So a big nothing burger. Shocking.

You tin foil hat people with law degrees obtained from watching a few Law and Order episodes are ridiculous. The BBC statement makes it clear the plane owner made outrageous claims about being denied his plane when he didnt even do minimal research to contact the actual landowner (BBC) or the the tenant (Rafter). The pilot also readily admitted he screwed up several times in refusing to declare an emergency which would've allowed him immediate runway access at any municipal airport between Austin and Easterwood and he made poor decisions putting his gear down early causing his plane to lose speed. Had he known what he was doing the whole incident could've been avoided.

Governmental entities and non profits like the BBC lease out land or their buildings all the time. A&M owns the land where Century Square is located and leases it out yet no one is whining about it. I also doubt those whining here have ever worked cattle before, especially on horseback and all the while trying to do artificial insemination. It shouldn't be a surprise that a herd of cattle would scatter after a plane landed in the field and then emergency personnel and investigators descended on the scene shutting down the operation. Embryo transfers for cattle is a lucrative business and the timing matters so it's not earth shattering that the rancher wants to recover his lost income.

trouble said:

---

I see it differently. The BBC, Dorn, and the mayor look worse to me after this article.

---

Maybe you didn't read the last part and fully understand my post. I am saying that the claims in the article are BS. So, I fully agree with you, not a good look for Mayor and company.

Lots of folks with contradicting "facts":

BBC (says they are independent of the city, which is not entirely true)

Gutierrez (tells attorney he leased the land)

Dorn (says *he* leased the land… ) (I'm wondering if that date was 3/13)

Matt Doss, Attorney at Law (says Gutierrez is lessee)

The plot doth thicken…

In my humble opinion, this press release is a smoke screen for a bunch of folks scrambling to cover their collective [Edit]

[Do not use symbols to circumvent word filters. -Staff]

You say the BBC statement "makes it clear the pilot made outrageous claims" and "didn't try to contact anyone". Why should anyone believe the BBC over the plane owner? What does the possibility that he could have handled the in flight emergency have to do with the behavior of the land owner/leaseholder/tenant after the fact?

Will be interesting to see what the FOiA requests turn up.

100%, this absolutely reeks of folks scrambling over each other to try and cover their own asses. Sloppy, unorganized and scared.

Really hope KBTX pins them to the wall on these inconsistencies

Jsimonds58 said:

---

100%, this absolutely reeks of folks scrambling over each other to try and cover their own asses. Sloppy, unorganized and scared.

Really hope KBTX pins them to the wall on these inconsistencies

---

Fullhart is gone.

They won't.

Would be easy to verify if the mayor reached out to him first with phone logs.

It's the insurance company's responsibility to get the plane, not the pilot. Who did the insurance company talk to, and why is the plane still there? There is no logical reason for the plane to be sitting there that long unless they were being denied access. Either by the BBC or the mayor portraying himself as the owner /leasee.

Found a friend of the mayor or the land owner.

Lol yep

But if he is neither the owner or the lessee, what right does he have to bar access? If he wants to be paid, he can sue the pilot.

KBTX did not mention it in their 10 p.m. broadcast, even though they did post it to their Facebook page. I have lived in a number of cities with local TV stations and newspapers, and I've never seen local media outlets so afraid to ruffle the municipal feathers as I've seen here.

It is extremely disingenuous to believe the BBC had no knowledge of Mr. Gutierrez having his cows on land they owned when more than half of the BBC members socialize regularly with him. Whether they knew or not, the fact is, he knew who the land belonged to, and oddly, it seems his own attorney was under the impression he was leasing it as evidenced in the letter sent to Dan Gryder. Mr. Gutierrez has been on numerous Bryan boards and commissions, including the BBC from 2015 - 2020, then as a non-voting council liaison from 2020-2022. Even if he missed a meeting in which the land purchase was approved, there can be no doubt that he would not have been updated on a $12+ million purchase by the BBC.

So, that leaves the question: either the BBC is not being truthful in their press release, or the mayor withheld information from the BBC regarding his for-profit cattle operation. Either way you land on that, it's not a good look.

Assuming the pilot is telling the truth (and we have zero evidence he isn't), why would he contact BBC or Rafter if the mayor had called him and said he was the owner/tenant of the property? Moving on, you say the mayor was within his rights to demand money. Assuming what the press release says is accurate he just had his cows on another's property for a simple procedure, he had no right to deny access or demand money. Let's look at it like this. If my dog is at the vet for an AI and a car hits the building, I have no right to deny the owner access, why would the mayor?

Snoodish said:

---

Cslifer, the pilot never mentioned that he contacted the BBC or Rafter so the delay in getting the plane was his fault as he didn't contact the right people. If Gutierrez demanded money that's his right to do so. Clearly his arrangement with Rafter in his cattle business has nothing to do with his duties as mayor and if his cattle were on Rafter's leased land, one would think he has some deal to keep his cattle there during the artificial insemination so the lawyer may not be wrong either.

---

His duties as mayor have much to do with his arrangement with Rafter, i.e. placing his cows on property owned by the BBC, an entity which has a direct tie to the city of Bryan. At a minimum, it appears to be an ethics violation. Elected officials are not supposed to have advantages not available to the general public. As I type that statement, I have to shake my head because we all know political advantages exist from here to D.C. Doesn't make it right.

Snoodish said:

---

. If Gutierrez demanded money that's his right to do so. .

---

He has absolutely no right to demand money from the planes owner in this situation unless he is the property owner or property leasee. He would take action against the business entity's insurance, who would take action against the land owners insurance, who would take action against the plane owners insurance.

You can't just skip the middle steps because you want to. There is a reason sub-consultants of sub-consultants have to carry the same insurance As the prime on contracts and that's because if there is a lawsuit, you'll get named.

Unless you mean that any random Joe can demand money from any other random John.

maroon barchetta said:

---

So he's supposed to just get a tow truck and get it out in two days?

---

Why are they telling him to come get it by Thursday? Considering he lives in another state, they ought to at least be giving him to the end of this weekend.

Snoodish said:

---

Cslifer, the pilot never mentioned that he contacted the BBC or Rafter so the delay in getting the plane was his fault as he didn't contact the right people. If Gutierrez demanded money that's his right to do so. Clearly his arrangement with Rafter in his cattle business has nothing to do with his duties as mayor and if his cattle were on Rafter's leased land, one would think he has some deal to keep his cattle there during the artificial insemination so the lawyer may not be wrong either.

---

Wrong, the correct way to do so is by filing a claim with the insurance company... Not by blackmail or extortion.

Snoodish said:

---

You tin foil hat people with law degrees obtained from watching a few Law and Order episodes are ridiculous. The BBC statement makes it clear the plane owner made outrageous claims about being denied his plane when he didnt even do minimal research to contact the actual landowner (BBC) or the the tenant (Rafter). The pilot also readily admitted he screwed up several times in refusing to declare an emergency which would've allowed him immediate runway access at any municipal airport between Austin and Easterwood and he made poor decisions putting his gear down early causing his plane to lose speed. Had he known what he was doing the whole incident could've been avoided.

Governmental entities and non profits like the BBC lease out land or their buildings all the time. A&M owns the land where Century Square is located and leases it out yet no one is whining about it. I also doubt those whining here have ever worked cattle before, especially on horseback and all the while trying to do artificial insemination. It shouldn't be a surprise that a herd of cattle would scatter after a plane landed in the field and then emergency personnel and investigators descended on the scene shutting down the operation. Embryo transfers for cattle is a lucrative business and the timing matters so it's not earth shattering that the rancher wants to recover his lost income.

---

WTAW reported the lease was a 10 year lease, for $1/year; a helluva deal, that would have had people lined up to utilize, but just a coincidence that Rafter D and the mayor already had an agreement in place, to put the longhorns on the property? And at an overstocked quantity, one likely reason the cattle were repeatedly going through the fences?

And as to "working cattle", and AI, you're not running them down in the pasture while on horseback, it is a controlled effort, and the working pens on that property were not made for longhorns.

Bobby Gutierrez is scheduled to be a guest on WTAW Wednesday morning. Will Delucia ask the questions or take a pass?

I think that Texas Monthly and Texas Tribune might be interested in this as well.

Charpie said:

---

I think that Texas Monthly and Texas Tribune might be interested in this as well.

---

Oooooh, someone is putting out some bait!

Snoodish said:

---

Cslifer, the pilot never mentioned that he contacted the BBC or Rafter so the delay in getting the plane was his fault as he didn't contact the right people. If Gutierrez demanded money that's his right to do so. Clearly his arrangement with Rafter in his cattle business has nothing to do with his duties as mayor and if his cattle were on Rafter's leased land, one would think he has some deal to keep his cattle there during the artificial insemination so the lawyer may not be wrong either.

---

I demand you pay me $250,000 before you can post again.

Snoodish said:

---

Governmental entities and non profits like the BBC lease out land or their buildings all the time. A&M owns the land where Century Square is located and leases it out yet no one is whining about it.

---

That in itself is not the problem. Now if A&M were leasing a Century Square unit to a member of the Board of Regents for $1/mo, then that would be a problem.

I read a post that said the land was leased for $1. When I scroll back, that post seems to be gone.

Flatlander said:

---

Snoodish said:

---

Governmental entities and non profits like the BBC lease out land or their buildings all the time. A&M owns the land where Century Square is located and leases it out yet no one is whining about it.

---

That in itself is not the problem. Now if A&M were leasing a Century Square unit to a member of the Board of Regents for $1/mo, then that would be a problem.

---

This.

And this smells awful because of "$1," lease. If they were offering fair market value for the leased land, no one would care. The fact that this was all exposed because of a plane crash is hilarious.