Mayor, commissioners squabble

During the city elections last year, former commissioner Sally Miniel Arroyo, in her bid for the mayoral post, opined that there was too much testosterone on the commission.

Whether or not escalating eruptions among city commissioners and the mayor are due to high concentrations of the hormone is not known, but displays of egos, needling, volatile and territorial outbursts and emotional displays continue.

The most recent one came at the May 6 City Commission meeting after Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. stepped down momentarily and Mayor Pro-Tem Charlie Atkinson took over the meeting.

When Ahumada came back to the commission table and proceeded to retake charge of the meeting, Atkinson, in the middle of calling for a motion on an item, thought Ahumada should wait until that business had been disposed of.

What followed was a charged exchange, particularly between Ahumada and Atkinson. Atkinson charged that Ahumada told him to shut up.

"He told me that he would kick my ass," Atkinson recalled Monday. " ‘Bring it on. Bring it on,'" the mayor also reportedly told Atkinson, who in turn tried to remove the mayor from the commission table. Atkinson took that as a threat. "I don't have to put up with (expletive,)" Atkinson said.

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria also recalled that Ahumada egged on Atkinson. Cooler heads finally prevailed and the meeting continued. 

For his part, Ahumada said that Atkinson and Longoria, "have been very disruptive to the point that it gets out of control." The mayor contended that the two have tried to undermine the city's best interests. "They want to get on a soap box and slam Pat Ahumada if they can," the mayor said.

The confrontations are not limited to the commission table, however. Longoria said Monday that he filed an incident report with the Brownsville Police Department about two months ago after Ahumada "assaulted" him at the night club Shenanigan's.

"He put his fingers under my chin and picked up my face and told me that anytime that I wanted a piece of him, ‘to bring it on'," Longoria recalled.

"If it happens again, I will file formal charges," Longoria said.

For the time being, the commission at today's 6 p.m. regular meeting at City Hall, 1001 E. Elizabeth St., will consider amending an ordinance regarding the conduct of the mayor and commissioners.

If any member of the commission is disruptive and does not comply when asked to cease the behavior, "the individual may be removed from the dais by a two-thirds (2/3rds) majority vote, upon motion and second, of the City Commission," the amendment states.

The agenda reflects that City Attorney Jim Goza placed the item on the agenda. Atkinson said that Commissioner Leo Garza placed it on the agenda and that he concurs.

Longoria said he doesn't feel this is necessary because procedures for removal of disruptive members are addressed in Robert's Rules of Order.

Ahumada said that commissioners, "are just trying to grand stand."