A principal partner in the law firm hired by the old majority of the Brownsville Independent School Board to justify firing the former superintendent and Special Needs director has been named as a participant in a scandal involving the Weslaco Police Department that allegedly resulted in manipulation of the city's personnel guidelines and eventually led to an open corridor for drugs in South Texas.
The investigation into corruption in the Weslaco PD includes tape recordings obtained by the FBI and several media outlets indicating that Ric Navarro, of the Harlingen law firm of Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal, P.C., counseled members of the city commission on how to get around personnel guidelines to promote Cpl. Baudelio Castillo above other higher-ranking officers.
Once Castillo was promoted to the position of assistant police chief, he is accused of selectively sending officers to patrol elsewhere and protecting the activities of specific drug dealers. The investigation into the drug running continues, and Navarro is still the counsel of record for the BISD in at least two federal cases involving former superintendent Hector Gonzales and Special Needs director Art Rendon.The men filed cases of wrongful termination in federal court, with Rendon filing a whistle blower lawsuit and claiming his dismissal came about as a result of retaliation for his exposing of abuses by consultants and lawyers of special needs children.
On Jan. 16, 2010 the BISD board suspended Gonzales with pay and ordered a 60-day investigation of the Special Services Department. The action came less than two months after the new school board was seated after the November 2009 general election.
On Jan. 27, trustees officially hired the Harlingen law firm of Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal, P.C. to conduct the investigation. The BISD agreed to hire the firm and pay them a rate of $185 per hour for senior partners, $160 per hour for partners and $80 per hour for paralegals. Their charge was to investigate the case and give the board the justification to fire them.
Then, on Feb. 10, Gonzales filed a $10 million lawsuit against the board's voting majority for defamation of character and breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed as a cross claim to Special Services Director Rendon's earlier whistle blower lawsuit against the district, was filed against Trustees Rolando Aguilar, Joe Colunga, Ruben Cortez Jr. and Richard Zayas.
The fact that Navarro's reports on Gonzales and Rendon was used by the former BISD board majority as justification for their votes to terminate the men is raising eyebrows among some of their supporters.
"If they caught Navarro on tape trying to find a way to get them to skirt the city's personnel policies, what makes you think he didn't do the same thing for the school district?" said a supporter. "It makes you wonder if the findings he gave the board aren't suspect."
In the Weslaco case, sources told a local television station that Castillo craved power and that members of the city commission were looking for a way to give him a high position within the police department. Tapes made available to the station indicate that then-city manager Frank Castellanos talked to Navarro about making this possible.
"I think what they want with Baudelio, and the commission. They want a police chief that will then put Baudelio in a position where Castillo can get more money and have more influence."
The city commission apparently wanted legal help on the matter and turned to their attorney Navarro to find a way.
A taped recording caught commissioners meeting in executive session to discuss how to put Castillo in charge of the police force."Let’s say he has a specialty position for that captain and he wants to appoint a patrolman, a flat out patrolman. I’m going to take that patrolman who’s been there for 20 years and has experience with narcotics and has expertise with truancy," says former Mayor Buddy De la Rosa.
They talk about skirting the rules, and get advice from Navarro.
"I think I understand what you guys want, and based on this I’ll follow the process to get you there. But, I’m thinking to get what you guys want, I think you guys need to advertise for three days," says Ric Navarro.
The commission eventually decided not to make Castillo chief because he wasn’t qualified and they created an assistant chief position.
In June of 2009, Catellanos laid off five top city leaders including the police chief.The layoffs cleared the way for Castillo to rise to power at the department.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS reported that once Castillo took over he dismantled the narcotics department and opened up a smuggler’s highway through the mid-Valley.
"There were certain known drug traffickers who were pursued and other traffickers who were left alone," a source told the station.
That allegation has the attention of current city leaders and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the station reported recently.
11 comments:
Hello Aguilar, Colunga and Pena what do you say about that. That is some expose.
Here we go again?
Where is the evidence? Stop with the allegations and get us something the public can verify themselves instead of hearing from supporters.
Here you go again with your rhetorical ranting proving that your sortee in county stir was not long enough to clear your mind. You evidently cannot distinguish fact from fiction and are easily manipulated by those wishing to deceive the general public. I have enjoyed your historical posts, but your attempts to inform the public on the state of the school district is pure garbage. I do believe you have some journalistic skills, you need to learn to channel them honestly.
So, the television reporters and police investigators are supporters? You guys attack Mr. Montoya, but avoid the point. Navarro manipulated the system. Think about it. Did he not do the same thing at BISD, for those losers that were ousted by the voters of this community. Navarro bent the rules to allow criminals to run the police department in Weslaco. What are you not getting?
Show me a true court conviction of these allegations and then I will believe the supporters and the gullible media. Till then, it's all a dog and pony show to the detriment of the general public.
What we are getting is that you are so determined to make someone look bad, that you compare apples to oranges. You think people in Brownsville are ignorant and they will just swallow what you have to feed them. And here I thought you admired Cesar Chavez? Cesar Chavez was an honest man that fought for truths and did not have to use a smoke screen to fight for the truth.
To the person who posted about the convictions: THEY ARE COMING.
Seems to me, if there is a taped recording of this attorney making these comments, that is proof-positive. And, yes, it does call into question any and all advice this man - even his firm - has given. If he advocates for a select few the by-passing of principles and practices established for governing the many, then he is not an advocate that any citizen should want, or feel comfortable with, advising their elected officials.
I remember reading about this in the valley morning paper, so these are not allegations my dear. Like it or not, it's the truth and I hope the FBI continues with investigating Zayas and Cortez. Navarro was highly recommended by zayas wasn't he?
Ric is shafting the City of Brownsville too. He has made a killing on the fire chiefs ignorance and continues to pursue litigation that holds no weight. The fire chief has forced the fire fighters to defend themselves with costly arbitrations and has lost almost all of them. The only one that benefits from defending an idiot is Ric Navarro himself.
Weslaco police corruption???!! Naaaaaaah, you don't say! Seriously?
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