue line when it isn't deserved. The funny thing is that a couple of weeks ago, there was a police officer who tried to do the same thing again to me, even though the abandoned property in question had been there for nearly a year. I was getting yelled at and threatened by this police officer with getting a warrant and they were threatening to take the property from me and give it to the criminal. Not a coincidence. It's a pattern of incompetence and poor training. The only thing that I walked away with was realizing that our police department does not need more equipment. They need better training. They need to know the law they've been hired to enforce. Please explain how a person could enforce the law if they don't know how to do it correctly or professionally or appropriately. The other question is, how can a civil servant get rude with someone who is pointing out this behavior? The Brownsville Police Department, Council fire department clearly know how to do their jobs if they didn't my house and all of my belongings would be ash right now. If they didn't the Brownsville police don't know procedure definitely do not know the law or how to enforce it. They even break the law and violated people's constitutional rights because they're ignorant and have a gun. are you scared because i am and i can guarantee most people who reside in brownsville are scared too and don't want to get shot or killed because of responsible pd's stupidity so they blindly comply when they shouldn't have to when i look at the pile of ashes and smell the remains next door it makes me wonder if the fire department were as incompetent as the brownsville police department would my home still be standing i should have to think what would have happened if had the fire department been as incompetent as untrained as the Brownsville Police Department. And this is why I don't feel comfortable giving you my address. It just takes one person to do this kind of damage when you ask for information that makes us vulnerable. And I'm expecting this to get fixed. You have my address and my information. So I'm waiting for the call.

Next speaker, we have Jose and Rose Abet. Please approach the podium. You have up to three minutes to speak.

I'm Rose Applegate from 134 Bates and I'm speaking for my mom who lives in the neighborhood of 134 and my brother at 254. My concern for our neighborhood, the dew bait subdivision, the brush and the junk pickup piles they're getting, they're mounting. Trash was not picked up in June. Who can haul away all the trash and junk and how soon? Maybe during this time of year, I recommend maybe a budget for twice a month pickup, especially during the summer and hurricane seasons. Point number two, the in tow vehicle business, you know, we've seen all of those around. They're entering and exiting through the Dubates neighborhood. They are supposedly renting to park vehicles from El Mejor Precio Business, the property at 97 Pearl Boulevard, to get vehicles ready to sell and transport elsewhere. The safety concerns there are that the Dubates is a neighborhood. um with a narrow and one-way street with cars parked on both sides the posted speed limit is 15 miles per hour it's often exceeded by the drivers of the towing vehicles one child stated that that they were almost hit by one of these towing trailers vehicles sometimes go against the posted one-way traffic direction one driver told me it was faster to just go that way uh point number three does the el precio business have a permit to rent to the towing business to park cars on the property on 629 there were at least 40 to 50 vehicles that were moved through there and going through the neighborhood The El Precio, the Mejor Precio business does have an entrance on Sam Pearl Boulevard. So if they have a permit, vehicles should enter through that entrance on Sam Pearl and not on Bates Street, the neighborhood which does not have an entrance, but they've made one. Maybe recommend putting a post to block that entrance so that way they didn't go into the back part of that. In closing, who specifically will let us know if these concerns are being addressed? How soon can we expect to hear from someone? We did speak to someone on 6-29. I've submitted some pictures. I believe I sent it to the mayor and to District 1 Commissioner. I hope you got those. You'll get more pictures. So we just want to get the trash picked up because it just keeps growing and growing. Okay. Thank you for your time and attention to these concerns. Thank you.

The last speaker is Diablo Velez. Please approach the podium. You'll have up to three minutes to speak.

I'm going to talk about Lady Candace Tangora report. My name is Diablo Velez, 1254 Tyler Street. I don't know what is in Lady Tangora report, not even their recommendations. But nonetheless, they are like all dinosaurs. Old-fashioned politics and policies, they won't work. Lady Tangora also mentioned that the museum is being closed for two years. Look, let me tell you something. The world art, please pay attention to this. It's very important information for the museum. The world art, the global art is dominated by Generation X people. These people, they make hundreds and thousands and millions of dollars, but they also buy art, they sponsor art, and they manage art. But they also are pagans, they are puto, they are lesbian, transgender. So I want to recommend that the city hire a graduate student that were training in museums and have a PhD in art. They are different people, but that's why they do different things. Lady Tangora also criticized the city using the word neglecting. And ladies and gentlemen, that is the history of Brownsville, neglecting things. Take, for example, the new house. That's about 40, 50 years on the clearing. And it's continuing. And it's already taken $100,000 for not moving the ship. You commissioners, you mayor, you are dinosaurs. You're going to become extinct. Give the museum a chance, an opportunity to exist. I 100% support the idea of high energy generation X people. These people, They are the new 21 century human species and they're going to dominate and they're going to influence the world until Jesus Christ come and exterminate all humans because you are no good. On June 2nd, outside in the lobby, there was a seven- or eight-year-old boy sitting in his mother's lap. And he was continually saying that he was not a boy, that he was a girl. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the new human species, and they're going to dominate this world. I recommend the mayor and the city to look, to search for these people, our generation of people, to manage the museum. Thank you.

That concludes the public comment. Next, we'll have the presentation. Item one is to review and the comparison of the organizational culture assessment results from 2024 versus 2025. I'll turn it over to staff.

Thank you. So good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mayor, City Commission, Perla Cepeda, Chief of Staff from the ODNHR Department. So what we're going to present today is the cultural assessment results from 2024 and then 2025 and some of the strategies and initiatives that we have been implementing Your after the results of this assessment, so I feel like a timeline of the different initiatives when in 2018 we start with the total alignment they create something call. organization needs inventory, so it was not like a engagement survey, but it was more to understand what the organization at that time, then in 2022 we have the transition to one CD with deleted. the leading of Ms. Helen Ramirez. And then we did, of course, a lot of benefits, compensation, improvements at that time. And then on 2024, we decided to do a cultural assessment to understand more about the engagement with employees, what is the need of the employees, and have action plans for working with. So in 2025 we did the same and we also include additional sessions for employees to understand the results to help to create a better workplace behavior. That was workshop that we have on 2025 and 2026. of course their ongoing goal is that we continue having an inclusive and engaging high-performing workplace for our employees and the vision is how we can continue position the city of brownsville like the choice for employees and from um the people that wants to collaborate with us so this is the um the results that we receive from the employees on 2024 we have 86 percent of participation of the city employees it's in all positions they receive a link a very unique link so everyone have the opportunity to do it in english and spanish as well and then we did another one in 2025 with 89 percent of participation So what you can see on the first one is the results from September 2024 when we launched the first one. So that is the connecting and distancing means the 57% is the total of engagement from employees on September 2024. The 42% is the people feeling disengaged with the organization. Workforce means that every single employee feel that way. And then devised to team members, that is the frontline employees, clerical employee, admin team members. So the team members, for example, they were 57% engaged versus 42%. Managers and supervisors, 53% versus 46%. Senior leaders is all the assistant directors, the directors, seniors, supervisors. It was 60% of engagement versus 39% of engagement. Then for 2025, when we conclude the assessment in December, we have a change from 57% to 73% increase, and we decrease the disengagement from 42% to 26%. Then for team members, again, we have an increase from 57% to 74% and decrease on the disengagement from 42% to 25%. For managers and supervisors will have a increase from 53% to 62 and then this engagement 46 to 37% and the senior leaders will have an increase for 60% to 67% and a decrease from 39% to 23%. This is just like the general information about The increase from September 2024 to December on workforce, which is the all employees that complete the evaluation, we have a 60% of increase on that engagement. And then for team members, we have a 70.28% of increase for managers and supervisors, 9.54%. And for senior leaders, 50.47% of increase. Of course, we did a lot of initiatives that it was because the support of the City Commission, the support for City Management Office related with compensation, like the call adjustments that we did, the compensation analysis, the longevity pay, the benefits, for example, like parental leave policy, the 457 defer compensation match, the flex schedule. We did also an engagement. This culture assessment is part of the initiatives because we want to really listen to employees and do something with the feedback. with these different initiatives like Women's Leadership Conference. We continue supporting on the annual employee conference as well. Bring your kids at work day. So this is the different initiatives that employee ask us to do more. In training and development, we continue keeping our leadership team accountable. So we did executive retreats. We have 360 evaluations for every single directors and assistant directors. Also individual development plans for those gaps funded on the 360 evaluations. We'll have a one city university for all middle management employees, all the supervisors. So this is part of the career path that we are building for them. So also on the cultural assessment is a section that they can respond about what is the leadership behaviors that we need to continue doing that we need to stop doing and what behavior needs to start doing. So what we receive from those results is on the continue. They want to the leaders continue bringing everyone as a one team. And I think this is the reflection of the one city philosophy. they really enjoy it like when the leaders are asking them how they're doing, how we can help you. So that's the strengths that we find on the leadership side. What is the behaviors that we need to stop? They say assigning everything as a top priority and rush the job. And the conversations that we're having with leaders is sometimes that we need to do is explain the why behind. Sometimes we change priorities is based on the needs of the community or based on the needs of the organization. just take the time to talk to the team members and say, this is the why we're changing the priorities or why this is important. Allowing double standards or only focus on the squeaky wheels is how we keep everyone accountable, how we have the same expectations from employees in the same level. I think that is something that we need to continue doing. The expectations needs to be clear for everyone to understand and needs to be applied for everyone the same way. And then the behaviors for STAR, They want to see more initiatives related to how they can balance the load and avoid any burnout. And as you know that we have a lot of initiatives going to the mental health and we have initiatives also on the wellness side. And also they want to all to continue holding people in teams accountable. So this is some of the initiatives that we have been working with the results from the cultural assessment. related with benefits, related with compensation, related with an engagement activities for employees and keep them, not only them, but also the families engaged. That's the Hug the International Day. So very popular, by the way, very popular. Um, initiatives on the training and development, how we continue keeping our leaders accountable, how we're going to provide the resources for them, but also keeping in mind, like, we need to serve our employees in a better way and start leading by example. So we have a high expectations on that. the training and development opportunities, we have customer service training, we have presentation skills, we have burnout initiatives, like how can we help employees feel like we have high expectations, but how can we provide the resources so they are able to respond to those expectations as well? So of course, the main goal is that we want to continue keeping in mind like how we create the city of Brownsville, the workplace of choice. So we need to focus and continue to focus on culture and engagement and leadership effectiveness and workplace as excellence. So on the workplace excellence, we're working with different initiatives related to how can we improve the accountability for the team members, the accountability for the leadership team, best work practices and implementation on the leadership effectiveness. We are doing very diligent working on individual development plans, creating succession planning and culture and engagement. For example, this is the culture assessment that really help us to understand how they feel, how can we improve the way that we work with the employees. so i don't know if you have any questions i just want to say like we truly appreciate the collaboration and the truly support that we receive from city commission i know like employees enjoy to see you on mental health awareness month just be there with employees they love to see the women's leadership conference the conversation that you have they love to see you on the one city conference with employees or they like to see the commissioners when you go and visit them when they're working there they really appreciate that and i think that's why we're in a very different organization and momentum because we have that support from the leaders and of course cmo we have a great directors that they are committed with employees they are committed with a mission of and purpose of the organization so i think and also we have 1300 employees that they are passionate about what they do and the way that they serve so thank you so much

I just wanted to say thank you so much to you and the team and to everybody. Organizing an event takes a lot of hard work, time, dedication, and you do that for 1,300 employees on several occasions throughout the year. I can honestly say that I enjoy the health fair initiatives. Health is important, and I'm glad that you are allowing employees to spend hours. Sometimes I've seen it half a day, even a full day. I mean, there's not a lot of companies that do that. I'm sorry, a lot of organizations that do that. The Women's Conference is absolutely amazing. It's so encouraging and empowering. So all that you guys do, we are seeing it. We believe in it. Let's continue the collaboration. And let's be honest, it is the people that work for the City of Bronzeville that make the City of Bronzeville what it is today. Amazing, vibrant, and I'm just excited to continue that momentum. So thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

absolutely i want to echo uh commissioner macias words and the gratitude that this commission has towards its employees but also its leadership i think it really embodies the one city uh model right that we're putting our employees first and i'm really proud to be part of an administration that has really valued that and i think they've seen it in little rocks that we've thrown right because that's we gotta pace ourselves to to get there instead of

slow and steady wins the race my mom would always say so uh we we just want to let you know we appreciate all the work that you do and uh we're really proud to be part of that one city thank you thank you and thank you parallel i just want to say that this uh presentation really validates the direction we're going in and uh keep on uh really building a play a place that people want to work right and i think it's really you guys are making it happen and i want to thank you and your team for for really uh really moving the needle here so thank you for

That concludes the presentation.

Go ahead. I think Commissioner De Leon wanted to add something there. Oh, go ahead.

I just wanted to tell them they did a great job that they're doing, and thank you very much.

I want to recognize the Commission for their support of this. You know, 75% of our budget goes to people costs, whether it's benefits, salaries, uniforms, whatever that part is. We're a people-centered business. You know, when they call a police department, they expect people to show up, a fire department, people to show up. Our library is very automated, but you still see them trying to find a reference librarian rather than trying to look something up on the computer. They want to talk to people. And so I really believe in this. I know our directors believe in this, that we are going to train our people well enough so they can leave. We're going to treat them well enough so that they stay. And you all are committed to that with us. And I think it makes, again, we believe Brownsville is an employer of choice in the Valley. And we see that and how that engagement, that connection improved by 16% over one year. And that's because of the commitment that you all have made to us financially and your commitment to us with allowing us to give them that time to attend that event or bring their kid to work or the different, you know, the Christmas party, all the different things we do. So, It really is a team effort, and you all are definitely helping us lead that way. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Gar. Next, we'll enter into the city manager's update, starting with number one. Ms. Brownsville, Chamber of Commerce, D.C. fly-in for the Federal Engagement and Advocacy Update. We'll turn it over to the team.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioner. I'm here to introduce the Chamber and their board members. Esme Villarreal.

Good afternoon, Mayor. Buenas tardes, commissioners, to our city manager, Mr. Gard, members of the city leadership team, and members of the public. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you this evening and for allowing us to share an update of the 2026 Brownsville Chamber Washington, D.C. fly-in. This initiative is about much more than a trip to Washington. It is about ensuring that bronzo has a voice where decisions affecting our economy, our businesses and our future are being made today. We want to share not only where we have been, but more importantly, where bronzo is headed. Before I began, I would like to recognize the chamber leaders joining us this afternoon. I'm honored to be joined by our chairwoman, Grisela Muñoz-German, our immediate past chair, Mr. Ben Pena, and our treasurer, Mark Hutchson, members of our board of directors, and the leadership of our government and international trade committee, composed by Mr. Hutchson and our vice chair, Maricela Cortes. Our government and international trade committee exists for one reason. To ensure Bronzeville's business community is represented wherever decisions impacting our economy are being made. Throughout the year, this committee builds relationships with elected officials, strengthens our binational partnerships, advances international trade, and leads advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. Because advocacy is not something we do once a year. It is what we do every single day. Your Bronzeville Chamber of Commerce has proudly served this community for nearly 90 years. And today we represent more than 500 businesses from entrepreneurs and family owned businesses to manufacturers, healthcare providers, educational institutions, international companies, and major employers. We represent the businesses that make Bronzeville work. We are your chamber, but most importantly, we are the voice of Bronzeville business. And when I say business, I mean every business. From the entrepreneur launching an idea to the small business owner creating jobs, to the companies investing in our community. Because no business is too small to deserve a voice, and no opportunity is too big for Bronzeville to pursue. Every day, our responsibility is simple. We advocate, we convene, and we influence. And to create opportunities that strengthen our local economy, because when businesses succeed, Bronzeville succeeds. 2025 was not simply another year for the bronzo chamber of commerce. It changed the trajectory over organization. After more than a decade, we probably brought bronzo back to the Texas capital through bronzo day at the capital. Business leaders came together to advocate for the issues that drive economic growth, infrastructure, trade, water, workforce, health care and energy. The issues that determine whether businesses choose bronzo or choose somewhere else. But we knew our work could not stop in Austin. To truly compete, Bronzeville's voice had to be heard where national policy is being shaped. So for the first time in our chamber's nearly 90-year history, we took Bronzeville to Washington, DC. Not to observe, but to advocate. More than 60 business and community leaders traveled together with one purpose, to ensure Bronzeville had a seat at a national table. We made our inaugural flying successful was not simply the number of meetings that we held up there. It was the relationships we began to building because advocacy does not begin when funding opportunities are announced. It begins long before that. It begins through relationships, through trust, through collaboration, and through consistently showing up. During our fly-in, we engage with congressional delegation, federal agencies, national organizations, and policy leaders to elevate Bronzo's priority and position our community as a leader in international trade, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, aerospace, and as a whole, economic development. But there is something important we must remember. Brownsville is not simply a border community. We are an international business community. Every day, commerce, trade, manufacturing, logistics, tourism and supply chains move across our border. Our binational relationship is not just an advantage. It is one of our greatest economic assets. Our communities or our community that compete best are not the largest. They are the ones that show up consistently. Bronzeville is now one of those communities. This September, we will return to Washington for a second annual Bronzeville Chamber Washington DC fly-in. But this is no longer about one trip. It is about creating a permanent culture of advocacy. Our vision is to align business, local government, education, healthcare, and regional partners around a shared federal agenda that strengthens Bronxville's long-term competitiveness. Because Washington does not invest in isolated voices. Washington invests in communities that demonstrate alignment, communities that know who they are. that know where they're going, that show up with one voice. That is exactly what we're building because success is not measured only by how many meetings we have or scheduled. It is measured by the relationships we build, the doors we open, the investment we influence, and the opportunities we create. Commissioners, last year when we shared the vision of taking Bronzeville to Washington for the very first time, you were among the first to believe in. and your chamber. You understood that if Ronson wanted to compete nationally, we could not wait for Washington to come to us. We had to go to Washington. And because of your partnership and support, we did. Tonight, we're asking for something bigger than your support. We're asking for your partnership. Help us reach the businesses you represent throughout your districts. Help us bring every industry into this conversation. Help us ensure that every entrepreneur, every small business, every manufacturer, every healthcare provider, and every employer has an opportunity to shape the message we take to Washington. Because when we walk into those meetings, we're not carrying the Chamber's priorities. We're carrying Bronzeville's priorities. The Federal Advocacy Priority Survey is the tool that helps us gather that voice. Every response strengthens this message. Every business voice strengthens Bronzeville's position, and every partnership helps us compete for the policies, investments, and opportunities that will shape our community for generations. Economic development does not begin with a ribbon cutting. It begins months and often years earlier through conversations, relationships, collaboration, and intentional advocacy. That is the work your chamber is committed every single day. We do not wait for the opportunities to find Bronzeville. We go where decisions are being made. We build relationships, we open doors, we advocate with purpose, and we create opportunities that move Bronzeville forward. juntos and together because communities do not become competitive by accident they become competitive because leaders choose to show up they choose to build partnerships they choose to think beyond today so if i may leave you with something today when bronzo speaks with one voice people listen when bronzo leads with one vision people invest and together that is the future we're building Before I conclude, I would like to invite our Government International Trade Committee Chair, Mr. Mark Hutchinson, to share a few closing thoughts. Mark's leadership has helped transform this initiative from an idea into a cornerstone of the Chamber's advocacy efforts, and we're very grateful for his partnership in advancing Bronzeville's voice at the state and federal levels. Gracias.

Commissioner, Mayor, thank you for having us today. As we know, it's never easy following up ESME, so I'll keep it short and sweet. You know, with your continued support, and for those, well, for those of you who participated with us last year, I think you saw the success that we all saw. I think the message we carried to Washington was loud, and it was the voice of our business community. It's our intention to do that again in 2026. And with your continued support, we think we will not only achieve our goals, but surpass our expectations. With that, I thank you all very much for your time today. Thank you.

All I want to do is thank you, Mayor, Commissioners. Thank you all so much for always being so supportive of the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, and we hope to see you there. Thanks.

I just have a quick comment. I just want to thank you guys for being here and for advocating. I know you guys started on this right after our last fly in. So you put in a ton of work and you're always trying to improve. And I really appreciate that. And I know you have high expectations and you're going to exceed them this year. So counting on my support as we move forward and I'll be sure to share the survey. I'll encourage everyone else to do the same. Thank you.

Thank you. And just to echo off of the mayor, thank you guys so much. I know it was a lot of work for you all to organize that, especially in a different city. And I just appreciate everything that you guys do. And it sent a very loud message. that we are united that we collaborate and we're showing up and we're showing up with a group of people that are just as motivated together to showcase what bronzo has to offer and that we're ready for the next step but we can't do it alone we need representation to be there we need the funding we need the help from dc and the state and so i appreciate all that you guys do because it does it does help out i know when we came back we had announced the faa gave us a grant that we needed in district two for the city of bronzeville and our airport and it's those small meetings that make a big impact for our community so i'm ready to support once again and let's bring in all the funding and all the resources that we can into our community thank you thank you we appreciate your support

The next one is recognizing the Office of the City Secretary for receiving the 2026 the Achievement of Excellence Award from the Texas Municipal Clerks Association TMCA.

Mayor and Commission, very important for us to recognize our City Secretary's office and they're earning this prestigious award from TMCA. The City of Brownsville Office of the City Secretary has been awarded the Texas Municipal Clerks Association TMCA Achievement of Excellence Award, a distinguished statewide recognition honoring municipal clerk offices that demonstrate excellence in statutory compliance, transparency, records management, elections, innovation, professional development, and effective municipal operations. Brownsville is one of only 42 municipal clerk offices across Texas to earn this distinction in 2026, and highlighting the city's commitment to excellence in municipal governance and customer service. The award reflects the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of the entire office of the city secretary team, including legislative services, vital statistics, and records and information management divisions. It also highlights the continued support of the mayor and city commission, city manager's office, and departmental partners across the organization. This achievement reflects the dedication, professionalism, and collaborative efforts of the entire Office of the City Secretary. It also recognizes the continued support of the Mayor and City Commission, City Management, and the departments throughout the organization. Thank you very much for your efforts. I really appreciate you bringing home this award and it reflects very well on the city as a whole. Thank you. Congratulations.

Here we go. Ready? One, two, and three. One more. Okay.

Yeah. Mayor and city commissioners and the leadership staff on behalf of the office of the city secretary. I am truly honored to be recognized for our office and the achievements that we've That we've done this is a really a big testament of the dedication and the professionalism of our team and the hard work that it takes the entire office from our three divisions. You know which we have the legislative service division also the vital statistics division and and the records and information management office. Our office is committed to uphold the transparency and accountability and excellence while serving our elected officials, our city departments, and most importantly, the residents of Brownsville. This achievement cannot be possible at all without the continued support of the team that's at the podium. Very excited to have the best team and the support in the office every day showing up with excellence and integrity. and supporting not only you all as the elected officials, but also our interdepartments. So congratulations to the team. And if y'all have any moment of words y'all want to share, please do.

Don't be shy.

Hello. Thank you, City Commission. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, City Manager, for presenting this award to us. One of the questions I'm often asked is, do I see the City Commission or the Mayor around city buildings during the day? And I often, or I always say yes. And so I want to thank you guys for, or thank you to the commission, right, for always being there and supporting us and supporting our office, supporting the city employees. To kind of echo what Ms. Sabella had presented earlier, it's always very exciting to see you all throughout the day. It's just a little bit of a little boost that we get to see you all. So we appreciate you guys. Thank you guys again for everything that you do and your time.

Thank you. Next, we will have the recognition of the Communication and Marketing Department in Brownsville TV for receiving three 2026 Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers, the Tamiya Awards.

I want to recognize and congratulate Manny Chacon and his team at CMD. the city of brownsville communications and marketing department and brownsville tv have been recognized by the texas association of municipal information officers with three tammy award honors for excellence in municipal communications video production event coverage and public information campaigns this statewide recognition highlights the city's continued commitment to producing clear creative and community focused content that informs residents promotes civic engagement celebrates local traditions and showcases brownsville's growth and achievements the city of brownsville received the following awards tammy award first place for the state of the city opening achievements that's a category a special or one-time program now an award of honor for the new downtown campaign that was a video campaign category an award of honor for the 89th Annual Grand International Parade, category of Best Reoccurring Special Event. For the City of Brownsville, this award represents continued progress in strengthening the way local government communicates with residents across multiple platforms, including Brownsville TV, digital media, social media, public campaigns, and community storytelling. And all this work highlights Brownsville's commitment to transparency. Thank you, Manny and your team. Excellent job. Thank you. Congratulations.

There we go. Good evening. Technical difficulty there to start, but we got it fixed even from over here. So good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. Very quickly, just want to acknowledge this team that works hard every day. These guys are out there in the heat, in the street, filming stories right now when it's 95 degrees and it's 100 degrees outside. But we're all very proud to be able to serve the community of Brownsville, and we're all very proud to be able to work alongside such a phenomenal team Including all of the directors within the city, Mr guard with missile lessee with cheap South Seda mayor. Thank you always for your collaboration and your support commissioners to commissioner Martinez, commissioner miss, uh, my CS. Thank you. You've made me nervous because you're the counselor over there and commissioner, the Leon and commissioner gardeners. Thank you so much always for your partnership. and for your support. And again, it really is a true privilege to be able to engage and communicate with the residents of Brownsville. And this team does a phenomenal job through social media, through TV, through digital advertising, through news writing, and through the many different platforms that we engage and communicate with the public. So I would like to name everybody on the team just because I have to for the record, and I wrote them down so I don't forget anybody. So thank you to Sandy Cortez right over there. just got back from florida so she's a little shiny and we've got danielle rodriguez thank you so much for everything that you do on social media xavier aguilar laura b martinez because we have many lauras in the city to mark espinosa roland olvera albert guzman jerry salinas our newest member to the team to jose guerrero joseph gomez and jennifer galvan thank you guys for everything that you do it is a privilege to be able to work with you all thank you thank you

Thank you all so much for all that you do. I truly enjoy hearing the social media stories that you guys post. I learned a lot as well. And if you guys have an opportunity, follow them on YouTube, City of Brownsville, and they have a newscast, or would you say it's a newscast? And it's called the BTV. So it's really nice. You are going to love it and learn so much. And just, I'm always in awe and I'm wowed by all that you do. Cause I'm like, how do they do it all? But you guys do. And it's a team effort. And so I know it was different for you all to be in front of the camera instead of behind the camera. And so thank you so much for all that you guys do. You're truly appreciated because you're sharing Bronzo's story.

Next, we will enter into the consent agenda items for your consideration. Items 1 through 16.

Mayor, I move to approve consent item agenda. Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. Is listed any for the discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

It carries four to zero. Now we enter into the public hearing. Item number one. It's a public hearing and action on the first reading on ordinance number 2026-1809, designated a 1,021.48 acre area that's located in Cameron County, Texas, as a tax increment reinvestment zone, describing the boundaries of the zoning, creating a board of directors for the zone, providing for an effective date and a termination date for the zone, naming the zone the Estrella... the Estrella reinvestment zone number six in the city of Brownsville, establishing a tax increment fund and containing other findings and provisions related thereto. I'll turn it over to staff.

No staff.

Will left. Okay. I think the appropriate course of action would be to open the public hearing.

I don't know if we have a presentation by staff.

I thought will was would be handling. This is the. Yeah, yeah. We're going to go ahead and let him start. Hopefully we'll come back.

That's fine.

Go ahead.

Thank you very much for having me, Mayor, Honorable Commissioners. So this is the Tax Reinvestment Zone number six that's proposed to go over the Project Estrella. As you may be familiar with it, I believe it was briefed to you all sometime last year. You may remember the project location is north of the toll road, just west of the battlefield park and north of the sport park there. So, this is a master plan community, truly a 1st, class master plan community designed by world renowned land planner. Rick Harrison encompasses roughly 898 acres of. Single family and multifamily and executive level housing, which coordinating with staff is something that was determined that the city was was needing was is that executive level housing. Um, has 100,000 plus square feet of commercial and retail slated on site schools and church parks and over 30 miles of hike and bike trails, a classic community center fiber, the home and most importantly for the city as well and anticipate a taxable value of over 2Billion dollars at full build up. There's a summary of some of the amenities, how this subdivision goes above and beyond your traditional subdivision. Like I said, there's over 30 miles of hike and bike trails and sidewalks, proposed connection to the historic Palo Alto Battlefield Trail, lakes and resacas throughout, landscape parks, 230 acres of parks, lakes and open spaces, as well as many amenities that you'd see in a first class subdivision. And not only for the subdivision, but for the entire community that's proposed to go here. and sports fields and picnic areas, pickleball courts, basketball courts. Here you can see an overview showing some of the sports park and community park. This does not include all of the linear trails that were mentioned, the 30 plus miles. Here you can see some of the community center close up, the beach volleyball, the pool, clubhouse playground, pavilions, event center, etc. Um, and then down to the numbers on the tours and so this, this project is anticipated to create at your 32.5Billion dollars in tax base. And the ask is for a 30 year terms at 50% of the tax rate, which would yield to the general fund of the city approximately 112.3Million dollars. And, uh, available for any questions. Thank you very much.

Do you have any questions common mission. At this time, I'll open public hearing if there's anyone here that wishes to address the commission on this item. Move to close public hearing. Second. We have a motion and a second to close public hearing. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries. And before you all take action on this particular item, just wanted to point it out and make it very, very clear, and this is normal in other cities where TURs are created like this, but because just since you all are not used to the TURs creation where there's a petition involved, just wanted to point out the petition, when a developer submits a petition to the city, the creation of the TURS board is a little bit different. The composition has to be owners within the particular property. And so for this one, the ordinance that is before you for the first reading already lists out representatives of the owner, which are the Rose Development. And so, um, any other actions, of course, we'll still have to come to city commission for for approval. Um, but for the most part. That is will be setting up the board for the tours. You do have, it'll be, I believe 6 individuals on the tours board that are developer related 1 from the county that they'll get to a point and then. um you'll have one individual from the state representative's office and one from the senate representative's office the same thing will be for the next one coming up so that's generally normal for these type of uh petition creators in other cities just wanted to point that out so today's item is creating the estrellas and appointing the board then correct

That said, I'll entertain a motion.

Move to approve.

Second. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries. Thank you.

It carries 5-0. Thank you. Moving on to public hearing number two. It was a public hearing in action on the first reading on ordinance number 2026-1810, designating a more or less 804.13 acre area that's located in Cameron County, Texas as a tax increment and a reinvestment zone, describing the boundaries of the zoning, creating a board of directors for the zone, providing the effective date and a termination date for the zone, And also naming the zone of the greater Brownsville Tech District at the reinvestment zone number 5 and for the city of Brownsville, establishing a text increment fund and containing other findings and provisions related there too. We'll turn it over.

Good afternoon, honorable mayor commissioners. Members of the public, my name is Ben. I'm the chairman of the board of the greater browser. Uh, before you is the number 5, 1st, reading ordinance. Um. I've got Mike Bettis and Jeff will give a similar presentation. Just want to add a few comments before they come up is. This development park has been a long working process. We're expecting a total tax valuation of about 1.6Billion in appraised value that will generate tax revenues for the City. So this is an important project for the City of Brownsville. It's going to create many jobs, a lot of tax base, and so we appreciate the opportunity to come and present before you and and develop Brownsville into a advanced manufacturing, high paying job area to increase the wages in our area. So a lot of good things happening out of that project. The current leads and prospect pipeline that's coming down the horizon is indicates that we will fill that project up very, very quickly. So a lot of good things happening. We look forward to working with you. Thank you.

Just a couple of comments. Brownsville EDC is a agency created by the city. Their goal is to bring investments and create jobs. And that's what this zone is going to do. The county's going to help pay for the infrastructure that's going in. And normally, for most urbanized counties, the services that the county provides to its citizens in the unincorporated area. 75% of that is paid by taxpayers inside the city. So basically all you really get from the county with all due respect is you get jail services in the courts. Um, that's all you get. And this is a great way that the county can partner with the city to increase its tax base and great higher paying jobs because what they're looking at doing is attracting high uh tech industry so that 800 acres and it couldn't be done without the creation of a tourist because it's in the floodplain and so the amount of infrastructure that's needed on this 800 is quite large and so i'm going to let jeff he's going to give you a quick three four minute power presentation to kind of give you a quick overview thank you yeah so you can see here the project location just south of the proposed tour six

Um, for this tech park, here's the grayscale map showing the property ideas involved for the boundaries of the district post increment reinvestment zone. Uh, this is the land plan you see phase 1. There has been some construction to start that, but to really do this project, this is quite necessary. And I can show you why here. So part of it is, there's a substation that PV is requiring to bring power to the region. And so this project kind of absorbs that cost, which has been official, not only for this project, but to the city in this entire region. The other thing that Mike had mentioned is that. The amount of earth work involved, there's a, there's a good amount of dirt that has to get moved across this entire site. 17.4Million and cost just from balancing the site in order to utilize it and bring the property into development. And some additional projections here. $1.6 billion in projected taxable value over the life of the proposed TURs. A lot of infrastructure investment going on. County participation is an opportunity that we're seeking. Significant job creation and attraction of employers. So, like I said, it's a 1.6Billion in projected tax build out at your 30 as a city contributing approximately 106Million. Over that 30 year period, but then importantly, and it's not on here, the personal property tax sales tax, and then the income to the city from the from utilizing the rather than is around 100 and the 25% remainder is about 129.9Million dollars. So it's a net positive to the city here. And I want to thank the EDC for all their hard work and this city for all their hard work in making this project happen and available for any questions. Thank you.

Any questions or comments from the Commission? All right. This is a public hearing. If there's anyone here that wishes to address the Commission on this item, please step forward. I move to close public hearing. Second, we have a motion and a second to close public hearing. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

Move to approve. All right. We have a motion to approve.

Second.

And a second. Any further discussion? I'd like discussion real quick. Sure. For the board of directors for these tours, can you clarify that?

Yeah. Just to confirm, the board of directors for this one will be the GBEDC board. Thank you.

All right.

Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries. Thank you.

It carries 5-0. Next, we'll enter into the items for the individual consideration. Number one is the consideration and approval on the second and final reading on Ordinance Number 2026-1807. I'm amending the Chapter 66 of the Municipal Court, providing for the municipal... court civil jurisdictions to enforce to enforce the health and safety and the nuisance abatement ordinances authorizing the issuance of search and the seizure warrants providing the concurrent jurisdiction creating a court of record and other matters pertaining thereto. I'll turn it over to staff.

Hello, Mayor and City Commission. Just to reiterate, this is an ordinance that would create a court of record for the municipal court so that we can have concurrent jurisdiction with the district court.

um and we do have the judge that goes with us um i want to thank the the commission i want to thank the support we've gotten from mr guard and so leslie and the city attorney's office and bring this forward i think uh this uh proposition um was a long time coming. This allows the court to expand this jurisdiction to better be able to hear disputes from citizens. It allows us to also give more finality to the court's decisions since any appeals will not be based on the merit and not the noble basis where every decision from the court could automatically be appealed to a higher court starting from scratch. This allows for a swifter disposition of the cases for our community. Also, the City, in enforcing its ordinances, this will allow City officials to be able to place many of these items before the court where we're able to more readily resolve these without any of the backlogs that they clogged many of the county and district courts. So I am fully in support of the changes that are being brought to you this evening, Mr. Mayor, and I would ask that the court consider this item.

Thank you so much for your comments. Any questions or comments from the Commission?

No questions. Thank you, Judge, for making yourself available. I know we wanted to hear from you in the last meeting. Thank you for being present.

No, and thank you, Commission. I mean, I've been before this Commission many, many times. The support that we get from the Commission and management and also the City Attorney in getting this, not just getting it done, but getting it done right. I thank you for the time and the consideration. I know there were a couple left turns out there somewhere, but we're able finally to present something for your consideration for the second reading, and we're asking for you to consider it.

Thank you, Judge. That I move to approve. All right. We have a motion to approve. Do you have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. Nice to see you all. Thank you, Judge.

Next, we'll enter into action item number two, is the consideration and action on the following proposed charter, the charter amendments for the special election to be held on November 3rd, 2026. Following, you'll see before you is items A through M that's displayed on the screen on the proposed amendments. We'll turn it over to staff.

Good evening again, Mayor and City Commission. Next slide, please. Just as a reminder, when this particular body reactivated the Charter Review Committee, there was a few charges. One was to look at whether we would codify campaign finance, codify what other changes we would Bring forward to the city charger charter as well as, um, changes that were overdue for audit and oversight committee and to review, um, compensation for the elected officials. As a reminder, we held actually 5 public hearings. The ones that were scheduled for May 11th, June 1st, June 8th, June 15th. And then we had an extra one June 30th to go over the most recent request from the last report, which was to review the compensation. And of course, just a reminder, the City Commission has the final determination of what particular propositions you want to send to the voters. The first recommendation was amending Charter Article 5, Administrative Provision Section 13 compensation to address Mayor and City Commission salaries. The particular meeting that we had on June 30, they did consider looking at medium household income. And rather than leave it at a fixed rate, the concern was that it would remove the decision from the voters. they decided to put it a little higher at a cap. And so looking at the medium household income they had recommended, and these are my understanding ceilings, 50,000 for city commissioners and 62,500 for the office of the mayor. And of course this can be modified, but this is the recommendation that the city commission, the charter review committee had for the city commission. And what I would like to do is go through each one. If you have any questions, I can go ahead and answer those. And then at the end, and I'll try and make this real quick, but at the end, I would ask that you all vote individually for each one. uh, amending Article five administrator provisions to add 21 B, which would be creating the office of the city secretary. As we were discussing, uh, the office of the city auditor, we discussed other other positions where, uh, certain positions within the city are appointed by a city commission. One that came up was city secretary and, um, One of the concerns they had was how that individual was appointed. And so the few examples that we showed them were from Laredo, Harlingen, McAllen, various cities. The one that they really cued in on was a city that had this language, which is upon either consultation or recommendation from the city manager, the city commission by majority vote would appoint and remove the city secretary. And it indicates that they serve at the pleasure of the city commission and receive such compensation as determined by the city commission. And it goes on describing their duties, which are set out in the state statutes. Unlike a city attorney, city secretary is a statutory required position. And so you have to have a city secretary or city clerk. And so they found it important to make sure that the office is codified. They. In the city charter, the city secretary is referenced throughout, but it doesn't create the office. And so this would fix that. Now, with regard to the city auditor, the recommendation was to add a proposition that would create the office and kind of clean up what the audit and oversight committee had wanted to do. And so this would be provisions that would create the office of the city auditor. how that individual is appointed. Currently, right now, the auditor is appointed by the Audit and Oversight Committee with compensation being blessed by the City Commission. The consensus from the auditor is here too. The consensus from the committee and the auditor and legal is that the individual should report to the City Commission. So these provisions would be setting and establishing how that individual is appointed, removed, and what their job duties are. And it goes on to harmonize with the current audit and oversight committee language, which will follow in 28A. It says, consistent with the provisions of this charter, the city auditor shall advise the Audit and Oversight Committee and report to them all administrative and operational functions of the office of the city auditor. So this would still have where he or she would report to the Audit and Oversight Committee, but ultimately the firing, hiring decision would come from city commission instead of a group of citizens. This is just setting that he can or she can hire assistance based on the budget process, which is set by the city manager's office and approved by city commission, of course. This particular recommendation, Section 28A, audit and oversight, increases the membership from five to seven members. Uh, with each committee member being appointed by a member of the city commission. So this would fall in line with your policy on boards and commissions to each have a individual appointed by your by yourselves. And it has some cleanup. Um, G was the provision that, um, currently set where the committee ploys the city auditor. And so we, Modified a little bit to harmonize with the other proposition that is being proposed that they would, um, in consultation with the city auditor, provide advice to the city commission with respect to oversight for financial reporting internal controls, audit activities. And the committee was also, the charter review committee had thought it best to ensure that the committee was able to engage external auditors as needed. Of course, you know, it's budget allowed depending on what the budget is, but they would, they wanted to preserve the ability for the Audit and Oversight Committee to have that ability to hire um an external auditor if needed and so that was really really important to the charter review committee these are just examples of what the propositions would look like i have a quick question yes sir so just to reiterate uh both the office of the city secretary and the office of the city auditor they'll be reporting to the city commission now well if

Yeah, assuming that the voters agree, they both both of those offices will report to the city commission.

The only difference is with the city secretary, they would be appointed at the recommendation of the city manager. With regards to the question or charge of reviewing municipal campaign finance, their recommendation was to set it by ordinance but have a requirement in the charter that would require the city commission to set those limitations. And so looking at model charter language from the National League of Cities, They thought it would be best to have the commission at the time. Currently, right now, we have an ordinance in place. So you would be in compliance with this past. But they thought it important to have certain requirements that the ordinance had to have that the commission would then set. What those limitations are, they wanted to defer to the commission at that time. Because as cases happen, lawsuits change, the law, most recently, we had to update it. This would allow the flexibility to be able to update the ordinance. They couldn't just repeal it entirely. And so their recommendation would be to include language that is already required for disclosure. Certain requirements of what you have to disclose, you already have to do that under state law. Contribution and spending limits, you would have something in place that would set those limitations on what that would be. And so the proposition language for this would be Proposition F shall be amended to require the city commission to set campaign finance regulations that comply with federal and state law. Again, they didn't want to set actual limits in the charter so that it can have room to change as the law changes. If you look at the city of McAllen, more recently they had a proposition that went before the voters, very similar to what's happening here with Ground Texas, that are asking us to send a proposition to the voters on hiring local. What Ground Texas did in McAllen was set limits at $500. And so that proposition passed with the McAllen voters approving it overwhelmingly. A challenger. Set limits on what? I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. Oh, campaign finance on the actual campaign donations to individuals. In McAllen, it was a little higher. The proposition was to set it at 500. Certain individuals sued and one on the court said, you know, that is very restrictive. It's unconstitutional. And they struck that particular results of the proposition. And so knowing that, the committee felt that it was important to allow the commission flexibility to set the rates depending on what the law is at the time.

Just one quick question on this item. So the recommendation is to add language for us to adhere to state and federal laws, but not setting a number like our ordinance

Right. So it's a couple of things. One, it requires the city commission to adopt something related to campaign finance. One, it has to have some kind of disclosure language in there where you are going to have to disclose who contributed to a campaign for a candidate. The other one was it was going to have contribution and spending limitations. But it doesn't set the actual limits. It's just what it says is that the city commission is authorized. Right to enact those by ordinance, but just by the same.

Right that we had as the, the, the commission passed this ordinance in the future, they could do the same thing and come back and amend it as you wish.

Right.

And we would still be in accordance with our charter because we do have an ordinance and we are. Following it.

Correct. Correct. So in reality, if a majority of the commission wanted, they could set the limit to be, you know, open end. It could be like 10,000 per individual, right? Right now it's 2,500. And so they could increase it. It's 5,000. 5,000? Oh, it's 2,500. I think maybe 2,500 for individual and 5,000 for PACs.

I changed.

Go back and check. Okay, we'll go back and check. But the point is that they can increase it if the commission at the time can increase it if they want. But what the committee wanted was to ensure that there is something that you all adopt and have in place. Thank you. Now, this particular recommendation deals with qualifications. This came up in a question that one of the Charter Review Committee members had about If we could add in a qualification that would disqualify a candidate from running for office, if they were to sue the city. After doing some research, we found that. That kind of provision would be more than likely challenged and we would not be successful in defending it. But what we did talk about was other instances as examples of where the courts have upheld certain. Qualifications limitations and a couple of these were, um, being delinquent in the payment of taxes or other liability due to the city. Um, and this kind of mirrors what you have currently in place right now with, uh, and other boards and commissions. WITH OTHER BOARDS WHEN YOU APPOINT SOMEONE THE PROCESS IS THE CITY SECRETARY AND THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND MUNICIPAL COURT GET TOGETHER AND FIND OUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE ANY TAX LIABILITY, ANY DELINQUENT TAXES, OUTSTANDING CITATIONS. SO THIS WOULD BE MAKING IT APPLICABLE TO THE ELECTED OFFICIAL OR CANDIDATE. THE OTHER The other disqualification or qualification would be that they could not be convicted of a felony while in office. And so that is something that the Charter Review Committee recommended to add to the list of qualifications that are currently in the charter.

I have a quick question on the tax issue. Would that extend to any business? No, this would be personally.

It would be personal.

And just out of curiosity, how does this compare to state and federal laws?

So this has been tested in other cities. The Charter Review Committee was told that there's a couple of cities where they have this in place. And today, I found out that the city of Atena had that particular requirement that you can't. One of the requirements is they were able to exclude someone who owed on their water bill. In one city, the city commission was able to unseat a city mayor because they had refused to pay their property taxes. And so he challenged it and the court said, no, these are qualifications that were set by the voters, that were not extreme. And because he had no property interest in his seat as a mayor, they allowed him to be removed from that particular city commission or city council. And so these are the two that the Charter Review Committee decided to include or recommend for the qualifications of holding office in the city. The next set, are essentially in line with the qualifications but this would be disqualifications automatic triggers for forfeiting office and discretionary triggers for forfeiting office this came out because in the charter review committee resolution that one of the charges was to consider disciplinary procedures for city commissioners currently right now there is none outside of the ethics code And so the Charter Review Committee did not like the ability of a commission to scrutinize the actions of another individual. They wanted a fair process that would be above politics. They saw that it could be abused, if you will. And so they liked the idea of what other cities have is automatic and discretionary triggers. And so automatic triggers would be, of course, a vacancy would be created or the forfeiture of office if you lacked any of the qualifications to hold the office, failed to meet the residency requirement for election two office, convicted of a felony, or fail to attend three consecutive regular commission meetings without being excused by the City Commission. So those are regular commission meetings, not special or workshops. Violate the prohibited personal financial interest provisions set forth in the Ethics Advisory Commission or City Attorney. or fail to attend six consecutive or non consecutive regular commission meetings in any 12 month period with or without being excused by the city commission. And so they looked at various provisions that other cities have as far as what would cause an elected official who was elected by the voters who currently right now in Brownsville, the only way to remove a commissioner is by recall. What other methods do other cities have for forfeiture? And so they looked at these, A, B, C, D, E, F, and they recommended adopting these provisions. Now, the other proposition was discretionary, potential grounds. the language that they had decided on or similar to is if the mayor or commission member is convicted of any criminal offense other than a felony or a classy misdemeanor, the city attorney shall file a petition for declaratory judgment with the district courts for determination on whether the crime is one involving moral turpitude. And if it is determined by the district court judge that the mayor or commission member was convicted of that crime, involving moral turpitude, then the commission shall automatically order a recall election at the next allowable election and dispense of the certified recall petition. So in this provision, they looked at language that another city had where it was discretionary. Um, criminal moral turpitude can include anything like, um, the one that comes to mind is though is theft, right? Um, So they're convicted of that. And it's not a felony. Could be a class C misdemeanor under a certain amount. They wanted the ability to for the commission to be able to say, hey, this individual needs to be removed. It's discretionary. Go through the court process. So they have their due process. And if the district court judge agrees, then the city commission would not be subject or not would not be the ones deciding that the individual would have to be removed. But it would trigger the recall election process without have without requiring a petition. So they try to review committee felt like this would, um, be the least intrusive way of having a commissioner removed without making it political. Because you still have to go to the courts. You'd have to have due process. And you would rely on the voters, and you wouldn't require the petition.

So this would be its own proposition if you also choose.

Part of that, of course, is if an individual is removed from office due to recall, conviction, or court order, irrespective of the length of time served, they shall be ineligible to hold elected office with the city of Brownsville. And so they wanted some kind of bar in place where you couldn't, say you're convicted of a felony or some other removal, you couldn't come back and then run for office. And so rather than adopt disciplinary procedures they felt it was more prudent for them to recommend provisions for automatic forfeiture or discretionary forfeiture. And these are the provisions that they had decided on. GH and I would be examples of their propositions.

did have a question on the language um it keeps me unease it has me at unease or i don't know how but um where it says as this as violates prohibited personal financial interest provisions set forth in article 5 section 4 as determined by the ethics advisory commission and i I want to ask your legal opinion on it. Do you believe that the ethics commission has the parameters, the legal parameters in place and ordinances behind it to, to, I don't, I don't have the fullest confidence right now in the commission because it lacks structure in my opinion. And for us to have an amendment to our chartered and empower them in that sense, it doesn't, it doesn't, it's not at ease with me.

Um, I think we broke quorum. So we'll take a pause for a sec.

You can answer the question. Yeah. I think you should clarify what that means, prohibited personal financial interest provision, and what is that currently, and who determines that currently.

Right. So prohibited personal financial interest provision, Article 5, Section 4. So when you look at Article 5, Section 4, let me go ahead Pull it up real quick so I don't misquote it. And as I'm looking for the. The ethics ordinance provision keep in mind too, not just the propositions, but any language you want to strike from the actual work amended verbiage. You could do too. So if you agree. No mandatory forfeiture, but you don't agree with E, then we could. Strike that at 645 PM. We now have corn. So under our ethics code, those are the basic provisions What that's referring to is article 5, section 4 of this provision here that says the mayor commissioners and other officers employees try to hold any other public office of monument and should not be interested in the profits or monuments of any contract job work or service for the municipality or interested in the cell to the city of any supplies equipment material articles purchase. So that particular provision is referring to a qualification that's already in the code. And it's in the code. Currently, right now, we don't have, other than the Ethics Advisory Commission, we don't have a body that determines whether or not that was actually committed. It's easy to say, oh, I found a particular commissioner's contract with the city. That violates the charter. But what do you do with that at that point? what the charter review committee um had recommended as taking language and this is language from another city again they were showed different examples of how other cities do it taking language from another city where that determination would be made by the ethics advisory commission and to my um dislike if you will they added they wanted to add me in their city or the office of city attorney too to make that decision um so they added it in but that would be the determination they would make would be um the charter provision that's currently before you that's in black on the qualification side um the second full sentence Now, if you're asking me if the Ethics Committee is equipped to decide that, like any process where you have due process, there's bound to be error. But keep in mind, we are currently revising Chapter 38 for the Ethics Committee now that we have a almost full board. we're going to continue that process. And I think the one thing that lacked was adequate notice. I think that was what hurt a couple of the cases was adequate notice. And so that's being corrected. But other than that, that's what that provision is referring to. Violates the prohibited personal financial interest provisions set forth in Article 5, Section 4. That's just referring to not having a contract with the city or any kind of financial interest. Now, the mayor was kind enough to run an analysis using AI against the city's charter, against the National League of Cities model charter. And it gave several ideas which were really great. And with the rise of AI, we didn't even think about running it against using AI to run it. And so it gave us a lot of recommendations. Funny enough, it gave us three tiers. A lot of tier one was addressed by some of these amendments that the committee had already decided. Some of them are already preempted by state law or put in place or taken care of by ordinances the city has or state law. And so the last of these are actually what the committee really, really, really liked. And so they liked the ability, this provision here, they liked the requirement, rather, to have commission provided by ordinance and ethics board and conflict of interest and disclosure regulations. And the city's passed. I believe that there was an ethics board, and it was done away with. And then a new commission body came in and reinstated it. Currently, right now, the only provision we have, obviously, there's state law provisions that prevent conflict of interest and have disclosure regulations. But our code of ethics goes a step further. And the only language in the charter is the nepotism language, which is basically following state law. This provision will require the city, which we have already, an ethics board. So you would be required to have an ethics board. as well as adopt a conflict of interest and disclosure rules via ordinance. And so currently, if this was in place, you'd be in compliance because you have those. So what this does is, what this one and the campaign finance do is it sets it as requirements in the city charter so that if a commission ever comes in and decides they want to do away with, let's say, the ethics board, the citizens could then sue the city seeking amendemas to force the commission to recreate or leave in place the ethics board. And so this would empower the citizens to make sure that, hey, we have an ethics board or we have campaign finance restrictions. And this code of ethics and ethics board language is essentially the model charter language with a few changes that kind of harmonizes with the city's current Chapter 38 ethics ordinance. Now the next two provisions that the Charter Review Committee had recommended to adopt based on the recommendations of that AI analysis was currently right now the citizens, they have the process of recall particular officers after they get so many different signers on a petition, but there's no power of the initiative. for citizens. And so they recommended adding a initiative petition procedure for citizens. And so what that would do would be it is the ability for the citizens to either propose an ordinance that's not in conflict with the charter or the Constitution of Texas so that that particular ordinance that they want to propose to the city can get adopted. now there's some we have basically here the requirements so it will be required i believe we put in here 10 of the total number of registered voters um they have so many days where that petition has to be filed with the city secretary and how long she or he would have to take to review the signatures pretty much the process we have right now with ground texas um and how it's prepared. So this is pretty much just substantive process. How it's submitted to the council, how long the commission, how long the commission has to review it and submit it to the voters, and then when it's actually put on the ballot. So this is basically just language that would allow the voters, the citizens to put an ordinance on the ballot for the voters. An example of this would be Ground Texas with the local hiring. Rather than have a charter amendment, they could have proposed it to be in an ordinance by initiative. The other one is referendum. Now a lot of charters have initiative and referendum and recall process. Our particular charter doesn't have referendum or initiative. And so what this would allow, this would allow the voters or the citizens to prior to an ordinance taking place, allow them to have it recalled, if you will, or allows the commission to send something to the voters that they want to see if the voters would approve particular ordinance. And so then the rest of this, of course, that's the process. But so that there's no, the exception would be to bond ordinances, appropriation ordinances, anything that is used for the peace, health, safety, or property of the citizens of the city, levy of taxes, or any ordinance that affects the benefits or salaries of officers, capital improvement programs. So a lot of the major ordinances that you wouldn't want citizens to come in and really repeal, right? Those would be the exceptions. And so, for example, let's say we have the zoning ordinance of the UDC. We couldn't get, this would not allow them to come in and then repeal the UDC so that we have no zoning. Because that is an ordinance for the health safety of the citizenry. And so this would essentially just allow them to repeal an ordinance that they just don't agree with. And again, this would be also 10% of the registered and qualified voters. And then the rest of it has a process of by which it's put before the voters.

Does the two-year period also apply to this referendum? You know how for charter amendments you can only go out every two years? Not only like at the next city election.

Right. It doesn't have a limit. But once an ordinance has been in place and it's past the 30 days, they couldn't then challenge it.

Is that language in there that it would be at the next upcoming city municipal election? Right.

There's language in there that it would be at the next upcoming city election. The next provision that they have recommended is a provision based on merit hiring. And currently right now, the city manager, part of his responsibility and duties is the hiring of personnel that are not appointed. The city commission adopts personnel policy as recommended by the city manager. There is a provision here in the city charter that contract for service is the only individual that's allowed to have an employment contract as city manager. What the review committee. Saw in the analysis, the comparison to the model city charter was procedures or the requirement that city employees are hired based on merit. Uh, alone and so. That would be determined by, um. valid and reliable examination, licensure, experience, or other evidence of competence for their particular role. It has to be consistent with federal and state laws. And there would be an exception for the civil service, because civil service is done differently. So this would be for non-civil service employees. And 1 change that we had in there was that the city commission at the recommendation of the city city manager. Would adopt the personnel policies as necessary for the establishment of this merit principle. So, essentially, right now we have a personal handbook. That handbook is prepared by legal reviews is city manager proposes that city commission then will approve it. So that is kept in place. What this will do is every hiring that is done. we would have to be able to demonstrate, if you will, that that position was filled by the merit principle based on whether they had an exam they had to take, whether they have particular license or certificates, their experience or other evidence of competence like prior work history. One of the things that I had told the charter review committee is, in my experience, while I've been here, I haven't seen the hiring process being abused, in my opinion. But a few of the individuals felt that it was important to codify some kind of merit hiring principle so that it's not abused if we have a new management, if you will. And so this is what they're proposing. The final proposition was a catch-all. It would be amending Charter Article 1 through 7 except Article 6, which is PUB's ordinance. So amending the whole entire charter with the exception of PUB section to revise or eliminate provisions that have been superseded by state law and to update or eliminate archaic language. What the AI analysis came up with is it found a lot of language referring to 1911, 1915 when the charter was adopted. Um, as well as other provisions that are no longer used. Um, there's certain language in there that indicates the change of when the commission went from at large to, um, district for some seats. And so it has language in there about how those lines are drawn up. That's now. Okay, it's not needed and there's certain language in there that is also preempts, um. State law preamps and so this would be basically a catch all to take care of all that and do a nice little clean up on the charter. The city secretary's office is still currently, I believe, reviewing the signatures on the ground Texas petition. Um, they're running their statistical analysis, I believe.

Yes, I can provide an update if you would like. Um. But yes, we are still reviewing. We did receive the petition that was filed in our office on June 24th. At that time we did a preliminary review of it, which at that time we received the petition. It was divided in two weeks, so they started February quote me if I'm wrong 19th when we went back on that petition. Since then, when we finally did the entire Review of the petition. We were at 8000 signatures and at that time when we were started to review within two days, the team of our election committee of four members. We were reviewing the petition and when we were where we were reviewing the petition in two days it took us about one or two weeks just to review those signatures and get the information from the county. and start reviewing the process. So since then, connecting with other colleagues and the way we're approaching this is doing it, the statistics analysis portion of it, since the law does require when we receive a petition over the 1,000 signature mark, we can do 25% of the signatures required, which at that time, right now it's 2,049 signatures that we are reviewing from the 8,000 that were submitted. So what we did is we consulted or we got with a third party consultant, which to keep it an impartial right of reviewing it, we received a sample random from what we submitted to the other individual to give us the sample randomly, and that's what we're focusing on those signatures. So at that time, we're still reviewing it. I believe this Thursday will be the 19th day that we're really keeping track and reviewing all the information at this time. So hopefully within the next few days, we we will be able to send it to the third party that will do the analysis and the data from what we submitted to them. And then we'll be able to provide more information from the review process.

So we wanted to give you that update on the Ground Texas petition so that you know that our timeline, given the concern that we had that if they had enough signatures, we would have to go and call an election in November. We wanted to continue this process and basically wrap it up so that we can have our opportunity to submit our propositions as well, depending on what you all decide to send to the voters. So this evening, we would be asking you to have your discussion and then individually vote on each particular proposition as amended. If you have any language that you want to propose, we'd be happy to entertain that. That language, the ones that pass, would then be put in the ordinance calling the election first reading on July 21st, final reading on August 4th, Since our deadline to order an election is August 17th, and that takes into consideration as well. The possible ground Texas, um, uh, proposition. Now, we could as soon as user approved, we could start education or just wait until we know for sure. But what our thought was is if by August 4th. We know that the election for the ground Texas proposition won't go forward. Let's say they don't have enough signatures. Then at the August 4th meeting, we could just table the ordinance and not call it for November, call it for me. But following this process here just allows us the leg room to be able to also call ours. Um, and let's say we call it in May, then we can continue meeting with the charter and any other additional language you want them to consider. Is there any other questions or comments?

In the case that Ground Texas, what is that what they're called?

Ground Texas.

Ground Texas doesn't trigger the timeline, what happens then? Do we wait for the next election or?

So if they don't have enough signatures and we're not then required to put it before you all so that you can order the election, um we would ask that you table this order if you don't want to send it to the november election we would ask that you table the second reading so that we don't end up having it called um i anticipate depending on what the outcome is i would assume they would challenge it and we'd be stuck in court for that challenge because what they would normally do is they would mandamus us if we tell if assuming let's say there's not enough signatures the city secretary would certify that to present that to you all we then not call the election their um their relief would be to challenge that determination in court seeking them and damas forcing uh they're still about the required timeline yeah right So, but it might be outside the timeline, so we'd end up having to call in it for May, just depend on how fast the courts work. So we're basically, you know, kind of playing it by ear, if you will.

And Will, I just want to confirm that each one of these items was reviewed by the Charter Review Committee and recommended? Correct. Thank you.

Any other questions, concerns? So at this time, we would ask if you go through to A, take a vote, to B, this is not a public hearing. Public hearing will be when you call the ordinance or call the election.

So at this time, we will consider item for the individual consider, you know, for consideration 2A, which is amended in Charter Article 5, the administrative provisions. Section 13, the compensation for your consideration.

I'll entertain a motion on this item.

I think we can put on the screen the.

Oh, yeah. Okay.

Do you want the actual breakdown?

No, this works.

Now I'll make a motion to approve. I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, say nay. Nay. We have one nay. Did you get a count?

Four to one. Is that correct? And in opposition is Commissioner De Leon. Is that correct? Okay. It passes the 4 to 1 moving on to the next item, which is to be I'm amending a charter charter article 5, the administrative provisions to add 20 to add 21 be office of the city secretary.

I moved to approve 2nd, we have a motion in 2nd to approve any further discussion. If not all those in favor please say aye aye aye aye all those opposed say, nay.

I have a motion passes five zero item number two. See, I'm amending a charter charter article five, the administrative provisions to add 21 C office of the city auditor.

I moved to approve second. We have a motion and a second to approve any further discussion. Not all those in favor. Please say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay. I just have a motion.

It passes five to zero to D. I'm amending a charter article five, the administrative provision section 28, a audit and oversight committee. Move to approve.

All right. We have a motion. Do you have a second? Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

I have a motion to pass this 5202 E. I'm amending a charter article 5. The administrative provisions to add section 35. The municipal campaign finance requirement that is set by the Commission by the ordinance.

Or entertain a motion.

Is he where he to eat?

I'll move to approve. We have a motion to be of a second. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carried.

Passes 5-0-2F. I'm amending Charter Article 5, the Administrative Provisions to Modify Section for the Qualifications.

I'll entertain a motion.

I see no motion. Moving on to 2G, I'm amending a charter article five, the administrative provisions, section three vacancies.

I have some mixed feelings about this item and the following one. because the questions I was inquiring earlier is, is we're setting these things in charter to, you know, to, to, to codify them, but there's still, you can't take away the possibility of a future commission that can get political, can make these changes and it still happens. And it just, And then to put that also, the voters had the opportunity to engage in the democracy and they voted in a person for a commission, a featured administration to have a political motive and remove them. Is that still going to be possible with these items?

Well, there's a provision in the city charter where you are the... judges of each other's qualifications, right? But when that qualification is decided, it doesn't have a provision in there that says what happens if you decide that the individual is not qualified, right? So arguably, we would probably end up in court. Let's say you see someone that's no longer a resident of their district. They don't intend to return. That would be an automatic forfeiture of their office. um currently right now if you decide that individual is no longer living in the district you could declare them not eligible to hold office in the city right for that particular district um there would be no process we'd have to do a declaratory judgment in court and take that and say this is what the commission decided this is the evidence they have and have the court decide right With G, that might still occur anyways, because we could have an automatic forfeiture, but that individual might claim that they still live in the district, and it would still require that process anyways.

Because there's still motives, like for residency, I think if there's intent, you can still live. Right, yeah.

I use residency as an example, because that's what came up with the committee. But let's, you know, it could be felony. It could be other instances of qualification. Having a contract with the city, for example. The reason why the commission liked, or the committee liked forfeiture is in looking at other cities' disciplinary process, they really cued in on what Laredo has in place, right? These are provisions G and H. Uh, and F, so F, G and H, those are provisions that the city of Laredo have in place and they really, really like those. What we were actually proposing was a removal process for commission. Um, similar to what worth has. So, in Fort worth, the commission decides that an individual has violated the charter. There would be a essentially a due process. For them to be able to remove that particular commissioner. Similar to the other city that we talked about that had the mayor who didn't want to pay their property taxes. They refused. They believed they shouldn't. They had their due process in place within the charter to be able to remove that individual. The committee looking at what we have in place now and then what examples from Laredo. They were shown examples from all the big cities. but the one that they really, really liked was Laredo's. And so we just basically, at their discretion, at their request, we basically just copied and pasted Laredo's. So it might work for Laredo, might not work for Brownsville, right? I think we're at G.

All right, I'll entertain a motion on this item.

Good.

Okay, see no motion or hear no motion. We'll move on to 2.8. I'm amending the charter article 5, the administrative provisions, section 3, vacancies.

I just want to ask really quick what happens when we say no motion. Does that come back or does that?

That's basically a no vote.

So will it come back next week? No. Sure. Not all votes.

No action.

No action.

So 2H, no action. Next is to I am amending the charter article five, the administrative provisions to add section 35 code of ordinances, the ethics advisory commission.

All right, I'll entertain a motion here. So moved. All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second? I'll second that. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have a motion.

5-0. 2J. I'm amending the Charter Article 7, the general provisions to add Section 3A, the initiative, adding the initiative petition procedures for citizens.

Move to approve. We have a motion. Do we have a second? I'm sorry, where were we at? 2J. 2J.

The initiative provision.

I'll second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

All those opposed, say nay.

It passes. I just have a motion carries. 5-0. Tim Kaine. I'm sorry, Madam Secretary.

What was I? Five.

I was the Code of Ethics Advisory Commission.

It was 5-0.

2J just passed the initiative.

Did I pass or no?

I passed. I did. I did.

OK. Just making sure.

Next is JK. I'm amending the Charter Article 7 of the General Provisions to add Section 3B, the referendum, adding the referendum procedures for citizens.

Move to approve. All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. I have a motion.

Passes five to zero to L. I'm amending the charter article five, the administrative provisions to add section twenty to be the merit hiring.

To approve. Emotionally, a second second of emotions. Second, any further discussion? Not all those in favor, please say aye. All right. All those opposed say nay. I have a motion carries.

It passes 5 to 0. The last one is 2M, which is admitting the charter article 1 through 7, except the article 4 under the utilities boards to revise or eliminate the provisions that may have superseded by state law and to update or eliminate the language. So moved.

have a motion in a second uh i just have a quick comment you mentioned article except article four it's except article six except article four language yeah but it says article six it's article six you're reading oh sorry six all right article six which is the utilities board just want everybody to know that utilities board and through seven except article six utilities all right we have a motion in a second any further discussion if not all those in favor please say aye aye aye all those opposed say nay Ayes have it. Motion carries.

So for clarification, the ones that do pass just for the records, it's 2A, B, C, D, E, I, J, K, L, M. So we'll move on to the board appointments. a consideration in action on resolution number 2026-076c to appoint to reappoint members to the brownsville border film commission and this item is being brought to you as we received a resignation um from a current board member that belongs to district four i'd like to appoint eddie ferris all right we have a motion through the second second you have a motion the second any further discussion

If not, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

It passes. The next item is the consideration and action on Resolution Number 2026-083C to appoint or reappoint members to the Paseo de la Rezaca Lighting and Landscaping Maintenance District Service Plan Board. This appointment belongs to Commissioner De Leon. The current member sitting in that seat is Stephanie Tovar.

I'm going to hold on that one. Okay.

We'll bring them back. We'll table. Item number three is the consideration and action on my resolution number 2026-084 to appoint or reappoint members to the Brownsville Public Library System Advisory Board. This one is due to a vacancy. This belongs to Commissioner Macias, District 2. I'll appoint Rosalinda Williams.

We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

The next appointment is in regards to Resolution No. 2026-100 to appoint or reappoint members to the Transit Advisory Committee. This appointment belongs to Commissioner Macias, as there was a resignation by Eric Kennedy received. On this one, I'll pass to the next meeting. Thank you. Thank you. table that item the next item for appointment is in regards to resolution number 2026-101 for the removal and the appointment of the members of the building and standards commission this is also a companion item to item six which is in regards to resolution number 2026-102 And this, uh, this item was due to, um, on June 16th, we brought in the acknowledgement of compliance for the PFS requirement, uh, uh, filing. Since that time, we did have four members that were not compliant out of the four. One did receive, um, actually did file his, um, his filing. So we do have three, um, alternate members that is at the, at the discretion of the commission to reappoint or appoint a member before. So there's vacancies there because they didn't turn in the paperwork or because of the they were noncompliant with the chapter 38 of the PFS.

Yes, these are alternate and they're all the financial disclosures. Yes.

Does anybody have an appointment? I like to a point. Don't you say you like Tony say?

All right. Motion second.

If we can get for both of For the building standards and the BOA, if we can just have that in the motion.

I'm sorry, what was that?

I mean, if we can have that in the motion for the BOA and the BSC.

Yes, for both. One goes to both, yes. Do we have a motion? Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

There's two more alternates.

Move to appoint Luis Melendez. All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Do we have a motion and a second? Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

One more alternate to consider? If none.

Nominate Eduardo Garrido. All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. A motion and a second. Any further discussion?

Not all those in favor, please say aye. Aye.

All those opposed say nay. I have a motion carried.

Perfect. That concludes the board appointments. Now, may we enter into executive session? Yes.

I'll take a motion. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

Second.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. I just have a motion carried.

The City Commission will enter into executive session pursuant to item number one, which is closed session pursuant to the Texas Government Code section 551.071 and .072 and .087 are related to Project Egypt. Number two is a closed session pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 and .072 and .087 related to project headquarters. Number three is a closed session pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 and .072 and .087 related to project market square. Item number four is in regards to the closed session pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 and .072 and .087 related to Project Romero. Number five is a closed session pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 and .087 related to solid waste services. Executive session six is pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 including the contemplating or the pending litigation related to the fire truck price fix litigation. Item 7 is the closed session pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071. related to the Midtown Entertainment District enforcement. And item number eight is closed session pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 related to CCAD property ID 30393. The time is 727 p.m.

Okay, I missed you. I was looking in the room.

Okay. Yeah. And can you can you get that information? Because we also need another board member. Mayor, may we reconvene into open session?

Yes, please.

The time is 8.58 p.m., we are reconvening back into open session. Are there any possible actions to consider, starting with item number one, is the consideration to approve the resolution number 2026-104 on Project Egypt?

Yes, I'll move to approve resolution number 2026-104. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say no. Aye.

Ayes have it. Motion carried. We pass this 4-0. Action item number two is in regards to the resolution number 2026-107 on project headquarters.

Move to approve resolution number 2026-107. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

It passes five to zero. Number three is in regards to resolution number 2026 dash zero, sorry, 106 on project market square. Move to table.

Sorry, I think on this one we were asking for action.

Oh, yeah.

Move to approve.

Yeah.

All right. We have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

It carries five to zero. Item number four is in regards to resolution number 2026-105 on Project Romeo.

Move to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carries.

The next item, action number five, is in regards to So tabling that item, is that correct?

Correct.

Okay. Item number six is in consideration to the Midtown Entertainment District Enforcement.

I move to proceed as discussed.

All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Motion carried.

And the next possible action is number seven in regards to the CCAD property ID 30393. No action. No action. And that concludes the meeting for adjournment. All right. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved. Motion. Second. And a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Ayes have it. Meeting adjourned.

At 9.01 p.m. Have a good night.