McALLEN — Airport Director Phil Brown abruptly resigned Monday.
Brown started running McAllen-Miller
International Airport in February 2006, when he moved to the Rio Grande
Valley from Kansas City. McAllen expanded the runway, inked a deal with
Aeromar for non-stop flights to Mexico City and welcomed UPS during
Brown’s nearly seven-year tenure.
“It’s just time to retire,” said
Brown, 66, adding he doesn’t have any immediate plans. “My wife and I
are going to do as we please for a short while and then we’ll decide
later.”
Asked why he suddenly resigned Monday, Brown said he left voluntarily.
Brown officially resigned with a
memo sent to Assistant City Manager Brent Branham and announced the
decision Monday afternoon with an email to airport workers. Neither the
memo nor email provided further details.
“It is with mixed emotions that I
announce to you that I am retiring at close of business today, December
2,” according to the email, which Brown sent at 1:56 p.m. “These last
eight years have been some of the most enjoyable, exciting years of my
working career. I thank each and every one of you for the terrific job
you have done on my behalf and to make this airport an example to be
envied in the industry.”
Storm clouds, though, have
hovered over McAllen-Miller for months. Management turmoil severely
damaged morale during the spring and McAllen recently ordered a special
airport audit, which identified several concerns.
The turmoil started during
April, when Assistant Director of Aviation Matthew Van Valkenburgh —
Brown’s right-hand man — left for Killeen.
Brown promoted Properties and
Compliance Manager Kristi Taylor-Salinas to the deputy director position
on April 29. City Hall walked back the promotion on May 27. The move
infuriated Taylor-Salinas and undercut Brown’s authority.
“The city manager made those
personnel decisions,” Brown said, declining to comment further. “So I’m
not going to question them.”
McAllen moved Transit Director
Liz Suarez, known for her budget prowess and success with Metro McAllen,
into the deputy director job instead. Suarez would keep responsibility
for Metro McAllen and add the airport to her portfolio.
“I really wasn’t aware of
anything,” Suarez said, adding she didn’t know about the decision-making
process. “I didn’t get there until June.”
When Suarez arrived,
Taylor-Salinas hadn’t budged from the office traditionally reserved for
the deputy director. Suarez temporarily worked from a desk normally used
by administrative assistants.
City Manager Mike Perez
eventually intervened and resolved the situation. Ejected from the
deputy director office, Taylor-Salinas now took the administrative
assistant desk.
Perez declined to comment Monday when asked about the airport management kerfuffle.
With Suarez thrust into an
awkward situation, Taylor-Salinas feeling hurt and Brown undermined, the
airport stopped holding weekly management meetings.
Additional concerns about
airport management surfaced during October, when the City Auditor’s
Office conducted a wide-ranging review.
“Overall, the business operations of city airport appear to be well-managed,” according to the audit draft dated Oct. 25.
The draft, marked “draft not for
public distribution,” shows initial audit findings and recommendations,
but doesn’t include management responses. Last month, the city Audit
Committee held closed-door meetings about the airport audit but didn’t
approve the report — protecting the document from public information
requests. The Monitor obtained the document from a source who requested anonymity to share confidential city records.
The initial findings knocked Brown for several major decisions.
Brown didn’t follow McAllen’s
internal regulations covering city jobs when he promoted Taylor-Salinas
and two other airport workers, according to the draft audit.
“The only exception to this
practice is allowed by the city manager,” according to the draft audit.
“In the case of the airport deputy director, a promotion was given by
the city manager.
“However, the promotions given
by the airport director to airport staff for the assistant director of
business management, assistant director of operation and maintenance,
properties and compliance manager, business management analyst and
administrative supervisor positions did not follow city practices, and
the city manager did approve the promotions after giving reflective
consideration,” according to the draft audit. “By not soliciting
professional positions to the public, the city was prevented from
evaluating other qualified candidates that might apply for the city
positions.”
The draft audit also questioned how Brown spent $311,000 earmarked for advertising from Oct. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2013.
When the airport sponsored local
events, Brown and airport staff occasionally received perks, according
to the draft audit. Additionally, $52,000 went toward the International
Museum of Art and Science, the Valley Symphony Orchestra and other
organizations, which didn’t strictly qualify as advertising.
Auditors proposed McAllen establish new guidelines for department-level donations to nonprofit organizations.
Another major concern stemmed
from emails between Taylor-Salinas and a potential city contractor, who
asked for financial information about airport projects.
“The bidder stated that the
information was needed to prepare his proposal,” according to the draft
audit. “Also noted was that professional staff member (sic) accepted an
invitation to socialize with the bidder during the bid process.”
How Brown and airport management responded to the draft audit remains unclear.
On Nov. 12, the concerns about
inappropriate communication with the potential airport contractor
prompted McAllen to place Taylor-Salinas on administrative leave. She remained on leave Monday.
Generally, the City Commission
allows top-level management wide latitude to make and delegate personnel
decisions. Mayor Jim Darling and the City Commission occasionally
review personnel information, but don’t make low- or mid-level
employment decisions.
“The last thing I want to do as
mayor is to be involved at that level, making those decisions,” Darling
said, adding that he didn’t know fine-grain details about the airport
situation.
“I think the airport is running efficiently,” Darling said. “I’m not worried about the airport falling apart.”
Related: McAllen airport manager placed on leave without explanation
