Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Jaime Powell might be onto something here you think. Go get em Jaime.

CORPUS CHRISTI — The Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce will audit its business and financial practices in response to concerns raised by three top officials involved in reviewing president Terry Carter's contract.

Three members of the chamber's five-member executive committee demanded an emergency meeting Friday to air concerns about the chamber's financial and management practices, which Carter oversees. But before their grievances could be voiced, two of the three, Judy Hawley and Sylvia Whitmore, were told they no longer are eligible to serve on the committee, meaning they can't participate in the committee's recommendation to the full board on matters involving Carter's contract.

However, they were asked to present their information, in a private meeting at the chamber that lasted most of Friday morning. Carter could be heard shouting during portions of the meeting.

Carter wouldn't comment.

The financial concerns arose after chamber chairman-elect Robert Gonzalez recommended a raise, bonus and contract extension for Carter in January and executive committee treasurer Damon Bentley was asked to review the chamber's financial standing, Hawley said Friday.

Bentley, Gonzalez, Hawley and Whitmore would not describe the financial and management concerns. Attempts to reach chamber chairman Freddie Martinez Jr. were unsuccessful.

Chamber legal counsel Van Huseman, who attended the meeting Friday, described the financial questions as business practice-related, not improprieties. He said Carter's contract runs through the end of the year.

The executive board, with all five members present, met two weeks ago in Martinez's office and agreed to put off making a decision and to continue looking into the finances, Hawley said.

Had there been a vote, it would have been 3-2 to refrain from a raise, bonus and contract extension, with Bentley, Hawley and Whitmore in the majority, until a complete financial picture could be put together, Hawley said.

"We did not have enough information, so Damon continued to go through the books and look at all of the accounts," she said. "A week and a half ago he tried to call Freddie, he called me and called Sylvia ... He said, 'there are some irregularities I am concerned about. We need a full executive committee meeting as soon as possible.'"

Since that meeting, Whitmore, Bentley and Hawley took turns calling Martinez and Gonzalez repeatedly and got no response, Hawley and Bentley said.

"At that point, Damon had shared those things and each message we left was more strident than the last," Hawley said. "Finally we sent hand-delivered letters to Bobby and Freddie requesting that they cancel other meetings to hold an executive session as an executive board to discuss the irregularities."

Martinez sent an e-mail calling for an emergency meeting at 8 a.m. Friday. When Hawley arrived 10 minutes early, with Whitmore and Bentley following a short time later, Martinez was behind closed doors in Carter's office with Huseman.

"Then Terry and Freddie come in and talk to Sylvia and me," Hawley said. "We are the only ones in the room. They tell us, Terry says, 'in anticipation that there may be action taken today, we want you to know we have been looking at the bylaws and it appears you and Sylvia are not voting members because after our attorney scrutinized the bylaws y'all are not eligible to sit on the executive board.'"

Huseman said Martinez asked for legal advice because the question had been raised whether Whitmore and Hawley were legal members of the executive committee. Based on the chamber's bylaws, the executive committee is made up of the chairman, chair-elect, immediate past chair, vice chairs if any, and the treasurer, Huseman said. Under those rules, Bentley, Martinez and Gonzalez are the only members, Huseman said.

Hawley has been the Port of Corpus Christi's representative on the chamber board, but this year, the port didn't renew its funding of the chamber, which last year was $45,000. For that reason, Huseman said Hawley, a port commissioner, no longer should be on the chamber board.

Port Chairman Ruben Bonilla said the chamber had been spearheading a community advisory committee to deal with the closing of Naval Station Ingleside. When it became obvious the port didn't need such a committee, it eliminated the need for the port to have a service agreement with the chamber, which included the funding.

The agreement also called for the chamber and the port to cross-promote each other and included a plan for chamber functions at the port's Solomon P. Ortiz International Center. The chamber had begun using the center less, so neither of the reasons for the original service agreement with the chamber applied, and the port decided not to renew it or the funding, Bonilla said.

After the port's decision in January not to renew, Hawley said she asked Martinez if he wanted her to resign and he indicated that she should stay on the committee because the chamber still was trying to negotiate a deal with port.

Whitmore is past chair, but not immediate past chair.

"The bylaws are clear and they wanted to do this as the bylaws specify," Huseman said.

Whitmore was chairman two terms ago, but remained on the committee in place of refinery manager Dave Allen, who resigned as chairman early after Koch Industries, which owns Flint Hills refinery in Corpus Christi, transferred him from the city. Whitmore remained on the committee at Martinez's request, she, Hawley and Bentley said.

Hawley said their abrupt dismissal Friday, after having been asked to stay, came as a shock.

"I said 'You have got to be kidding.' And Sylvia said, 'What are you talking about?' Our status was fine until today."

Hawley said it was significant that she and Whitmore were the first order of business Friday, instead of their concerns about financial practices.

"I said, 'OK, I guess we will kiss you goodbye.' Then Freddie says you can't vote on anything but let's go ahead and hear what you have to say."

Gonzalez wouldn't comment on Friday's events because, he said, they happened in closed session.

Bentley was outside in a hallway when Hawley and Whitmore were dismissed because Carter had denied him entrance to the meeting.

"I was not privy to the meeting because I was asked not to come in," Bentley said. "He went inside and closed the door. They (Hawley and Whitmore) explained to me what happened. It was a strange scenario. I was saddened and I'm still confused on why two chamber executive board members had been removed from the executive committee after being asked to assist in the evaluation process of our CEO."

Hawley and Whitmore stayed to listen after Bentley came in to report on the financial concerns.

"We wanted full and complete audits of special events, contracts, the building fund, the foundation fund and chamber funds, because there were enough irregularities and according to bylaws we are supposed to have an audit every year," Hawley said. "Last year we had a spot audit. We felt very strongly that we ought to have a full audit."

Regarding the financial matters, Bentley told the Caller-Times:

"We agreed from a statement standpoint to say we are continuing the process of our evaluation and that there are both serious financial and management issues that we need to address."

After Bentley delivered his report, Hawley and Whitmore left the meeting.

"I am still very committed and willing to serve as immediate past chair, as I thought I was serving," Whitmore said. "But Judy and I did leave the chamber office after we told Freddie and Bobby that we recommended a full audit because I no longer had a vote."

Gonzalez said a full audit of chamber finances is in the works. He would not elaborate.

"We are going to conduct our yearly audit of the chamber and that will give us the results of 2007," Gonzalez said. "Frankly I am going to rely on the audit to answer any further questions. In the end the audit will tell us the real facts behind the chamber's 2007 year."

Staff writers Elvia Aguilar and Fanny S. Chirinos contributed to this report. Contact Powell at 886-3716 or powellj@caller.com



Post 1 February 16, 2008 at 4:25 a.m.

Interesting group...the only rule is to not make Carter mad and agree with all the financial and managerial practices if you want to remain part of the group. Seems simple enough.
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Post 2 February 16, 2008 at 5:49 a.m.

It seems to me the name Damon Bentley was recently in the news. Anybody remember?
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Post 3 February 16, 2008 at 6:09 a.m.

some ones sneaking into the cookie jar.
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Post 4 February 16, 2008 at 6:44 a.m.

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Post 5 February 16, 2008 at 6:46 a.m.

Post 4,

I think you are right. The Caller-Times will delete your post because it hits too close to their private "game" preserve.

It is all too clear now. It's all local politics. Lead by the Caller-Times removing itself from the Chamber.

The Caller-Times angry about their "brood" not being elected for the city council. One of their endorsements connected to Damon Bentley in a business association and maybe more.

The Caller-Times pro Ferris Wheel and kiddie park downtown. The Caller-Times against red-necks (their words) driving on a "private beach".

Yes, it's all too clear now.
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Post 6 February 16, 2008 at 7:07 a.m.

THis Worthless organization needs to be shut down. All members investigated and charged with the criminal activities they have done.I wonder how many times big shots from HEB,Valero,and other refinaries,and other CRIMINAL politician names would come to light. i think that the good People of Corpus Christi would be shocked by the back room and shady deals involving the Chamber of Crooks
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Post 7 February 16, 2008 at 7:49 a.m.

It's real simple-Carter is a jerk who's style and ethics are borderline. His defenders -on the chamber- say that while he may have taken some anti growth positions and he may be a divisieve character - at least the chamber is making money. The new chamber president -who comes out of nowhere- reccomends a raise for terry based on terrys ability to make the chamber profitable. But -oops- the chambers income statement is totally boggus. The one thing terry has going for him is acvtually a lie created b y terry to justify a raise. When he finds out that he is going to lose a vote he kicks two people off. Maybe they wont find checks written directly to terry, but this is just as bad. I have lived in 4 different towns in my adult life and I have never seen a chamber as counterproductive to commerce as this one - get rid of him - and find someone whose main priority is commerce not confrontation
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Post 8 February 16, 2008 at 7:57 a.m.

Sylvia Whitmore should talk to her boss and Judy Hawley to her fellow Port Commissioner Mike Carrell about the imact of tactics like this. It would be nice if the Caller would devote so many column inches of newsprint to economic issues that would positively impact the business community.
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Post 9 February 16, 2008 at 8:18 a.m.

This does make for some good sitcom material. Really! You could take this whole situation and drop it into 7 episodes of daytime TV. The cliff hanger episode would be Judy and Sylvia being dismissed (on a Friday of course, like today when it's rainy outside). The following week would reveal a few back door shenanigans as well as which 'player' is sleeping with whom.

We could call it simply 'Big Wigs'. That way the show can continue to exploit the highlights of other Big Wigs in this town as they do their dastardly deeds against each other and the fair citizens of 'Coastal Cove'; that sleepy little fishing village that wants to become a big city despite itself.

Who says good daytime TV is only produced in LA.
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Post 10 February 16, 2008 at 8:29 a.m.

Post 4

Spin it however you want to to suit the people you support in this issue but if you stick to the facts your point of view does not hold any water.

The Chamber used to represent business interests in this city but today you see a Chamber that is dominated by a board and led by individuals who are not even close to being representative of business interests. What you have today is more of a group with close polticial ties to an elected official we see every two years when election time comes around and even then you see very little of him. I guess he finally figured out the best way to make an organization less of a pain in your side is to simply take over them.

This issue is about whether or not there have been improprieties in the management of the Chamber. It seems there at the very least some smoke which should be investigated by a third party who is totally independent with no ties or concerns about where that smoke might lead. If there is nothing for Carter to worry about then he should welcome such a group coming in and reviewing what has gone on since he arrived.

Who they select to do the investigation will tell you how serious they are about finding out the truth or if they just want to cover up an concerns that might be there.

Seems people here are more concerned with turning this around and in the end turning it more towards Bentley, Bonilla, Whitmore, Hawley or anyone other than who this is about. There are numerous businesses other than the one's mentioned in the article that refuse to have anything to do with the Chamber under his leadership. They will point to others who have joined during his tenure. Let's see what the trend is as this story unfolds and all the facts come out.

How many of you honestly think we will see a real investigation? I remain hopeful we do but am not overly optimistic that a few in place there will let that happen.
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Post 11 February 16, 2008 at 8:55 a.m.

Carter has been divisive since his arrival and has pushed long time and well respected business members away. He only cares about how much power he thinks he has. I no longer give any credence to anything that comes out of that organization and never will until it is free of Carter and his influence. Join the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce instead, at least they represent thier members and do so with a higher degree of integrity.
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Post 12 February 16, 2008 at 8:57 a.m.

It is Common knowledge the Corpus Christi Chamber is Twisted !

I noticed it my 1st week in town, back in 2005 !

Carter has the credibility of Joe Izusu, in fact the Chamber as a whole is a Black Eye to Corpus Christi.

Unfortunately I feel the same way about 3 people on our City Council also.

Back in 2005 when I ReBooted my life in Corpus, I had High Expectations of Corpus. Native Texans warned me about Corpus Christi, I shunned their advise. If I had it to do over, I would have listened to those in the know.

Corpus has a sickness I can't explain, this is a very corrupt town, where friends and family dictate success or failure. Where City Hall, the Chamber a select few families run the city. All others are subtly encouraged to fall in line.

In Corpus Christi, it's small town politics on steroids. What surprises me is how TV & Radio suck up to the machine. In most cities investigative reporters would be trying to build their careers on a story like this. Here in Corpus, the media is in bed with the machine. My best guess is because of local ownership/management of media.

It's no wonder big business has shunned the city.
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Post 13 February 16, 2008 at 9:09 a.m.

Interesting.

Wasn't Van Huseman part of the group that led the charge against Landry's developing the T-Heads.

What was the latest effort the Chamber led to the fight against.?The Crosstown Commons. And some of the leading voices in that fight are on this board. Does anybody see something here?

It appears to me the Petionista/Smart Growth (which in Corpus means NO growth or growth "our" way) is purging it's ranks at the Chamber. That way they can hide behind a "pro business" sounding organization while at the same keep outsiders out so they can contiume to keep a monoploy on different aspects in this community.

This is one business owner that will tell the Chamber to go away if they come asking me to join.
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Post 14 February 16, 2008 at 9:31 a.m.

Fantastic post #12.

For all too long I along with others on these blogs have connected the dots with these crooked families and good old boys running this city into the ground and treating it as their own little kingdom. The PSM family, Husemans, Loebs, Hummells and a few of the other older families continue the stranglehold choking the life out of Corpus Christi. What should be a strong and vibrant community with outside investment and development all around is suffocated by the above at the expense of the vast majority. It is sickening these fools have such power and control and like you said, the local media is in bed with these people so no worthwhile investigative reporting is done. Maybe the Texas Rangers and Chuck should be given the opportunity to look into these skunks inner workings?
Huseman leads the campaign against the Landry's project, Loeb presents his red herring development and Hummell heads the deceptive yet effective lie-fest against the 1.5 billion dollar resort. Oh yeah, Van Huseman and Hummell have a law practice together! That almost slipped my mind.

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Post 15 February 16, 2008 at 9:36 a.m.

To the bently haters-lets review wehat happened- At the last chamber board meeting the pres. gets up and says - lets give terry a $40,000 raise because his performance - according to some parts of our contract with him- has been just what we asked for. Then they turn to bently ( the tresurer) and say dont you think we should give terry a raise- bently says hold on a minute - i didnt know you guys were going to do this- I havent looked at the books enough to juastify a raise based on our income statement-i promise i will look over them and get back to you. A month or so later bently says we need to have a meeting on these books because something doesnt look right. It seems to me a small business owner like bently standing up to the chamber machine is the only positive in this whole story. Im sure terry was yelling and screaming at bently and he stood his ground - twice.
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Post 16 February 16, 2008 at 9:50 a.m.

Of course the old fartknockers are going to try and deflect the true nature of this. Tying a Mario Celis story into this is quite a reach but I guess expected of the pro-anti-growth crowd. Anything to keep this city stuck in the 20th century and defend the good old boy network of people posted in number 14.
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Post 17 February 16, 2008 at 9:53 a.m.

***
POSTER # 12 & 14 !!!

You Guy's ROCK !!

Keep those caliber of Post's coming
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Post 18 February 16, 2008 at 10:32 a.m.

We native Corpus Christians born in local hospitals, graduated from local high schools, married local girls, come from pioneer local families, worked and retired here, I'll try to say it nicely. WE RULE.
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Post 19 February 16, 2008 at 10:39 a.m.

post 19
Suprised you know how to even use a computer and access the internet at your age. Let me guess - Pentium II ?
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Post 20 February 16, 2008 at 10:55 a.m.

Post #19

And you'll love driving on more pot hole filled roads and less city services because their want be enough taxpayers to support you and your petionista buddies. Why? Because your tax rates will be frozen when you hit 65 and their won't be enough taxpayers to pick up the slack. It will be fun to see you all show up a city council and demand MORE, but you will be told it can't happen because the tax base HAS NOT GROWN ACCORDINGLY. Yes that is in bold so Post 19 can get it thru his or her head.

You Petionista are digging your own graves and you don't know it. The thing is you all won't realize it till the crisis is well underway and then you'll be crawling back to people you thumbed you noses at to save you all Most of them will probably tell you to pound sand like you told them once upon a time.

I've about had it with this city and the lack of forward vision. The lack of decisive action with Downtown, the Beach and the opportunites that have been flushed there, and the many other quality of life issues that have been stopped due to some of the same people that populate the Chamber and other city boards and commissions is the problem. Cetianly not outsiders that have been wanting to take a risk and challenge but were shown the door. The Valley, San Antonio/Austin metro areas among others are kicking our ass because of people like post 19. Maybe we'll just be part of the many that are saying adios to backward thinking and move on. It's pretty sad when even the dust bowl of Texas known as Laredo is even make progress.
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Post 21 February 16, 2008 at 11 a.m.

The Chamber of Commerce was is a community's source of pride and positive attitude proved by its membership roll. I expect my car to start when I turn the key, etc. My cluelessness to the deterioration in the CofC was corrected when the Caller-Times' membership was pulled. Folks, that's not good. Board members form and report their reasonable belief that an audit must be conducted. That's worse. A key administrator shouts so loudly he is heard outside closed doors. "gotcha."

Would you agree that Shame and Blame are techniques a control freak uses to divert attention from what s/he's been up to with the knowledge and consent of a few? Such individuals "get away with it" because others keep silent. God blesses the Whistleblowers. A complete audit is a beautiful thing to see.
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Post 22 February 16, 2008 at 11:02 a.m.

thats fine post 19 just stop complaining that your taxes are too high- there no growth so the same 100,000 household's keep having to pay more and more in taxes- pick one side or the other -if you bitch about high taxes & utlity rates then stop complaining about new projects and people that help carry your load.

as far as the we rule comment - well your kingdom is becomming increasingly irrelevant to the rest of south texas
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Post 23 February 16, 2008 at 11:20 a.m.

To the disgruntled types who use make up words like "petitionestas" and throw threats around like they are somebody-here's a clue. Highway 77 runs North and South.

An old philospher once said, "It's better to be found doing nothing, than to be found busy doing nothing".

Busy busy busy, arent we?
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Post 24 February 16, 2008 at 11:22 a.m.

Local Families think they rule. Gangstas and taggers think they rule. My 9th grader thinks she rules. Angry White Men think they rule. I've got a Si Senor. I rule.
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Post 25 February 16, 2008 at 12:09 p.m.

Post #25

Whatever. Like Jack Nichoslon said in "A Few Good Men."

"You want the truth? "You can't handle the truth."

Their is plenty of sand on the beach you can't stick your head in. The problems in this city are not going to be solved by telling people to leave whether you like their ideas or not.
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Post 26 February 16, 2008 at 12:12 p.m.

#25 wow --only in corpus can someone find two ways to do nothing
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Post 27 February 16, 2008 at 12:16 p.m.

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Post 28 February 16, 2008 at 12:30 p.m.

Shame on the Caller Times again. Airing dirty laundry for the world to see.

I'm still waiting for a front page spread on Puddles.
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Post 29 February 16, 2008 at 12:58 p.m.

Terry Carter needs to go. We should start a TRANSFER FUND
with McComb Relocation. The Chamber can probably write all
of Terry's accomplishments on a match head and have room
left!. Bye- bye Terry -- go back to MS. or whereever.
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Post 30 February 16, 2008 at 1:03 p.m.

Terry Carter and Ken Trevino are worthless leaders. My business will withdraw our membership unless they get new blood in there who give a darn about "real" business issues. Trevino is an elitist who barely attends any sponsored chamber mixers, and Carter is a hot head who does not give a "care" for Corpus Christi or the business community, because he feels he does not need too. What is in their real scope of work? As a Chamber member I invest annual dues to pay for business support services for large and small businesses, as well as good policy that will reflect what Chamber members want. I am curious to see if my annual dues are part of some illegal transition within the Chamber or part of a PAC that members are unaware of. Are they contracting a certain congressman’s ex C.O.S.? The Chamber is funded heavily through membership dues and special events, meaning, without members there is no Chamber. Without members, Terry and Ken cannot maintain the lifestyles they have become accustomed to. One is the puppet master and the other the puppet. Let’s get leadership without arrogance like Terry, and leadership with a backbone, unlike Ken. Kudos Caller for breaking the story! Kudos to Damon for wanting to check the books.

To Post #29 Last, “Carter could be heard shouting during portions of the meeting”, what a disgust of calling yourself a professional, yet alone a man, shouting at two women, get over yourself. Down with Carter & Trevino! They do it to themselves.
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Post 31 February 16, 2008 at 1:04 p.m.

I love the idea that Terry, the point man for pro beach closure, has suddenly been spun into a demon from hell thats anti growth. You guys really do eat your young don't you? CT why don't you just tell us where we should be going? So today it's Chamber should fire Terry, or everyone should quit it. When are you all going to start working with people who disagree with the editorial board? All I see is attacks and no new ideas.
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Post 32 February 16, 2008 at 1:21 p.m.

What a slap in the face to the Port of Corpus Christi! See if they ever give money to the 'Shame-ber" again. As a member of the Chamber, we help elect the board, yet they are hand-selected from Carter and his VP....hummm!
Watch, Carter will come out and make promises just like he did last month when he said the Mayor would have a Q&A at his event prior to talking with the Mayor. The pattern is that Carter never thinks before he speaks. And Trevino is basically a mute; he is always behind Carter in his shadow trying to save his own rear saying “yes, sir”. Crack that whip Carter.
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Post 33 February 16, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.

Seriously? Ken Trevino does that much? Our business has been promised a lot by that guy with little or no results.
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Post 34 February 16, 2008 at 1:40 p.m.

That Chamber staff is always on defense mode, trying to always stuck up for Carter and Trevino. Trevino is worthless, he gets paid to wear suits and say "yes sir". I am sure he was handed that job.
What happened to the chamber? 2007 and this year has been rough for them.
PS: I don't hold my breath for that guy.
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Post 35 February 16, 2008 at 2:17 p.m.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Two Best Posts Today !!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
It is Common knowledge the Corpus Christi Chamber is Twisted !
I noticed it my 1st week in town, back in 2005 !
Carter has the credibility of Joe Izusu, in fact the Chamber as a whole is a Black Eye to Corpus Christi.
Unfortunately I feel the same way about 3 people on our City Council also.
Back in 2005 when I ReBooted my life in Corpus, I had High Expectations of Corpus. Native Texans warned me about Corpus Christi, I shunned their advise. If I had it to do over, I would have listened to those in the know.
Corpus has a sickness I can't explain, this is a very corrupt town, where friends and family dictate success or failure. Where City Hall, the Chamber a select few families run the city. All others are subtly encouraged to fall in line.
In Corpus Christi, it's small town politics on steroids. What surprises me is how TV & Radio suck up to the machine. In most cities investigative reporters would be trying to build their careers on a story like this. Here in Corpus, the media is in bed with the machine. My best guess is because of local ownership/management of media.
It's no wonder big business has shunned the city.

2.
For all too long I along with others on these blogs have connected the dots with these crooked families and good old boys running this city into the ground and treating it as their own little kingdom. The PSM family, Husemans, Loebs, Hummells and a few of the other older families continue the stranglehold choking the life out of Corpus Christi. What should be a strong and vibrant community with outside investment and development all around is suffocated by the above at the expense of the vast majority. It is sickening these fools have such power and control and like you said, the local media is in bed with these people so no worthwhile investigative reporting is done. Maybe the Texas Rangers and Chuck should be given the opportunity to look into these skunks inner workings?
Huseman leads the campaign against the Landry's project, Loeb presents his red herring development and Hummell heads the deceptive yet effective lie-fest against the 1.5 billion dollar resort. Oh yeah, Van Huseman and Hummell have a law practice together! That almost slipped my mind.

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The Post numbers keep changing, but the truth is. Both of these Posters have a good understanding of Corpus Christi :)

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
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Post 36 February 16, 2008 at 2:44 p.m.

Loeb is a board member of the Chamber.
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Post 37 February 16, 2008 at 2:45 p.m.

how true, how true that we will have to wait til these old families die off to have any progress in CC. The Chamber seems to be the worst . When I moved here with a company of 30 employees , the Chamber sent me a Membership Book and a bill for $100 dollars for it. I did not join because it was worthless even then and sounds like it is worth less even now. I will say that Skip Noe was extremely helpful, but he was the only one. We have since moved out of the city limits just because of high taxes with little in return. Progress in CC will not happen in my lifetime. Just this week we lost Walmart and the Commons due to lack of pro-business leaders.
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Post 38 February 16, 2008 at 3:12 p.m.

Didn't Gonzales just get on the chamber board and now he is Chair-elect? What do the bylaws say about that? And for him to already suggest a raise for Terry Carter? And prior to an evaluation? Not good business practices. The chamber used to have some real talent and driven individuals in their staff and board, now wonder why they left!
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Post 39 February 16, 2008 at 3:22 p.m.

We dont have any ideas all we care about is hearing the cash register ring. The sole mantra of the disgruntled types. Speak if you have any ideas. You people are always for or against somebody else's ideas. Ya'll are feeble now waiting for people to die is "smart growth"?

You people have nothing substantial to offer but complaints. Your 9 year old daughters do RULE. Hombre?
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Post 40 February 16, 2008 at 3:29 p.m.

What a person does in a hot-tub is no reflection of their ability to look over a set of books. Yet, Bill Clinton is the devil incarnate for not having a female run screaming.
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Post 41 February 16, 2008 at 3:31 p.m.

What is the business background of the Chair Elect? Would he be considered pro business? Which elected official in Washington has he been very supportive of over the years?

Keep asking the questions and you will find why one business after another have either resigned or will not be paying any additional dues to the Chamber.
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Post 42 February 16, 2008 at 3:53 p.m.

I wish we could have a little scandal with our politics instead of the other way around.
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Post 43 February 16, 2008 at 4:12 p.m.

Freddie Martinez Jr is Robert Gonzales first cousin. Also, Gonzales law firm allegedly represents Mr. Martinez music business. Martinez and Carter recruited Gonzales only three or four months ago to serve on the board and quickly moved him to Chairman Elect. There seems to be a clear conflict of interest between these two CHamber leaders, or at least, the cloud of a possible collusion in hiding the financial books. Earlier post suggested that Lencho Rendon, former Chief of Staff of Congressman Solomon Ortiz, has been hired by the Chamber on a contract basis for events held at the Fairgrounds. It appears that Ortiz and his followers (Van Huseman and MIke Hummel) are now in control of the Chamber of Commerce, and will never publicly release the financial records of impropriety.

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Post 44 February 16, 2008 at 4:24 p.m.

yup 46 -remember the salute to the veterens banq- did the chamber board make that "consulting" agreement public? think they paid a consulting fee of about $7,000.
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Post 45 February 16, 2008 at 4:29 p.m.

I'll tell you how skewered and bizarro of a place we occupy here. You got the Huseman spearheading the defeat of the Landry proposal and he is the legal counsel for a CoC for a city with thousands of businesses. Funny whenever outside money wants to come in they are treated as if they are flaming hot with a herpes outbreak. More on the jacked up thought process of the these families. The daughter of Van Huseman works for the Texas bankers association, Wes Hoskins, one of the big dogs for First Community Bank and one of the larger donors to Mike Hummells council campaign. Are dots starting to connect yet?

No wonder we as a city cant get ahead and progress. Its an f'ed up collusion game being played by a few here in our city. Wonder why Hummell, Loeb and John Kelley (our local socialist) and others have s**t grenaded everything from the Landry's, TRT, the Shex resort, TIF for the Commons and so on. But on the other foot these same fools somehow support the re-do of the Memorial Coliseum to the tune of 30 million plus - who benefits huh? John Kelley has continually stroked and petted Hummell. Are they planning on moving the ACLU and local Socialist party HQ to the M.C.? On Mike Hummells website he even offers a link to John Kelley's We the People local fishwrap.

Jaime Powell might be onto something here you think. Go get em Jaime.

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Post 46 February 16, 2008 at 4:53 p.m.

Nice to see people finally starting to put together the puzzle. It's about the time the "bad guys" were identified as for so long they have been able to escape the spot light as fingers were pointed at others.
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Post 47 February 16, 2008 at 5:24 p.m.

Post #47:
They have to contract out for an event like that because they need to keep Ortiz and his posse happy. Carter supports Ortiz. Another headline! They contracted out Conquer the Coast, to a non-Chamber member Austin group, because they fired their event director two weeks prior to the event. They peeved off the entire biking community. Bertuzzi and Carter stopped doing personal business together and all of a sudden more headlines in the Caller about how shady the Chamber is becoming. Everything the Chamber does is a conflict or an arm's length away from unethical. Crosstown Commons. Remember that headline? Remember when Trevino resigned from the Worksource Board after trying to nail another BIG contract from Worksource. Trevino claims, he didn't vote. Who cares? There was still a conflict; he was still a board member of Worksource. Remember that headline? Remember when carter went on t.v. to debate against McCutcheon and got slaughtered? Now Carter supports Hummel and the BAC. Carter got Martinez’s cousin on the board and is now chair-elect after a couple of months? Headline? The Chamber cannot hold on to good board members or staff. Several board members who have questioned Carter in the past have all resigned; their dedicated employees have all left. Remember that headline? The Chamber is going downhill all too quickly; their best employee resigned over a year ago. Remember that headline? They just fired another employee a week ago. They keep firing and firing and firing. They need to fire starting at the top, not at the bottom. Wait until their HR policies and plan hits the paper!

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Post 48 February 16, 2008 at 7:55 p.m.

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So........... We can't count on the T.V. Stations, Talk Radio is scared to death of these characters.

Do any of you have any connections in San Antonio, Houston or Dallas media. This is a big story! It needs to be told. They will never let this Saga be told here in Corpus. Why not drop a dime on this town on a statewide basis?

Hell evan Dateline would get a kick out of this much corruption, it's time to let the world know about South Texas !

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Post 49 February 16, 2008 at 8:08 p.m.

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Post 50 February 16, 2008 at 8:22 p.m.

stff you are very sore and need to get some therapy
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Post 51 February 16, 2008 at 9:34 p.m.

Post 51, why do we need San Antonio,Houston or Dallas. The reasons you are reading about this story is because the Caller broke the story. I agree it is a big story and it is being told by the local paper. As usual local TV doesn't cover this sort of news because they are scared or want it to happen.
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Post 52 February 17, 2008 at 2:07 a.m.

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Post 53 February 17, 2008 at 10:51 a.m.

off tropic but I only got cheap chocolate on Thursday
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Post 54 February 17, 2008 at 12:09 p.m.

Whoa! What a bunch of inbreds. Maybe if the Chamber Members would get a real job....

Master Rod
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Post 55 February 17, 2008 at 1:03 p.m.

When the audit is done, guess what ... those findings and the DNA results on the dog-loving man will be announced on the very same day.... in the Caller-Times !!!
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Post 56 February 19, 2008 at 9:14 a.m.

I'm surprised Carter and the Chamber hasn't been sued for sexual harassment.
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Post 57 February 20, 2008 at 4:52 p.m.

This is so sad that the Chamber gets rid of 2 people that are probably extremely ethical and they have probably caught them with their hands in the cookie jar and want to do what's right. The responsibility is of the board and something smells very rotten with this. Why did they really get rid of 2 executive board members? Not the hogwash that they say, what really happened? As in post 50, anyone that does business with the current WorkSource executive can not be on the up and up!!! Records should be checked!!!

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