ARE RODRIGUEZ SLEUTHS STALKING BISD ADMINS., TRUSTEES? DID MINERVA GET A HEADS UP AND CANCEL AT THE LAST MINUTE?

By Juan Montoya
Who were those masked men taking photos of the Brownsville Independent School District contingent traveling to the Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Awards and Luncheon in Atlanta, Ga., to be held October 4 - 6?
Among the contingent were two board members – Dr. Christina Saavedra and Catalina Presas-Garcia – as well as BISD Superintendent Carl Montoya and former superintendent (now district consultant) Hector Gonzales.
Also listed as a participant and registered to attend was trustee Minerva Peña, who at the last moment said she could not attend citing some personal emergency. Now the woman who is constantly whining about spending "the kids'" money will have to pay a $75 cancellation penalty, courtesy we're sure, of the "poor kids."
But was there some other more nefarious reason for her not going on the trip? Was she perhaps tipped that the Rodriguez sleuths would be taking "incriminating" pictures of the group boarding a plane? Did she think that perhaps this was one of those "junkets" that she could ill afford to be identified with as she makes a reelection bid in November?
When the BISD won the CUBE award while he was at the helm in 2008, it also won the Broad Award that meant nationwide recognition for the progress the district had achieved in improving the performance of the students. And it meant a hefty $1 million (raised to $2 million) for senior scholarships that year.
The presence of Gonzales in the contingent makes sense. He was the BISD superintendent when the CUBE award was given to Brownsville. If anyone knows the ins and outs of that bunch, it's probably him.
Was Minerva advised not to go because she would also be a target of some campaign to smear the group?
Some are saying that the reason that Brownsville lawyer Eddie Rodriguez and his son Michael were there to take the photos was part of the Rodriguez's continued efforts to squeeze litigation money from the district. Eddie's brother, Joe Rodriguez (aka Coach Joe) and his protege BISD coach Tom Chavez filed a lawsuit against forensic auditors Defenbaugh and Associates for the report they released pointing out all manner of favoritism that landed Big Joe a lucrative commission for football uniforms for Veterans High School and the Manzano Middle School football teams.
Apparently, both men were embarrassed that Defenbaugh pointed out that other bidders for the equipment were given short shrift and weren't given a fair shot at providing the equipment, earning Big Joe a hefty commission in the process.

In their report the auditors said they discovered evidence that Rodriguez was using undue influence and coercive tactics to pressure BISD coaches, athletic coordinators, and athletic personnel to purchase sports uniforms and equipment from a company, BNS Sports, for which he became a sales representative for after he left BISD in Dec. 31, 2009.

In addition, Rodriguez, in a telephone call made to Lead Auditor Margarita Pizano-Flores in Sept. 2011, threatened to sue BISD because the Purchasing Department had changed and improved the Catalog/Co-op procurement process.

Investigation and analysis subsequently revealed that a substantial amount of payments of uniforms and equipment totaling $497,117 in fiscal year 2010-2011 was completed compared to the previous fiscal years (2009-2010) total of $175,715; an increase of 283 percent.

Interviews identified most of the purchasing was made by the athletic department, in general, and by  Chavez, in particular. Chavez, an admitted close friend with Rodriguez for over 30 years, succeeded Rodriguez after he left BISD.

The report went on to say that a review of purchase orders also supported the fact that the athletic department fulfilled most of those purchases, predominantly for Manzano Middle School and Veterans Memorial High School, both newly constructed schools with no prior uniforms or equipment. Although Chavez denied giving preferential treatment to BNS and/or Joe Rodriguez in the purchasing process for both schools, Chavez never gave any due consideration to at least three other approved vendors sports distributors, the report states.

At the beginning of September 2011, BISD's Purchasing Department changed the Catalog/Co-op procurement procedure shifting control of catalog procurement process from the end-user, Athletic Department, to the Purchasing Department. This change provided more internal control and was the apparent reason for Rodriguez's telephone call to Auditor Pizano-Flores after the realization that BNS would have to be more competitive in terms of price.

Shortly thereafter the other sales representative at BNS informed the Purchasing Department that a 10 percent discount would be rendered on BNS catalog items.

The Forensic Audit Staff stated that there was "no doubt the Athletic Department in general and Tom Chavez in particular exercised undue influence and misuse of authority in choosing BNS Sports, through their sales rep. Joe Rodriguez, particularly in the purchasing of uniforms and other sports supplies for Manzano Middle School and Veterans Memorial High School in school year 2010-2011.

(This) resulted in close to $500,000 of purchases being given to Chavez's close friend and former A.D. (Joe) Rodriguez. Chavez allowed his and Joe Rodriguez's personal relationship to interfere with what should have been a business decision causing a potential loss of revenue to be sustained by the district. The Forensic Audit Staff recommended that a no-solicitation clause be included in future employment contracts and that BISD make a determination with respect to a (vendor such as BNS) whose representative (Joe Rodriguez) issue a threat over the telephone to file a lawsuit against the district.

"It is the opinion of the (auditors) that Chavez and his AD staff afforded BNS preferential treatment to the detriment of the district. Consideration should be given to administrative action disciplining Tom Chavez with termination as a consideration," the report stated.
The fact that the forensic auditors focused on the cozy relationship between a BISD employee and a vendor did not sit well with Big Joe and Chavez, who charged in their rambling lawsuit against Defenbaugh that Presas-Garcia had put the auditors up to it to embarrass the duo.
So perhaps there was some twisted logic to the photo madness. It probably fits into some larger scheme that we non lawyers are not privy to. We can hardly wait to see where the photos turn up.