The complaints by the minority members of the trustees on the board of the Brownsville Independent School District have reached a crescendo.
"Where's the backup to this agenda item?" ask Minerva Pena, Enrique Escobedo and Catalina Presas-Garcia.
In most of the case, there is none. Yet, the majority of the board presses on to approve the items in question without giving the board members any opportunity to examine the backup material for the item.
That happened in the meetings where Sylvia Atkinson was hired as a grants administrator at a hefty $90,000 salary. And it happened again in the trustees last meeting where the board accepted a donation of land from the Texas Southmost College-University of Texas for the construction of a $5 to $6 million (with the predictable change orders) facility to house the college preparation building.
When Presas-Garcia and Pena asked the administration for the pool of other applicants for the grants position, she was told that Susan Fox, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, was not present and that there was no backup material provided with the item.
No one else complained or inquired how Atkinson, a former superintendent who has left her previous positions at several school districts in a shambles and a sackful of cash, had qualified above the rest of the applicants. And no one could show the trustees how the candidates had ranked, if indeed there had been a ranking.
We have learned that among the applicants was Dr. Lee Garcia, a widely respected educator and administrator. Is it possible that he ranked below Atkinson? No one is buying that story. What seems most believable is that Atkinson was offered the job so that she would drop her candidacy against Ruben Cortez in the November elections.
Funny how none of the majority members asked about the process. Could it be that they were already in on the fix?
When asked about the details of the BISD-TSC/UTB agreement, no one could provide a copy of the document. In fact, the only description that Pena got was form a staff member that gave her a verbal description of the location of the future site.
However, board counsel Mike Saldana, ever the considerate gent that he is, was willing to provide Ms. Pena a glance at his copy, the only one, apparently, in the room.
In the end, Pena voted along with the board to accept the land, "with reservations."
Even Escobedo admonished chairman Rolando Aguilar and superintendent Brett Springston about the recurring instances when no backup to items on the agenda were not included.
Will the affable chairman demand that Springston and Saldana perform their jobs? We'll know soon enough, won't we?
7 comments:
The true news in the BISD elecion is the battle which will occur between Cortez and Escobedo. I predict Cortez will win in a landslide and here is why. Escobedo either lacks even the semblance of integrity or he’s delusional. This reality will not play well with the voters.
“Escobedo said some members of the Brownsville Independent School District board had "allowed special interest and politics to become part of our meetings and our decision making. “ This is according to the Herald. There is something profoundly wrong with this man when it comes to good judgment. Kathleen Jimenez is the wife of his business partner. Springston supported her placement as director over special needs children in exchange for Escobedo’s support for his hiring as the superintendent. This is the perception in the community and the facts tend to support this perception. It is not that Cortez is not guilty of the same conduct - it is Escobedo pretending he has clean hands in the matter.
Escobedo will also have to face the charges related to his ethics violations. These were not simple violations - they related to lying about campaign money and misappropriation of BISD campaign money for the county commissioner race. This is the type conduct which the people of Brownsville find to be a game ender.
Then there is the issue of ‘doctor.” Whether he mislead the people on the issue is a matter for the people. This is something which he will deny, and many people will claim as real. In politics, it is the type issue you never overcome.
The real question is, why did he run from Otis Powers? What does Otis know? This switch makes no sense. Otis got defeated by a new comer, although it was sort of a close race. Why would a sitting board member run from a former board member who was defeated in the last election? Here is the real story which needs further investigation.
Otis is not without his own problems. There is the issue of the Antonio Juarez tapes and claims he tried to manipulate the process related to Hector Gonzales. I cannot wait to see how this election plays out.
Dilbert
Is SIMPLE!
Cortez and Zayas need to be voted out!
Escobedo is a good man who made a mistake including his diploma from Mexico as a part of his resume. His doctorate degree is something like an educator going after their doctorate in education and only lack their dissertation (ABD). That does not make him any less of a man who has the best interest of the children in BISD. The Jimenez issue is also a blotch in his column, but than, what about Cortez/Cortez Case where Mommy dearest gets the principalship at Sharp?? When Escobedo was president of the board there was some semblence of order and structure and he knew his duty as a president. He was not told what to do by another one of the members likes Zayas constantly tells Aguilar. And Aguilar laughs at Zayas' interruptions. I even praised Escobedo for having brought some civilized meetings back to the board, including the use of Roberts' Rules of Order. As I sit home or at the board room, thru a meeting, I keep wanting to call out, "Point of order!!!" because there is none. And, yes, you are right about agenda items not having the back up information that is required for all board members to study over the weekend before the meeting. I see most of them flipping through the pages as they get to the meeting.
It has become very evident that Cortez and Zayas are in direct control of the district and that needs to immediately stop. Springston needs to get some suspenders for his pants or he is going to have them knocked down during one of these meetings. He gets upset at Caty because she asks too many questions and even Minerva she was rude. What is he so scared off; her questions are always legitimate. Like they told Caty that she was wrong about an article in the paper where the Rivera football coach and players stated that they had a money raising project to buy uniforms that were going to make a difference. Did anyone else besides Caty and me read that article? Than you also know that Caty was right. Even Guerra and Chavez asserted that it was not the case. Did they bother to check the newspaper article out and get on to discipline the coach who was doing it? Did they bother to apologize to Caty? No, they don't have to give anyone an explanation, much less an apology! The top administrators do not know half of the stuff that goes on at each campus behind their backs because they seldom visit the campuses or the teachers. If they do, they sit with the principal in the office just chatting.
I am not voting for; I am voting against! Anyone can do a better job than these two compadres, and I am sad to say that when Cortez was by himself on the board, I had even told him that he had learned so much in one year. Unfortunately, he learned much quicker the next year under the tutelage of Zayas!
You are correct about having proper backup but you have to admit all seven board members have an agenda. They all want their spot-light on live t.v.
I only wish that the terms they serve is reduced from four years down to three and term limits are set. We need new blood, new ideas, and a positive attitude.
I too will vote against these clowns!!
Vote out Rick, and
Vote Cortez Out.
please! research and see who's brother got the roofing contract a few years ago - escobedo's brother...he wasn't even a licensed contractor. he didn't know **** about roofing. the bid was for millions of dollars. recently he tried to get the security alarm contract. please- they are all greedy.
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