With the spate of self-serving articles recently in the Brownsville Herald, it is difficult to decide on which one to focus on first.
Should we comment on the half-page article on dismissal of the HealthSmart lawsuit written by Gary (too long) Long?
Or should we be content with dissecting the self-serving Brownsville Police Dept.'s custodial death report on Javier Gonzalez, the Cummings Middle School 15-year-old gunned down by two police sharpshooters?
In the Long piece (sorry, couldn't help myself), the intrepid reporter was content to quote just about everyone not satisfied that the suit against Ted Parker's health service outfit was dismissed after the new majority on the board heeded the BISD counsel that it was a dubious proposition that the district would recoup some $14 million in alleged "overcharges."Joe Coluga, one of the trustees who went along with the old majority of Rick Zayas, Ruben Cortez, Rolando Aguilar and Minerva Peña, to file the lawsuit and kept on former BISD counsel Mike Saldaña to ride the gravy train in litigation fees just one more time, was the point man leading this charge and saying that the litigation (on a contingency basis) should continue. Saldaña, eyeing the ned of the ride, also piped in with a script-written defense of the litigation of which he, of course, would be a beneficiary.
"With all respect to the current counsel, I stand by the merits of this case," Saldaña waxed eloquently from is Herald-provided soapbox.
"It is unfortunate that the district chose to dismiss this matter, with which, in my opinion, a substantial monetary recovery was realistically obtainable...It is obvious that the board's motivation in dismissing the HealthSmart matter was something other than an objective analysis of the case."
In all the years that I have witnessed the meetings of the board now and in the past, that was about the longest statemetn that i have ever sen or read by our esteemed Messr. Saldaña. Obviously, he was given the opportunity to think long and hard to find the right words to buttress Colunga's statement about the amounts that "allegedly were overbilled by HealthSmart."
In the fifth paragraph of the half-page opus on the case, Long states that "critics contend that the lawsuit's dismissal amounts to a quid pro quo for board members who received help in the election from "HealthSmart interests."
However, weasel-tongued Long fails to identify these so-called "interests" in any part of the story, instead injecting in the next-to-last paragraph of the last column that "according to campaign finance reports previously reported by the Brownsville Herald, (now board president Enrique) Escobedo reported receiving $1,500 on Aug. 8, 2008 from Parker."
That lone reported political contribution to one board member hardly qualifies as "quid pro quo" for the majority of the seven-member board to vote to dismiss the lawsuit, does it?
So why was the story even written?
On to the shooting by the cops of the 15-year-old.
If you read the "custodial report" written by the cop shop, it leaves no doubt in your mind that the officers shot the kid trying to protect another student some 15 feet away in the hallway. Now, remember, none of this came out in the police department's initial report on the shooting that day. What did come out was that police officers at the PD had attempted to get his step mom to sign a waiver of responsibility absolving the police officers involved in the shooting.
Taking that as background, it is apparent that from day one, the output of the department and city officials has been to protect the interest of the department an the police. And while the final report that would include the surveillance video inside the school is still being withheld at the city's request, no one will ever really know just what happened on that tragic day until that is made public.
Until then, all we have received is a decidedly one-sided version of the local boys in blue. Unfortunately, this is not enough.
5 comments:
Waiver of responsibility? Are you sure about that?
What's a matter bud? Can't post my comments? Again I ask; are you positive about the request for release of liability?
Wow, Mike Saldana has risen from the dead. If mike is such a hot shot attorney and had all the evidence for filing the lawsuit, why didnt he take the case on a contingency basis? He would safe the district a hell of alot more money and time.
@February 19, 2012 11:25 PM....Cata, making your dumbass rounds on the blogs again? Your idiocy begs on simple question.
Why didn't you vote to 'safe' (sic) the district money and time by farming the case out on contingency?
Spend it while you got it. Your days are numbered.
By the way, there was a kid in the hallway (another student who is too old to be there). He reports to the nurse every morning for his medication. I know because he is one of my students. I was surprised that the report actually used his real initials when referring to him because he is JG. It would be nice if CMS teachers could speak out without fearing consequences from higher ups. At least some of these conspiracy theories would die too. Terrible tragedy for ALL involved, so lets not make it any worse.
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