If there ever was any question that three of the candidates for the board of the Brownsville Independent School District were running as a slate, that doubt was quashed by none other than "Coach" Joe Rodriguez during his remarks at his shindig at Ben Neece's Half Moon Sunday.
Instead of asking those present for their vote and support – or even to state his platform – Rodriguez urged those present to vote against "those two women" on the board and vote for Cesar Lopez and Robert Rodriguez.
The old coach must be getting near senility and it might be as contagious as the Ebola virus because Lopez, like himself, also took out a full-page ad the same day on the local newspaper and addressed it to Catalina Presas-Garcia adn Luci Longoria.Thern, in what is rapidly becoming known as Lopez Doublespeak, he declines to go "negative" and says he will "leave the attack ads and accusations to both of you. Tweaking facts and planting lies for political gain makes me question your integrity and is the reason so many good people do not run for office."
As far as we can tell by the ballot we voted on, Presas-Garcia's name does not appear on any trustee position as a candidate. Someone whisper this in the "Coach's" good ear. Also mention the fact that since there are two plaintiffs in the First Amendment rights and retaliation lawsuit filed against a majority of the board (including Cesar), General Counsel Baltazar Salazar and the superintendent, Longoria could not possibly be suing for $2 million.
Let's see. Mr. Lopez says in his ad that he got a B.A. in Business Administration fro UT-San Antonio. What do you get when you divide 2 by 2? Unless Lopez got a BA using the "new" math, it could not possibly be 2. But it's OK to tweak facts and plant a little lie for political gain, integrity be damned, isn't it Cesar?Back to the old "Coach."
Since Rodriguez decided to give up the charade of single candidates running their own races, why would the trio be running as a slate?
Lopez's appointment was pushed by the late Enrique Escobedo. At that time, Lopez was the purchasing agent for the Mercedes ISD. The minutes of the meeting when the Escobedo's bid was recommended by Lopez to the Mercedes ISD board reflect that some members had questions about the quality of the surveillance equipment to detect faces of perpetrators of break-ins and other vandals at Mercedes schools. The minutes show that Lopez and Jaime Escobedo admitted that the cameras lacked that qaulity but that that could be changed sometime in the future if need be.
So it was natural for Lopez to be appointed as a replacement for Christine Saavedra when she resigned and left for San Antonio. One good turn deserves another."Coach" Rodriguez was also a vendor with a sports equipment company that a forensic audit found was given preferential treatment by then A.D. Tom Chavez.
"It is the opinion of the Forensic Audit Staff that 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 he 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."
So it's all about sales and contracts with both Lopez and Rodriguez.
Come to think about it, this is not the first time that audits have bedeviled the old "Coach."
When Presas-Garcia came on the board, she found out that two audits performed on the annual Rodriguez ostensible fundraisers for scholarships has been shelved by the bard majority then and that they fought off releasing it. It got to the point that the majority sued the Texas Attorney General to stop the request from a citizen and the local newspaper from getting them. When they were released and made public, there was a litany of federal labor laws and district policy violations revealed.
Rodriguez is facing Shirley "La" Bowman and Mary Rey for Position 4. Bowman has developed a reputation for blunt talk and her non-nonsense approach, going as far as telling some people that when she worked some games for "Coach Joe," he was going to keep the pay for one of four games for himself because that was the way he "made things happen." She said no.
Rey, poor soul, was inserted in the race to split the female vote and hurts Bowman's chances.
It's no wonder then that Rodriguez hates "the two ladies" on the board, but gets along well with Minerva Peña, the former DPS employee who seems to have developed a blind eye for some district employees' misdeeds.
Robert Rodriguez, who is seeking the Place 2 position against Carlos Elizondo is touting the fact that he was in the Marine Corps ages ago and that he absorbed at least 14 "leadership traits" and cites them. Some of these included initiative, judgement, courage, unselfishness, etc. Of all these, Rodriguez apparently learned "tact" the best because no one remembers hearing him complain about the wrongs in the district. His "loyalty" to the system trumped his "courage" to speak up against the wrongs and injustice that ended up in federal and state courts with settlements against the district.
Discretion was apparently the better part of "valor" for Rodriguez, and he was more interested in protecting his paycheck than in speaking up.
On the other hand, Carlos Elizondo, who has a personal stake in the BISD because his daughters attend the public schools, has battled the city bureaucracy on behalf of his fellow firefighters and first responders at the peril of his job and career at the hands of vindictive Chief Lenny Perez. Thi is ano-brainer for voters who want a champion for the working man and women on the board.
The same things that happendd to Robert Rodriguez happened but on a much shorter time scale for Lopez, running in the race for Position 1 against Longoria, surprisingly articulate Juan Pacheco, and late-bloomer Roland Guerra. In his full-page ad (does overkill apply here?), Lopez lists six major issue to entice the voters. Reading his ad reminds one of Gollum when Bilbo Baggins found him inside the mountain. Gollum has been alone for so long that he talks to himself. "We must, we must, we must, we must...," he keeps repeating. Well, so far Lopez has been on the board since August 2013 and now were near November 2014.
Go back and watch the televised coverage of the meetings and see if Lopez once mentions any of these "we must" issues that he is now championing. Don't waste your time. Selling and marketing is his game and he is pulling out all the stops. Even as he criticizes the "two ladies," for "tweaking facts and planting lies for political gain," he has stated that he will not raise taxes, conveniently forgetting that he voted to do just that when the board passed the last budget. But don;t mention that because he considers stating of facts "negative" and "attack ads."
Perhaps now that the mask has fallen off, we can see that it is to board counsel Baltazar Salazar's benefit that Lopez stay on the board and allow him to continue to milk his annual $240,000 retention fee. He also can continue to pay his lawyer buddies $100,000s, like he paid $193,000 so far to Colvin, Chaney, Saenz and Rodriguez to defend against the "two ladies" lawsuit. He then turned around and paid another Houston firm another $191,000 to look over the work by the first firm. Coincidentally (or is it?), the Brownsville firm includes "Coach" Joe's son Tony, the "Rodriguez" in the firm's principals.
Is the school district all about legal fees and contracts, then, that makes these lawyers and vendors salivate at the thought of controlling the BISD's $520 million budget?
In Lopez and both Rodriguezes, they have found a slate of candidates willing to let them continue milking the district.
So it's all about sales and contracts with both Lopez and Rodriguez.
Come to think about it, this is not the first time that audits have bedeviled the old "Coach."
When Presas-Garcia came on the board, she found out that two audits performed on the annual Rodriguez ostensible fundraisers for scholarships has been shelved by the bard majority then and that they fought off releasing it. It got to the point that the majority sued the Texas Attorney General to stop the request from a citizen and the local newspaper from getting them. When they were released and made public, there was a litany of federal labor laws and district policy violations revealed.
Rodriguez is facing Shirley "La" Bowman and Mary Rey for Position 4. Bowman has developed a reputation for blunt talk and her non-nonsense approach, going as far as telling some people that when she worked some games for "Coach Joe," he was going to keep the pay for one of four games for himself because that was the way he "made things happen." She said no.
Rey, poor soul, was inserted in the race to split the female vote and hurts Bowman's chances.
It's no wonder then that Rodriguez hates "the two ladies" on the board, but gets along well with Minerva Peña, the former DPS employee who seems to have developed a blind eye for some district employees' misdeeds.
Discretion was apparently the better part of "valor" for Rodriguez, and he was more interested in protecting his paycheck than in speaking up.
On the other hand, Carlos Elizondo, who has a personal stake in the BISD because his daughters attend the public schools, has battled the city bureaucracy on behalf of his fellow firefighters and first responders at the peril of his job and career at the hands of vindictive Chief Lenny Perez. Thi is ano-brainer for voters who want a champion for the working man and women on the board.
The same things that happendd to Robert Rodriguez happened but on a much shorter time scale for Lopez, running in the race for Position 1 against Longoria, surprisingly articulate Juan Pacheco, and late-bloomer Roland Guerra. In his full-page ad (does overkill apply here?), Lopez lists six major issue to entice the voters. Reading his ad reminds one of Gollum when Bilbo Baggins found him inside the mountain. Gollum has been alone for so long that he talks to himself. "We must, we must, we must, we must...," he keeps repeating. Well, so far Lopez has been on the board since August 2013 and now were near November 2014.
Go back and watch the televised coverage of the meetings and see if Lopez once mentions any of these "we must" issues that he is now championing. Don't waste your time. Selling and marketing is his game and he is pulling out all the stops. Even as he criticizes the "two ladies," for "tweaking facts and planting lies for political gain," he has stated that he will not raise taxes, conveniently forgetting that he voted to do just that when the board passed the last budget. But don;t mention that because he considers stating of facts "negative" and "attack ads."
Perhaps now that the mask has fallen off, we can see that it is to board counsel Baltazar Salazar's benefit that Lopez stay on the board and allow him to continue to milk his annual $240,000 retention fee. He also can continue to pay his lawyer buddies $100,000s, like he paid $193,000 so far to Colvin, Chaney, Saenz and Rodriguez to defend against the "two ladies" lawsuit. He then turned around and paid another Houston firm another $191,000 to look over the work by the first firm. Coincidentally (or is it?), the Brownsville firm includes "Coach" Joe's son Tony, the "Rodriguez" in the firm's principals.
Is the school district all about legal fees and contracts, then, that makes these lawyers and vendors salivate at the thought of controlling the BISD's $520 million budget?
In Lopez and both Rodriguezes, they have found a slate of candidates willing to let them continue milking the district.
13 comments:
Oorah! Vote for Robert Rodriguez.
Did Carlos Elizondo refused the
$130,000.00 contract with BISD??
Big Joe never stopped being a coach, always doing things to trick his opponent in the game of football and now doing the same in the game of politics. When he discovered that he had a spy in his political team, he designed his strategy to confirm what he had discovered. He knew that the spy would run to your beloved Rata reporting what transpired at his political event. After setting the trap, it was just a matter of waiting for the Rat to bite on the cheese. Your article confirmed what he already knew about those who work for la Rata. Linda o no, la Rata tiene su ratonero donde quiera.
I like this good job ladies !!
Some women can be more deadly than a Mamba .
You must be thinking of Eve in the Garden of Paradise.
Is not Football the game of deployment, camouflage , surprises, strategy, tactics, sneak plays, etc. Etc. Etc. .....
Get rid of Baltazar Salazar, he lied.....He's a crook and the people who voted for him....
Joe Rodriguez will only steal more money like he did when Athletic Director!
Salazar's days are numbered no matter who is elected, but your continuing protection of Lucy and Cata, who pay you, is a crook of shit. Those 2 have done more damage to the district than all other board members going back 20-25 years. My feeling is that anyone alligned with Cata or Lucy will result in negative progress as they are hell bent on punishing all who disagree with them and finding ways to enrich themselves at tax payer's expense.
VOTE FOR ROBERT RODRIGUEZ !!
HE IS A GOOD AND FAIR MAN !!
GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU AND LET THE BEST MEN OR WOMEN WIN.
I BELIEVE IN BISD TEACHERS...
WHOEVER WINS PLEASE HELP STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ..
Carlos Elizondo is the obvious choice for the working class. The school district is the largest employer in Brownsville and if the teachers themselves would get off their asses to vote, they just may benefit from it.
Right on!
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