ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! JULIET MUST GO NOW

By Juan Montoya
The woman on the other side of the phone was uncharacteristically hysterical.
Normally a calm, composed professional in a position of responsibility, she was now anything but. "If you know any of the trustees at Texas Southmost College, call them up and tell them not to make UTB go away and leave our kids without anywhere to go to college," she said. "Our taxes are going to double and it will set back education in Brownsville back 30 years."
She had just been one of a score of professional women invited to Fred Rusteberg's IBC Bank to listen to a one-sided presentation by supporters of TSC-UTB President Juliet Garcia who gave a horrific scenario if the trustees weren't convinced to change their vote on the dissolution of the partnership between the UT System and TSC.
This happened after the Thursday meeting where a majority – Trey Mendez, Kiko Rendon, Adela Garza and Rene Torres – voted not to go through with unification of the two institutions on the terms dictated by Garcia and her henchmen Wayne Moore and Michael Putegnat.
Under those terms, all the assets of the 75-year-old junior college district would be presented to the UT Regents as a gift. The college district would be swallowed into the UT System and eventually disappear.
But, and there's always a but, the taxpayers of the district would continue to pay the approximately $102 million in debt (including amortization) until the year 2034 before the "gift" was accepted by the Regents.
Garcia would become the sole reigning administrator at UTB, and the trustees of the district would be relegated to an "advisory" role. Garcia could either heed their words or ignore them and there would be nothing they could do about tit.
All this had to be done now, of course.
There's always been a false sense of urgency to these pitches. First, when TSC counsel Dan Rentfro urged the trustees to accept the "historic" proposal back in October, time was of the essence or the Regents would get mad.
When some of trustees though that it might be a good idea for the taxpayers of the district to have a look-see at the partnership document itself before they gave away their district, Rentfro and Garcia did their utmost to rush the agreement through.
When they failed, they started another campaign to pressure the trustees to act before a new and improved deadline, March 15, when the Texas Legislature would be in session. Unless the trustees voted to go through with it, hell and perdition would await the district residents, students, and Western civilization as we know it.
As the facts emerge, it is now plain that the showdown at the OK Corral that was witnessed at the last TSC board meeting was not the doing of the new TSC board members, but in fact a circus orchestrated by Garcia.
She – contrary to the TSC Board policy book – is continuing to try to push her agenda and pressure the TSC Board into submission. This is in clear violation of the of the conflict of interest clause for the UTB/TSC president as stated in the TSC Board policy book, section V – L below.
Section V, L.1.b., of the Southmost Union Junior College District Policy Manual provides:
“L. INTERAGENCY CONTRACTS WITH UT SYSTEM AND BOARD OF REGENTS
1. In negotiations and discussions concerning interagency agreements and contracts between The University of Texas at Brownsville and Southmost Union Junior College District, the SUJCD Board will establish a committee of not more than three (3) Board members and the District auditor and/or District legal counsel to make recommendations to the SUJCD Board.
a. This committee will negotiate with appropriate University of Texas System representative prior to making recommendations to the SUJCD Board.
b. In order to avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest, the UTB/TSC President will not make recommendations to the SUJCD Board on interagency agreements or contracts between SUJCD and the UT System and/or UT Board of Regents.
2. Nothing in this policy negates any Interagency agreements, contracts, letter of understanding, or other agreements existing prior to or on August 27, 1998, between SUJCD and The University of Texas Board of Regents and/or UT System.
The elite of this community such as Fred Rusteberg, Dr. Roberto Robles and his brainwashed fellows in the medical community, a goodly number of the clergy, and others have been her accomplices and know that she is violating the conflict of interest clause but do nothing about it. Why is she permitted to violate the rules?
As the saying goes “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
Twenty years of her tyranny is enough, it is time to take action.
She has lied to our community and she has lied to the UT System for the last time.
Her lies forced the UT System to terminate the partnership because they no longer wanted to operate under shared governance, not because they thought the TSC trustees were unreasonable.
She lied to the UT System by saying she did or did not do certain things because the TSC board directed her or did not allow it and vice-versa.
She has played both sides against the middle for nothing else than for her own benefit.
Former Texas State Rep. Henry Sanchez saw through the sham of the partnership right away. Sanchez, served for four sessions from 1967 to 1975. In fact, the agreement alarmed him so much that he started a weekly newspaper – Crossroads – and became an activist in the Brownsville area.
He was only 63 when he died in 1995 during Charro Days 16 years ago, but to the end he held on to his opinion that Juliet and Rep. Rene Oliveira and Sen. Eddie Lucio had erred in approving the deal.
"There's no money coming from Austin in this agreement," he would tell anyone he could. "They're leaving UTB-TSC out of getting any funds from the Permanent University Fund that is supplied with the royalties of gas and oil from the state's leased land. All those millions are going to be shared by the other components of the UT System and Brownsville isn't going to share in any of them. Local taxes are going to subsidize UT instead. It just ain't right. You've got to change it."
Henry discovered that the state legislature had done what it had never done before, sold the house of the university president in Brownsville to Garcia after pumping thousands of dollars in renovations and improvements. Now it belonged to her through a special bill in the legislature.
Today, the house bought at $175,000 is valued at close to $270,000, a neat profit of more than $100,000. (Click on graphic to see the full document)
And is it any surprise at who financed the note? Would you believe Fred Rusteberg's IBC Bank the same Rusteberg who now hosts meetings agitating to overthrow the democratically-elected trustees at TSC? Other properties listed to the Garcias include a house at South Padre Island valued at about $750,000.
Her salary of about $3220,000 was given a boost this year when a $40,00 transfer from TSC raised it by another $25,000.
After 16 years, it appears that Henry's words were prophetic as the new TSC board majority sets out to right that wrong. By all indications, it appears that the gig is up. They are now asking readers of this blog to take the time to write the UT Regents, State Reps. Oliveira , Lucio III and J.M.Lozano, and Sen. Lucio to let them know that the community has had enough.
Our community needs a University president that will be truthful to us.
No university president is allowed at the helm that long because it makes the leadership complacent. Should we allow a president to continue in office after 20 years with a track record of a 16% graduation rate over six years? We deserve better than that.
We need change, and we need it now.
Attached you will find some for letters that you can use to contact the officials who can fix this. Please email of fax your letter today. We must be the change we seek. We have the power. Let’s use it!

Chairman Wm. Eugene "Gene" Powell
bor@utsystem.edu

Vice Chairman Paul L. Foster
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Vice Chairman R. Steven Hicks
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Vice Chairman James D. Dannenbaum, P.E.
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Regent Alexis "Alex" Cranberg
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Regent Prentice L. Gary
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Regent Wallace L. Hall, Jr.
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Regent Brenda Pejovich
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsyetem.edu

Regent Robert L. Stillwell
http://www.blogger.com/bor@utsystem.edu

Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr.
7 North Park Plaza
Brownsville, TX 78521
(956) 548-0227 Fax: (956) 548-0440
http://www.blogger.com/leann.gallegos@senate.state.tx.us

Rep. Eddie Lucio III
2402 W. Bus. Hwy 77, Ste. I
San Benito, TX, 78586
956) 361-2795 Fax: (956) 361-9158

Rep. Rene O. Oliveira
855 West Price Road, Ste. 22
Brownsville, TX 78520
(956) 542-1828 Fax: (956) 542-1618
(512) 463-0463, Ext. E1.318

House District 43
Rep. J.M. Lozano
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
512) 463-0463, Ext. E1.318

District Address:
3302 W. Wilson Rd.
Harlingen TX 78552