No one –and I least of all – likes to give away the Brownsville Independent School District’s money. Like you, I would rather spend it providing a world-class education for our students, keeping our teachers employed, and easing the burden on our taxpayers.But if paying $700,000 to settle means it would stop our paying three or four times as much if we lost in court – as our attorneys assured us we would – the prudent thing to do was to face the truth and cut our losses. The record will show that I wanted to go to court, until I learned that it would have meant disaster for our finances.
These lawsuits arose after two former board members – Rick Zayas and Ruben Cortez – and two current ones – Joe Colunga and Rolando Aguilar – voted to fire former superintendent Hector Gonzales and Chief Financial Officer Tony Juarez. They were angry that Juarez did not recommend that the BISD’s lucrative Stop-Loss insurance contract be given to the company whose agent of record was their longtime political supporter Johnny Cavazos. They ordered Gonzales to fire him, or be fired himself.
Federal Judge Andrew Hanen issued an order later upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Both found that there was enough evidence to go to trial to determine if the four defendant-trustees – Zayas, Cortez, Colunga and Aguilar – had conspired with others and engaged in illegal conduct to deprive the two men of their constitutional rights because both chose not to join the conspiracy and went to the FBI and state law enforcement instead.
Since the lawsuits were filed we have spent millions defending the district and the trustee-defendants. Even before we paid the $700,000, BISD estimates we had spent this much*:
· $366,755 to Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal (includes the Art Rendon case)
· $150,000 on BISD Insurance deductible
· $1,100,000 ACE Insurance settlements
· $700,000 ACE Insurance Legal Fees
Until we settled, we had spent a grand total of $2,316,755…with no end in sight.
If we had lost in court, this would have been multiplied by three or four times. All of it would have come from our fund balance since the insurance companies do not pay damage judgments caused by the illegal conduct of the trustee-defendants.
That is the unvarnished truth. The federal record speaks for itself and I, for one, am not going to second-guess a federal judge and two federal courts and spend more of your money defending the indefensible.
Distasteful as this episode has been, it’s time to put this behind us and move forward and use our funds to provide our students the education they deserve.
*Source: BISD Financial Office
17 comments:
Do you mean to tell me that we had $50,000 deductible and a $50,000 cap? Why are you paying legal fee's for the insurance companies. Isurance companies take over and settle if and when it becomes a choice of future litigation cost vs settlement. Unless, you have a meddling idiot that runs cover for the parties being sued and causes additional costs that are not covered by the policy? Someone correct me if I am wrong!
As long as the voters of Brownsville continue to elect fools and crooks, the voters will continue to pay for their misdeeds.
well like they alway say its taxpayers money not the bisd money or my personal money.
Oh Cata, or Casey Anthony as your known...Nothing you do now will re-elect you. Not even this attempt at trying to explain yourself. You too have demanded that certain individuals be fired, or have you forgotten how many people you threatened, moved, demoted to satisfy your hatred. All you accomplished was becoming the most hated person in BISD and Brownsville.
Does anybody at BISD know anything about insurance, period!!!
Sounds like the reasoning for the pay out was the better deal? The question that BISD taxpayers ought to be asking is, why are we paying lawyers to protect the supposed interest of BISD? It sounds like the lawyers for BISD dropped the ball when the hair brain idea of firing these two guys would cost the BISD money? And if they did? Why didn't the idiots that voted for the termination filed on for conspiring an illegal activity? I know that you cannot count on the office of the CCDA due to their problems? Obviously TEA, who is supposed to be governing or policing these school districts, did nothing. So, where are the Feds on this one? Too many questions but these worthless supposedly intelligent trustees will be voted in again due to the ignorance of the BISD voters!
So CATA was there when Mr. Gonzalez was told he would be fired? Sure sounds like it.
post my comments, PUSS
This witch just can't get over herself - blah blah blah blah blah. Hopefully given enough rope, she will hang herself! Vote her out!!!!
Are we expected to believe that the TEA was totally wrong in siding with the district to fire Gonzales? How much did you make on this sham Cata? There better be a legitimate source of income when the Fed. comes into the picture. If not, you're on the way to Batesville!
"post my comments, PUSS"
How bout you write YOUR own blog, then we can read all of your comments?
No? thought so.
September 25, 2012 7:23 PM
Shut the fuck up dude, you are so fucking stupid and you don't make any sense.
If the state found 173 findings of fact, and anotther 54 matters of law to support Gonzalea' termination, was there really doubt that the case might not go the district's way????
Cata has always been a nut! When a rep for the bus drivers showewd up to talk with some of them, who showed up and told him to leave, Cata.
She called the camous police and ordered he be arrested for trespassing, he was signed in as a guest.
What will happen? Get rid of her and get the Atkinsons back in along with Ottis Powers!
Get rid of the dirty water and find some fresh blood.
Please, the Atkinson family, especially the Mother in Law, totally dislike Ottis Powers. Why, you ask? Because he refuses to put up with their B.S.
Cata did not wright this she is too stupid to put a sentence together. She needs to go find a job and stop living off her "contributions" given to her by her buddies Healthmart, Linebarger, and whomever else she be extorting. But it's ok her day is coming soon. She will be goinsoon an our taxes will go safe again soon
Cata follows Juliet Garcia's playbook. Suck the life out of the organization and make it look like it's for the community's benefit. Presas' political days are numbered in this town. At her current pace, Presas might be Presa.
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