Monopoly In Mont Belvieu
We all know it can costs hundreds of dollars when your car is towed, but we believe in competition for your money. That’s why we are busting the MONOPOLY IN MONT BELVIEU.
Monopoly in Mont Belvieu
Got a piece of advice for you folks out there… Don’t break down in Mont Belvieu Texas.
Thanks to the city council… There the cost of a tow is up more than sixty percent in just two years.
That’s not inflation. I smell like a rat.
Let’s play a game that’s been with us for ninety years.
Monopoly.
The object of the game is to be the last player remaining, when all the other players have gone bankrupt.
That means the winner can get rich.
“Now let’s play another game… We just invented during our investigation in Mont Belvieu, Texas,” said Wayne.
“Hope the monopoly folks don’t get pissed off,” said Wayne.
Because our game is called Towopoly.
“Mayor and council, tonight’s agenda item would repeal the current record ordinance as you just said and replace it with a new record ordinance that has some additional new guidelines and procedures incorporated within it,” said Jimmy Ellison.
That was march of 2024… When the city’s police chief Jimmy Ellison proposes a new ordinance to control the companies who get to tow cars.
“Currently, there are 10 records on our rotation. This new language, only six of those will qualify,” said Jimmy Ellison.
That’s because only tow companies with a storage yard west of the trinity river would now be allowed to operate in Mont Belvieu.
“Hey chief. Can we talk to you for a minute. We just have just a couple of questions,” said Andrea Palacio.
Ellison knew who the winners and the losers in the tow truck biz would be in the game he wanted to play.
You can see the towing companies that were safe… And those being kicked out of town.
Actually… only five companies are now getting to play Towopoly in Mont Belvieu.
Wanna meet the players.
3 aces wrecker service…
C&V wrecker service…
J&S wrecker service.
CSI towing & recovery…
And lastly… Redzone towing & Recovery.
But check what we found when we ran the companies through the secretary of state website all five of these wreckers… They are all owned by one guy Bubba Jannise.
Bubba has been blowing us off. We just find out what’s in the dice he’s been throwing.
Bubba passed go all right.
Take a look at the previous towing ordinance… It states police-initiated tows were to be no more than $175.
The ordinance passed in 2024 shows the price of a tow rose to $300.
Not even the city of Houston charges that much for a tow… Their ordinance caps towing fees at $225. Just one winner.
Tows just a few miles away in Baytown… Check out the price… Tows are priced at $150.
Well, you know people, they see Dolcefino, they get nervous and not being sarcastic…. I’m shaking in my boots.
“It’s about the monopoly. Are you aware that it’s a monopoly or,” said Peyton Huessner
“There’s not. can you give me a let me get into this meeting,” said Chief Ellison.
“Well, there’s five on rotation and it’s all owned by the same man–uh ok,” said Peyton Huessner.
Isn’t it odd that Chief Ellison says there’s no monopoly… or Towopoly… Considering he was the one that created it.
“They changed it, they made it pretty much impossible for anybody to be a part of it,” said Jose.
This tow truck operator wanted to stay anonymous. He fears retaliation.
“They just want this one person that has these different names of companies that are owned by the same person to have control of everything in chambers county, in this city,” said Jose.
Losing the towing rotation.
“I mean we had to lay off employees, get rid of trucks. I mean it affected in many ways financially and letting some of our employees let go and get rid some downsized equipment,” said Jose.
Blindsided… Never give a warning or even a seat at the table to discuss these changes.
The outcome he claims was no accident… Planned by Bubba and Chief Ellison.
Relationships do matter.
“He was already set and ready. He already had the yard, and everything done. He was the one to step in and say, hey this is what I want done so that I can have more opportunity and more tows coming in,” said Jose.
Former towing operator Sammy Mahan also described seeing the relationship.
“I like bubba, don’t get me wrong, but you can usually find him at one of the local restaurants on Saturday eating with his cop buddies,” said Sammy Mahan.
Another close friend of Bubba’s is chambers county precinct 4 commissioner Ryan Dagley.
“He’s a friend of mine… I’ve known him for more than 20 years,” said Ryan Dagley.
He also knows we don’t play.
“I mean, obviously, you don’t want, look, it isn’t a secret, right? You don’t want Wayne doing a story on you because it’s somebody,” said Ryan Dagley.
According to Dagley’s campaign finance report… Bubba donated $1,000 to his campaign and contributed another $3,100 for campaign signs.
“His name is Bubba Jannise. yeah. he’s the owner of, he’s the owner of cowboys,” said Ryan Dagley.
“They’ve bought a lot of other wrecker services around. And they’ve kind of, I don’t want to say they have a monopoly, but they’ve created like a consolidated, they’ve consolidated and there’s some smaller independents that are really frustrated and stressed out,” said Ryan Dagley
“Did you know that all five are owned by the same man?” said Peyton Huessner
“Yes, we do,” said the mayor.
The mayor can add… So can the police chief. Maybe they should look up lawsuits around the country where this kind of thing ended up costing taxpayers big time.
“I don’t think nobody’s doing anything about it. They’re pretty much letting this one company take control and let them do whatever they want to do. Nobody’s really trying to, you know, give equal opportunity to other companies,” said Jose.
It’s a Towopoly… City Council should demand the rules be fair.
