BEDLAM AT BISD: COMIENZA EL PEDO; POLICE! POLICE!

By Juan Montoya
Someone call the cops, please! They'se pickin' on po' little ol' me!
The item for discussion on the Brownsville Independent School District agenda had to do with the ongoing efforts by certain interests associated with past board members to reinstate the litigation against HealthSmart, the health provide they claim had overcharged the district some $14.5 million.
The lawsuit had been filed by former district counsel Mike Saldaña, who along with Rick Zayas and Ruben Cortez, announced the filing of the suit in the months immediately prior to the 2010 elections where both were nonetheless trounced by their opponents.
Voters rejected their candidacies because the majority saw it as nothing more than an election ploy meant to endear them before the electorate with visions of millions to be recouped from the company.
The new majority after Zayas and Cortez lost moved to dismiss the lawsuit.
However, behind the scenes, many have said that once the new elections came along in November 2012, the new majority made up of Otis Powers, Hector Chirinos, Enrique Escobedo and Minerva Peña – the spear carrier for Saldaña and the former trustees – would vote to reinstate the lawsuit. Sho' 'nuff.
New legal counsel Baltazar Salazar, who has ties to Saldaña, had informed one of the trustees (Minerva Peña?) that he had taken upon himself under some unexplained "directive" to transfer the confidential BISD files to the firm of Garcia and Karam, in McAllen, for consultation on reinstating the lawsuit.
This drew the ire of at least one trustee, Lucy Longoria, who had this item placed on Tuesday's agenda: a. "Discussion, consideration and possible action regarding individual Board Member(s) directing Board Counsel to contact outside attorney to review Healthsmart Insurance legal documents without Board action as per Policy BBE (Local) & (Legal). (Board Member Request –LL).
Longoria argued that since the board had granted no one the authority to act on its behalf, Salazar had no business handing over confidential legal files to any outside counsel. In fact, her supporters argued, since the board had not taken any action on the matter, the move to share that confidential information might be illegal.
Baltazar's position was that he was a contract counsel, and not a BISD employee, and therefore was not bound by the dictates of the board if he wished to confer with outside counsel to determine his course of action.
As for the "individual board member," that person was apparently our little Minnie Peña.
Well, that caused all kinds of consternation with demure Minnie and she – a former Texas Department of Public Safety officer – felt it necessary to protect her ample corporeal integrity and call the campus police to ward off the perceived assault.
Much to the surprise of those attending the Tuesday meeting, the place was crawling with BISD wannabe cops in no time to protect her honor and virtue.
"I have never seen a board like this one," mused a BISD administrator at the meeting. "Can you imagine calling the cops to protect a trustee during an executive session?"
The link between former BISD counsel Saldaña and newcomer Salazar is a long one dating back to the time when Saldaña called upon Salazar to act as outside counsel for the BISD in the mold case at Aiken and Besteiro schools on Southmost. Baltazar represented the district poorly and lost the case against and insurance company in federal court. The federal judge in the case – Andrew Hanen – repeatedly urged Baltazar to make motions and submit the district's case, but the attorney continued to procrastinate and never did.
With no other options, Hanen granted the company's motion for summary judgment and the district paid for the cleanup.

In this case, we now know that the agent of record for the insurance company the BISD sued for the mold damage was none other than the late insurance mogul (with the monopoly on contracts at BISD) Johnny Cavazos, a buyer of former school board trustees and recipient of lucrative contracts.
In other words, Salazar was like some of the special prosecutors under indicted DA Armando Villalobos. They would show up, roll over, get done with the thing, get paid, and leave.
There always is, as is usually the case, a story behind the story.

And there's more. The McAllen law firm of Garcia and Karam has a long association with Saldaña and his buddy Rick Zayas, who have used them in the  past for their clients and for their personal litigation.
The desmadre, apparently, is back at BISD.
Call the cops on that one, Minnie.