By Juan Montoya
When the Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott dismissed former Brownsville Independent School District Superintendent's appeal of his firing, he might have also hammered a nail in the political coffin of his attorney Ruben Peña, a candidate for commissioner of Cameron County, Precinct 2.
In upholding the TEA hearing officer's findings, Scott said that Gonzales had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies when he did not appeal the BISD board's right to fire him during a meeting Sept. 18.
However, Gonzales, on Peña's advice, did not even attend that meeting. Peña instead released a pathetic statement to the board where he, in effect, hung out his client to dry. A trustee remembers that Peña –in a statement reminiscent of Douglas MacArthur's "old soldiers never die" speech – told them that the former super had said he would be content to continue out on the ranch raising his horses.
"To tell you the truth," said a board member, "I wasn't real impressed with the way Peña represented Gonzales. I don't think he knew what the ins and outs of the TEA process were."
Additionally, Peña said that while he and his client did not agree with the hearing officer's findings, they wished the district well.
That was all the hook – slim as it was – for trustee Rick Zayas to hand his limp excuse for his campaign against Gonzales. Spoken in true lawyerese, Zayas told the local daily that "absent legal arguments" he and his fellow Gang of $4 majority on the board had "no choice" but to fire Gonzales."
This spoken by the man who made no secret during his election campaign that he was after Gonzales' head from the get-go. Now, he said, he wants to move forward.
BISD counsel Mike Saldaña, who has milked the district's grievance process for hundreds of thousands of dollars at the expense of taxpayers, sagely noted that the former superintendent had the option of appealing Scott's ruling, or go to state district court here or in Travis County. Of course, what he didn't say is that if the district is sued by Gonzales, Saldaña's firm, as well as himself, stand to make a few bucks representing the BISD. In fact, he wins all around.
Nonetheless, regardless of what the Oliver Wendell Holmes of Brownsville opines, Gonzales has yet another option he can explore: He can sue Peña for ineffective counsel.
Said a Precinct 2 voter: "If that's the kind of representation we can expect from Peña, then we might be better off taking a closer look at the other six candidates in that race."
3 comments:
Hector Gonzales met with his Dallas attorney Jeff Tillotson today and will file an appeal on Tuesday.
A legal malpractice lawsuit has been strongly suggested and Mr. Gonzales is considering his many options.
Hector Gonzales will hold a Press Conference on Tuesday in Brownsville.
You got the scoop.
Ruben"LegalMalpractice" Pena sold out Mr. G to Rick Zayas.
Right on target Ruben"legalmalpractice"Pena is a deadbeat, welcome to Brownsville Legal defense.
Mr. G should file on his ass.
As I attended the Gonzales' hearings, I could not believe that a smart man like Hector had actually chosen Pena as his defense attorney. I could have done a better job representing him where under cross examination I could proven that most of the witnesses were lying through their teeth and covering for each other. Todos se taparon con la misma colcha! Just wait until all comes out in the open and we will be ready for the next board election to get rid of whoever is up for reelection. I am very disappointed in Dr. Escobedo but very proud of the "Cat Women" - Have no fear, Caty is here!"
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