Bloviating Ex-Councilman Nervous About Upcoming Election

Bloviating is the present participle of bloviate, which is a verb that describes Mario Marcel Salas, candidate for District 2 City Council? Oh excuse me, endorser of Ivy Taylor for District 2 City Council and endorser for Taj Mathews because he endorsed Ivy Taylor. That’s just a lot of hot air. Darden supporters are upstanding citizens that contribute to the well-being of District 2. The ranting and raving of Mario Marcel Salas demonstrates a nervous Taylor base. Darden supporters (described as idiots by Salas) remember to Vote May 11, 2013!

Mario Marcel Salas cannot produce a few surveys [that] appear to have Taylor with a solid lead. Did Salas call three people a few times considering how expensive surveys cost? Per the Texas Secretary of State it is against the law to reveal how people are voting. Here’s a dare, produce the surveys.

It is a sin and a-shame for a man who was bailed out of jail more than once and proclaimed he was an atheist up until possibly his forties as he himself prepared to run for City Council. Now he wickedly attacks a young Black man who has the experience to earn District 2 resident’s vote.

He accuses the world of hidden agendas, but cannot deny his reliance on government funding to operate his radio station. [Now I bloviate] What would the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates interstate and international communications by radio [which include nonprofit radio stations], television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, think of his endorsement? Did he have a disclaimer indicating the “private” nonprofit was excluded? Is the KROV a nonprofit? Oh yes it is, I wrote the grant that started his government funding.

“Five Things Non-Profits Must Never Do: Endorse candidates; Contribute funds to candidates; Use organization resources or staff time for candidate election; provide mailing lists to candidates for free or below market rate; solicit candidate pledges: nonprofit organizations cannot ask a candidate to pledge to do or not to do something in their campaign or in their eventual election. This provides implicit endorsement and is illegal.

So in regards to his nonprofit, as I bloviate, let’s ask ourselves, did bloviating Mario Marcel Salas do any of the aforementioned? Maybe he and Taj Mathews can think about it? Taj Mathews is the Executive Director of the Claude and Zernona Black Developmental Leadership Foundation [Nonprofit].

Oh by the way, KROV Radio, Ella Austin Community Center, Delta Sigma Theta’s affiliated nonprofit, etc… did not pay me a consulting fee for grants they received as a result of my work. It is unfortunate that an individual such as Mario Marcel Salas believes White consultants should be paid, but African Americans should not. The younger generation has suffered from this paradigm of the Salas mentality which runs rabid in District 2. Black people have a right to own and operate companies and get paid for their work. Your leadership clique needs to quit socializing and extend the hand you claim you fought for years ago.

In his recent article, Salas ignored that the Pastors lead congregations that provide services in a District that desperately needs services within its boundaries. District 2 now resides in an area defined by the Pew Research Center as the most segregated residential neighborhood in America caused by economic status.

The Inner City TIRZ Board, which Salas serves, issued a Request for Proposal (not RFQ as he incorrectly stated) which was purposed to prevent the faith based community from receiving the funds available. Mario Marcel Salas abstained from the vote that would have granted funds available to the faith based community. Those funds were directed downtown to the City of San Antonio (government). Ivy Taylor plainly and clearly stated that “we didn’t write this RFP for nonprofits.” She put her foot on the throat of her community!

The District 2 faith base community was not competing with Zachary Corporation or any other for profits. Competition came from City Government and quasi-government agencies such as San Antonio Housing Authority. Funds were awarded to a quasi-government/nonprofit agency that was to be led by now ethically damaged City Manager Pat Di Giovanni one of the puppet master’s of Ivy Taylor. Mario Marcel Salas’s article admits to pigeon holing his proclaimed beloved East Side.

Other organizations were allowed a pass to not apply to the RFP. The question is now, are you guilty of bid rigging? Why does your community have to answer an RFP that others did not? What White consultant do you prefer?

Mario Marcel Salas has called Tyrone Darden supporters “drug lords,” “idiots,” “mercenaries,” “greenhorns,” “pirates,” “overbearing,” to name a few. Note this Ex-Councilman Salas: Darden supporters are business owners, educated, educators, government employees, attending trade schools and colleges, etc… They contribute positively to the community. They see through the old school hustle you have thrown at them and will fight hard to win this election. Darden’s widespread support, as the Express News acknowledges, makes the Taylor camp confused and nervous.

Too bad you can’t get over one statement, “a has been washed up ex city councilman.” Mario Marcel Salas has been “sick” ever since a resident peeped his card and he has been calling people out of their names ever since. Mario Marcel Salas is in politics; get over it!

An Address to San Antonio’s Inner City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, Presented to the Board by Ida Brown

Do your job, Community First, A Battle of Economic Class

A Speech to the Inner City TIRZ Board, 3/22/2013

By, Ida D. Brown

How does one snatch the history of a proud community that has a strong culture and background of contributing to the development of the City of San Antonio?   From the Buffalo Soldiers buried on the Eastside who are credited with modernizing Texas after the Civil War who also settled on the Eastside, to our strongest annual Martin Luther King March, and to the creation of this Inner City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.  We can’t emphasize any stronger to this Board that we created this TIRZ to assist in revitalization of the Eastside.  Look at the makeup of the Board and 13 years ago some of you were there in council chambers when the Inner City TIRZ passed.

But it is apparent that just as in Dec. 2000, when the City of San Antonio Staff (Chris Brady and Trey Jacobson) were not going to recommend approval, today we still fight for our TIRZ the pool of funds we created to revitalize our community that we have yet to see.  The battle is one of class status and race.  It is a disgrace for this Board to deny that development of the Black community in San Antonio has centered on the activities of Black churches and their congregations.  Visualize the development of the Eastside today.  Now visualize the Eastside without the Black churches and their congregations.

The Transformation Coalition of Churches Nonprofits and Partners is concentrated around then 7 now 9 churches in which their congregations (people) reside on the near / far Eastside of San Antonio.  With, the George Gervin Youth Center as the lead agency, the Coalition is an eligible applicant.  Since our initial presentation to Ivy Taylor, Chair/Councilperson, we have been met with strong resistance on a personal level, which is very contrary to an effective leader of a political District.  So the question to ask, is she, does she care for the people?

During this long process, the statement that stands out (and witnessed during a TIRZ Board meeting) by Councilperson Taylor, “this RFP was not written for them, we wanted property tax generating entities,”   However, take note in who is being recommended for funding, the City of San Antonio.   The Coalition did not receive a score of 0.  If you add the many scores staff assigned to our one application, we exceeded the possible score of 100 and received 264.66 points.  We either won or the process is tainted.  As one comprehensive application, a community in partnership, as the law allows, we received the highest score and bonus points.   So what happened?

On August 24, 2012, the City of San Antonio issued a letter that certainly one can’t just take back and say never mind.  The key statement within the letter says “Please note that you can request a review of the procurement process and procedures but the review is limited to the process and will not include a review of your specific proposal.”  This statement is contrary to the RFP.  There are many professionals on each side of this river and we all know that this does not pass the smell test.  Voters know when a hustle is on, and the money is being stolen.

Ever since this process started we assumed we would receive fairness.  But an apparent poor process and possible bid rigging has now generated a great disconnect between the community, this chair (Councilwoman Ivy Taylor), and the Board of the Inner City TIRZ.   It appears the Councilwoman’s personal wars, race war, and class war has gone too far.   [She has ignored and hurt her district/her constituents/the people. ]

A tool created by the Eastside is being thrown in our face as one that we cannot utilize because we are Black and not of the appropriate economic class.  Councilwoman Taylor cares too much of status and  not the most segregated community in the United States cause by economic status.  This includes District 2.

Councilwoman Taylor is now funding government projects with our TIRZ funds and thus telling the community that Mt. Zion First Baptist plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside, Greater Love Missionary Baptist Church plays no part in the development of City of San Antonio and the Eastside, Conqueror Assembly plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside, St. Gerard High School plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside, The South Central Texas Center for Pediatric Care plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside Community, Second Baptist Church plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside, True Vision Church plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside, and the George Gervin Youth Center plays no part in the development of the City of San Antonio and the Eastside.  You are also sending a strong message to other churches that are now members of the Coalition that you do not want coalitions and partnership building to create strong communities.

Because of the gross flaws in scoring, personal prejudices of the Chair/Councilwoman Taylor (which she has unprofessionally allowed to flow into the Board of Directors and now the Community), and lack of transparency of this RFP process (Caused by Councilwoman Ivy Taylor and City of San Antonio Staff), the Transformation Coalition of Churches Nonprofits and Partners would like the respect to proceed to receive funding like the University of Incarnate Word [which was paved a clear path by Commissioner Tommy Addkisson  with no RFP and no obstacles.]