As a group of TSC trustee supporters sat in Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr.'s waiting room in his office, the conversation inside could be heard plainly.
The effort to convince the board to hold a referendum on the TSC-UTB
partnership proposal was obviously on the agenda brought in by Reps. Rene Oliveira and Lucio III.But there were double takes done when Lucio Jr. was heard not once, not twice, but three times telling trustees Adela Garza, Kiko Rendon, and Trey Mendez that regardless of their decision, he would support the wishes of the majority of the board.
Of course, he did tell them that he would not hold a press conference announcing his support, but nonetheless, he restated his support for their wishes.
Now, we wonder, if the flies on the wall and the participants of the meeting held Sunday at North Park Plaza heard Kucio Jr. say that, shouldn't the rest of the community?
It is interesting to us the marked difference in tone and style that the debate over the "elimination or preservation" of the college district proposed by TSC-UTB's President Juliet Garcia administration has generated from the opposing sides.
Fore months, the "elimination" supporters have bombarded the media with at least five full-page ads (at $2,600 a pop plus ad agency charges), the pages of the Collegian have belonged to them and to Juliet, and the letter-writing campaign has been relentless.
On the ground, there have been marches, direct personal attacks and threats against specific trustees, and even veiled threats of excommunication and banishment from the Brownsville tribe.
We even heard that Disaster Guru Nacho Garza (Tienda Amigo collapse, used clothes warehouse) had demanded that new U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold fire his southern regional director Adela Garza. To his credit, Blake has chosen to remain above the fray and focused on the less-provincial issues of representing his district in Congress.
Even after mad-monk-for-pay Armand Mathew promised TreyMendous Mendez professional destruction unless he changed his vote on Juliet's ("unification" read "elimination") partnership agreement, Mendez' Sunday ad response was a model of logic and restraint.
"TSC owns $198 million in assets. The elimination model, as proposed, would have required TSC to give the assets to the UT System FREE OF CHARGE.
The elimination model would have required TSC District taxpayers to continue to pay the bond debt until 2034, 23 years after our assets were given away. The bond debt, with interest and associated costs, will total $102 million. It would be like letting someone take your house from you today while you continue to pay the mortgage over the next 23 years. This is not right...you did not elect me to eliminate the district and hand you a $102 million bill in the process."
By all indications, by Mendez and the majority of the trustees taking the high road, the Sunday ad and the outcome of the meeting was, in then favored sports parlance of South Texans, a home run.
And, echoing the statements he made in the campaign when he ran, Mendez neatly summed up the majority's approach: "As a community, we must now shift our energy to obtain as much funding as possible for these two schools in hopes of providing a better future for the students of our district."
Now, if Lucio Jr. is true to his word and isn't playing both ends against the middle like Juliet, the majority on the board has his commitment to support this goal.
9 comments:
Hey Juan is the Brownsville Herald paying you for all those links?
Nacho did that?!?! What say he about this dispicable conduct? Has anyone called him for a comment? Don't forget, if the elimination plan is instituted, there would be NOTHING to stop UT and Juliet from demanding that the Texas Legislature pass a new law eliminating any obligation that UT offer junior college courses. Don't forget that, please.
If Lucio told the Trustees 3 times that he supported their decision, and if everyone there heard it clearly, why won't he say the same thing publicly? I smell a rat!
We should be talking about the new partnership/contractual relationship that UTB and TSC will enjoy and flourish under when the old agreement is trashed. I see very great things for the people of the District and for TSC. Thank you, Trustees, for voting INDEPENDENCE, HOPE and OPPORTUNITY back into the Valley.
WWAPD?
What would Americo Paredes do? He attended TSC.
Sen Lucio, Rep Lucio, and Rep Oliveira NOW KNOW there were four of us inside the office all throughout the meeting, who were able to HEAR EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAID.
How delightful it will be when Juliet is gone and all of us anonymous folk can finally mention our names without fear of retribution. Juliet's rule has truly been a reign of terror. Don't believe it? Just ask (in private) the faculty and staff at UTB-TSC. Go Trustees!
Independence is something that most Texans like and protect. The Framers of the U.S. Constitution were also a minority when the document was finally signed and after 230 yrs it is a tested process that worked. The TSC 4 will also produce great results just like the ones who established TSC 75 yrs ago. Great things will come we only need to have Garcia, Putegnat, Robles, Lozano, and oliveira out of TSC business. They are like used car salesmen, who can't take no for answer.
In the original Reign of Terror (French Revolution), intimidation and coercion were masked as "the will of the people"----supposed democracy.
Sound familiar? TSC may soon be free. God willing, UTB will also erase the deadly anti-intellectualism which is its true hallmark. The present "leadership" honestly conflate their misguided and self-serving opinions with honest commitment to the principles long ago enunciated by any number of educators, most famously Cardinal Newman in "The Idea of a University." Slavery in the Old South was as damaging to the slaveholders and their society as it was to the slaves. When TSC, and by extension, UTB, are free, we will see a better day for education in the Valley.
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