Those few folks who attended the Brownsville Independent School District Budget Committee meeting way back on Monday, Jan. 16, probably did not understand what trustee Catalina Presas-Garcia was referring to when she made a cryptic statement shortly after Superintendent Carl Montoya's welcoming remarks.
"And for the record, I'd like to go on the record that I was told not to present myself to the meeting," she stated. "But I am here today and I will be here tomorrow for those of you who were not expecting me to be here. I needed to put it on the record."
(See Cafe Brownsville, January 16 BISD Budget Workshop meeting tape)
What was Presas-Garcia referring to when she said that she was "told not to present myself" and "those of you who were not expecting me to be here today"?
The next day was Tuesday, January 17, and an item on the item on the agenda she was referring to was titled:
"50. Recommend awarding RFQ #12-083 for Delinquent Ad Valorem Tax Collections to the firm meeting the qualifications and needs of the District. Contract will be for one year beginning January 2012 with the option to renew."So what did Presas-Garcia being present have to do with the awarding of the delinquent tax contract?
The board was split 3-3 on whether to award the contract to the current holder, the firm of Enrique Peña and Associates, or whether to consider other firms that have made proposals for the contract.
With Presas-Garcia absent from the meeting, the 3-3 tie would have assured Peña that his company would keep the contract.
That was on January 17.
On January 13, while Presas-Garcia was out of town, she said she received a call from Juan Figeroa, a real estate client who was negotiating the sale of a home through her real estate company. When he learned she was out of town, he asked for her to meet with him at a Subway restaurant near Alton Gloor the following Sunday.
When they met, she said Figeroa quickly veered off the real estate deal and showed her a manila envelope with cash and told her all she would have to do was not show up for either to the workshop the next day, or to the meeting on Tuesday (Jan. 17) and she could keep the cash. If she didn't, he threatened he would file a lawsuit over the real estate deal.
That, in essence, is what is contained in a complaint that Presas-Garcia and and BISD counsel Arturo Michel filed with the Cameron County District Attorney January 19. In the complaint, they told a DA investigator of the attempted extortion. Before that, they had gone to the U.S. Attorney's Office but were told it was a matter for local and state authorities to handle.
Now, with the November 6 election is less than a week ago, the lawsuit has materialized and none other than Presas-Garcia's nemesis attorney Rick Zayas is representing the seller (Figeroa).
Unable to close the deal, all of the buyer's money was returned and no sale was made. Zayas has never gotten over his defeat at the hands of Lucy Longoria, a Presas-Garcia ally on the board and former executive secretary to Hector Gonzales, who Zayas voted to terminate along with the former board majority.
To date, the DA's office has not investigated the charges of the alleged extortion attempt and now BISD legal counsel and the BISD administration are said to be considering petitioning the DA's Office to explain the lack of action on the matter some 10 months later.
However, the public relations repercussions and their effect on the Presas-Garcia's reelection bid is obviously the goal of the litigation. Zayas has also filed a previous lawsuit late August against forensic auditor Danny Deffenbaugh on behalf of former AD Joe Rodriguez and Tom Chavez – now a football coach at Rivera High School – over the release of the findings of his audit on district operations. Ostensibly a lawsuit against the auditor, the body of the complaint deals exclusively with Presas-Garcia and rehashes previous charges that she mishandled money while in the employ of the BISD at the Aquatic Center before the people elected her as a trustee. The same allegations are repeated in the Figeroa-Salinas lawsuit.
The audit was released last February and the alleged attempted extortion in January. The latest lawsuit was filed last week. This has led may to question the timing of Zayas' lawsuits.
"There are may things that people don't know that are going behind the scenes," Presas-Garcia has said before. "I think voters will see that the basic nature of this litigation is basically political in nature. My attorneys and I are considering filing counter suits and harassment complaints on the matter."
18 comments:
BISD has a $500Million budget Brownsville!!! That's half of a Billion dollars!!! If you counted 1 dollar per second it would take 15 years to arrive at 500 million... STOP ELECTING THESE INCOMPETENT ROOKIES!!! Or don't, its just taxes anyway right...
Linebarger's manila envelope was bigger than Pena's. Wasn't it, Cata ?
A huevo hay que votar por Argie
"I think voters will see that the basic nature of this litigation is basically political in nature...."
Deep, Presas-Garcia, real deep. This voter has had enough of your despicable ignorance and arrogance.
Eres una chingonada Montoya.
You should rename your blog "Presas Press" - Read all about her latest effort to cover her ass! Oh yeah, and what about the size of her envelope from Rene O? He's a Linebarger "boy".
The Cameron County DA's office is disfunctional, if it is functional at all. Nothing is likely forthcoming from that office until a new DA is elected. If Luis Saenz is elected, nothing will be forthcoming on this in the future. Luis will cover the ass of the Dumboktratic Party folks and "justiice" will pass by the way.
So are we to understand its OK for you Cata to harass administrators and relatives of Rick Zayas? Yes, this is political in nature.... All NATURE wants you out of BISD.
wake up voters . . . r u that crazy to keep the same jokers after all that has happened in the past 2 or 3 years . . . .
vote the idiots and former board members trying to return out for good . . . .
OK, so you were offered a bribe. DA does nothing. What I would like to know is what direct consequence does such bribe have on you using money earmarked for escrow for your personal use? If you did not use the money then why was it not submitted in one lump sum when you paid it back rather than several checks. Were you scrambling to come up with the money before the cops came looking for you. Cata always seems to have some lame excuse when she is in trouble, it is always someone else's fault. People are tired of her self serving nature.
I am still voting for Caty,,,,,
November 1, 2012 2:11 PM you must have something to gain by her staying on the Board or have completely lost your mind.
The only thing that will save BISD after this board election if somehow all the board members wake up one morning and decide to function as professionals who were elected to help the district become an exemplary one teaching our children. I know it is a chance in a million that this will happen, but me must be optimistic that Christina, Lucy, Enrique, Argelia, Minerva and Linda vote their conscience. Could this be at all possible ladies and gentleman? Give it a try and you will see how much happier and at ease you will feel.
Which administrators and relatives has she harassed? Did Rick make sure he hired and promoted all his relatives while he was a board member? It wasnt enough spending all the money from fund balance but also take care of his relatives. What a disgrace.
That's right keep the idiot board member Minerva Pena out. Thank god the other idiots are gone.
Gary Long should change his name to Gary Short Zayas, personal reporter.
He never reports anything about BISD and he is the reporter assigned to report on the district. Seems like Gary is Rick's bitch.
Cata, why don't you put on the gloves and duke it out with Rick...get it over with once and for all. Just think, you could sell tickets and then you might not have to steal from others! Personally, I'd pay $1,000+ to see you face down on the mat.
Shit I will double to see a bitch fight and have Zayas ass kicked.
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