ESCOBEDO:OVERTIME-CHALLENGED CHIRINOS ON BUDGET; POWERS FINALLY BEATS PRESAS-GARCIA AT SOMETHING

By Juan Montoya
Bouyed by a four-vote majority and saying that he was "in danger of losing control of the board," Brownsville Independent School Board President Enrique Escobedo moved aggressively in the last meeting to consolidate his power in light of a realignment reflecting a shift in power brought on by the last election.
Otis Powers was voted vice president by the new majority which approved the passage of board policy amendments limiting input from individual board members. The new majority – as predicted – consists of Escobedo, Powers, Minerva Peña, and Hector Chirinos.
“I am basically in panic mode,” Escobedo complained as the board discussed the proposed changes.
The first change requires that before an item is placed on the agenda, at least three members must sign on to it, the second limits debate, and the third gives Escobedo the power  to not only appoint board committee members but also replace and reappoint committee members and limit participation in committee meetings to committee members.
After his majority voted 4-3 to replace Catalina Presas-Garcia with Otis powers, Escobedo then removed her and replaced her as chair of the  board’s budget committee, where he named ally Chirinos in her place.
“Who died and made you king?” she asked.

The local daily correctly reported that the revision would also limit participation in committee meetings to committee members.
“Trustees not on committees will have the rights of any member of the public at a committee meeting,” the agenda item states.
In one fell swoop, Escobedo has limited the representation of the 12,571 voters who elected Presas-Garcia to speak for them. Also, by him gagging trustee Lucy Longoria, he also thumbs his noise at the voters that elected her to represent them.  

While Escobedo's muzzling of his critics on the BISD board may tickle some local residents who feel that the public meetings will not be as acrimonious with trustees engaging in free-for-all discussions on items near and dear to their heart, the appointment of Chirinos as chair of the district's budget flies in the face of logic.

A forensic audit performed on the Transportation Department under his tenure showed that Chirinos basically gave away the store to the bus drivers union approving millions in unjustified overtime. Further, an audit of his purchases while head of that department indicated that he ordered $100,000s in inventory purchases on materials that have never been used and become obsolete.

"This is such a farce," said a BISD mid-level administrator. "Putting Chirinos as chairman of the budget committee is like putting a homeless person in charge of public housing."

The forensic audit performed by the district lists a laundry list of mismanagement areas under Chirinos. But don't think that we made this up. Read what Chirinos himself admitted to the auditors.

"Overtime Issue: Transportation Department Administrator Jose Hector Chirinos:
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
In interview, Chirinos stated the overtime abuse was there within the Transportation Department when he took over in 2005. He indicated his efforts to curb the abuse were thwarted by the unions and the board. Chirinos blamed the lack of supervisory assistance, yet he himself failed to take a hard line on the issue. Based on the interviews of the drivers and monitors, they took full advantage of the ineffectiveness and complacency displayed by then administrator Chirinos.
Not only did Chirinos conceal (and) fail to disclose, but also took measures, in the form of termination and demotion, in an effort to prevent employees within Transportation Department from 1) revealing the truth about overtime abuse; 2) furnishing information ; and 3) confronting the abusers. Starting with Viola Currier in 2006 and continuing to date with Terry Spellane, Chirinos subtly and effectively suppressed disclosure and evidence of abuse through firing and demotion.
First, Ms. Currier, with 19 years of experience in Transportation Department was terminated by Chirinos after she questioned employees about their riding the clock. Then, five years later, Ms. Spellane, an experienced accountant, was demoted and removed from payroll by Chirinos after she continued to identify abuse and waste taking place within Transportation.
Ms. Spellane estimated the loss due to the abuse at $600,000 a year. If conservatively only 70 percent were abusing the system by riding the clock one hour per day, the Forensic Audit Staff would put the loss at $420,000 a year, or roughly $2.5 million over the six years in which Chirinos was administrator.
It is highly recommended that strong administrative action with the possibility of termination be taken against Jose Hector Chirinos (and that BISD) hire professional business people with experience in running a transportation department...Of all the violators and abusers, the average number of years with the district was 17 years seniority."
We know that Powers still harbors resentment over the fact that Presas-Garcia ousted him from the board two elections ago, but voting to replace her in the largely cosmetic position of board vice president in one thing. Escobedo's replacing of her with Chirinos on the budget committee is a direct slap in the face of the taxpayers of the district.