NEW BISD CFO MENDOZA LEAVES A TRAIL OF DEFICITS AT MISD: DID ANYONE DO DUE DILIGENCE ON THIS ONE?

By Juan Montoya
For the past three years, Lucio Mendoza has overseen the Mission Independent School District's financial and operations department.
A majority on the Brownsville Independent School District board were apparently so impressed with his track record there that they voted to make him the new BISD Chief of Finance.
At Mission ISD, Mendoza was assistant superintendent for finance and operations and oversaw everything from keeping a balanced budget, maintaining the school's infrastructure and other sundry duties. He also personally oversaw the purchase and installation of security cameras and surveillance equipment.
But even with a $504 million budget, BISD is cash-strapped and is considering a property-tax increase to offset the difference between revenues and expenditures.
That's why it seemed strange that the screening committee for the BISD chose Mendoza from among the applicants for CFO.
A review of the Mission ISD budgets over the last three years indicates that the district has run on  deficit since 2011.
Records indicate that although local and immediate sources of revenue, state program revenues, and federal program revenues increased every single year over that time span, and the total budges for the three years were $140,755 (2011), $146,204,309 (2012), and $152,201,509, Mendoza managed to run a deficit each one of those years.
In 2011, the deficit was $416,747. In 2012, the deficit grew to $5,391,160. In 2013, his last year at the helm as CFO there, the district will have a $16,565,429 deficit.
Many CFOs like to say that these are not really deficits, but rather that these are "shortfalls" between revenues and expenditures that have been solved by a mere transfer from fund balance to the operating budget. We guess that you can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still remain a pig, won't it?
The fact of the matter is that if a CFO cannot get the district's administration and board to control the balancing of revenues and expenditures, what does that say about his or her performance?
One of the hits that the Mission ISD's budget took this year was the upgrade of its security and surveillance system for a hefty $801,319 price tag. The process was personally overseen by Mendoza, who conceded to the McAllen Monitor that he recommended that the contract be awarded to a Brownsville security company.
And although the winner was not the lowest bidder, they were allowed to whittle down their proposal from the original $848,11.78 and eventually lower than the lowest bidder who was Star Telecom LLC.
The Brownsville company was American Surveillance and what makes this worthwhile noting is that it is owned by Jaime Escobedo, who just happens to be the brother of Enrique Escobedo, the president of the board of the BISD, his new employer.
Some of the companies bidding for the Mission ISD have cried foul and are contemplating taking some action against the Mission ISD and Mendoza, in particular for his performance in the bidding process they claim was altered to favor the Brownsville company.
They say that the BISD president, whose offices are located in the same building as his brother's surveillance company, personally measured the buildings to prepare the bids for his brother's company. They also said that even after Mendoza had stipulated that any company that did not participate in a walk-though of the area for the proposed security update could not submit a bid. They say that even though no representative from American Surveillance was present for the mandatory walk-through, Mendoza ordered that the be allowed to submit its bid.
It should be interesting to see whether American Surveillance will bid on the next phase of the upcoming Mission ISD's upgrade of its security system and how it will fare under another CFO now that its former chief of finance and operations now works for the BISD.  
But given the fact that the district is now $16,565,160 in the red in its 2013 budget after his departure for BISD, they might just have to follow his lead and go back to the well-worn path to the deficit well left by Mendoza.
The vote to hire Mendoza was 5-2 with Escobedo, Jose Hector Chirinos, Minerva Peña, Otis Powers and new trustee Cesar Lopez voting for and Catalina Presas-Garcia and Lucy Longoria against.