CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE UNPLEASANT KIND: IS BISD LAWYER BALTAZAR SALAZAR: FEELING THE HEAT?

By Juan Montoya
The one and only time that I had ever spoken to Brownsville Independent School District legal counsel was when he was chosen for the job over seven other firms.
I knew his compadre de pila local businessman Mario Villarreal and he gave me his cell number so I could see if he would provide me with a photograph to run with the post.
He promised he would and never came through.
After that, I started looking into his practice an d found out that a majority of the school board members had chosen him over the other lawyers even though his law firm ranked near the bottom of the rankings in most of the categories. In fact, he didn't even answer his qualifications in more than a dozen categories in the BISD Request For Proposals for a legal counsel.
I folowed up with other reports showing that Salazar had not been totally forthcoming with the BISD on his applications and had neglected to disclose at least three felony theft arrests and one conviction where he was ordered to complete seven years of probation in lieu of three years imprisonment in the Texas Department of Corrections.
His application did list one conviction and another charge (not on the record) which he claimed had "been set aside."
He never told the board that at the very time that he was before them making his pitch for the $240,000 a year gig, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) was challenging the expunction of the three felony arrests and the conviction by the 107th District Court before the Texas 13th Court of Appeals.
DPS prevailed in the appeal of the expunction and the court ordered that the record of those felony offense be placed back in the court files. By all rights, and BISD policy, that criminal record involving crime of moral turpitude (felony theft), his conviction, his serving of the seven years probation, and his failure to include them on his application should have prevented him from gaining employment with the district.
It turns ut that now, even his compadre Villarreal has filed a complaint against him with the Texas Bar Association for not informing him of the status of a case for which he had paid him $3,000 of an agreed-upon $5,000 fee to expunge the records of his grandson.
As I said, I had never met Salazar in person, so that's why it was highly unusual to run into him twice in the span of two days this past week, both times, as it turned out, highly unpleasant.
The first was when I was told that BISD Transportation Director Art Rendon had testified in a Whistleblower Act lawsuit brought by former bus driver Alfredo Sobredia against the district and that the testimony in that trial would reveal numerous cases of  fraud and waste that the driver had reported that he alleged resulted in his dismissal from the department.
I got there the day after Rendon had testified and as I entered Judge Migdalia Lopez's 103rd District Court, he was standing outside speaking with another attorney and he followed me inside shortly thereafter. The courtroom was empty of spectators and a witness was on the stand. Salazar made a beeline to wheere I was sitting on an aisle chair and took the one next to mine. After a while, he engaged me in small talk about wheter I had worked at the Herald with his sister Melba, that the next witness was going to make some strong revelations agains the bus driver, that John Shergold and Larry Warner were always bringing weak cases against the BISd, that Judge Lopez was doing a good job keeping the testimony focused, etc.
All this was said in hushed whispers and I could see that Judge Lopez could hear some of it and turned in our direction once or twice.
The Salazar said: "Hey, Bro, you ought to let me take a picture of me an dyou together so I could sent it to (Bobby) Wightman so he can think there's a conspiracy going on,"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing and I told him I thought Wightman was crazy and the last thing I wanted was my picture with him in that blog.
He then said: "Hey, Bro, what if I took our picture and put a $100 bill in front so he can think I was paying you off? You got to let me do it, Bro."
I could see the testimony and the conversation was eroding and I told him as much and left.
I though that was weird that the BISD legal counsel (even in jest) was making such ridiculous propositions but only told a few people who were also surprised at the lawyer's banter.
Salazar thought the bus driver didn't have a case against the BISD and I later found out that the jury had awarded him something like $175,000 in the case. Granted, much of it would go to Shergold and Warner and to the BISD lawyers defending the district, but it was a victory nonetheless, proving Salazar wrong. He was obviously having a bad day and even though he wasn't the lawyer representing the district in the case, he was the general counsel to keep an eye on district cases there.
Fast forward to Friday night.
Emilio Crixell and his Bluzanos were playing at the Half Moon on Adams Street and I was at the bar at the short end of the L closest to the stage listening to them when a female friend who was to meet me there arrived and we sat to listen.
As we listened to the band, Salazar arrived accompanied by an old  friend of mine from the barrio. I shook hands with my old pal and they stood behind us between us and the stage. Even though there was room to stand elsewhere, Salazar stood right behind us so that when we turned in order to look at the band, and we couldn't but help looking him straight in the face and had to crane our necks to see the band.
After a while, the bar tender (my tocayo Juan) told me that Salazar had told him to put everything I asked for on his tab. I told Juan that I would pay for my own drinks and declined the offer. When my pal from the barrio sent me one I took it and thanked him.
We got up and were getting ready to leave and my friend went out ahead of me and as I was reaching the corner of the L, Salazar stuck out his leg and put his foot on the lower cross member of the stool blocking my way. I was surprised and moved his foot with my leg, which made him angry and he lunged toward me. I walked away as he was held back yelling curses at me. My old pal from the barrio (his companion) and Juan, the bar manager, came between us and told me to just go and I did.
My friend asked me what had happened and I told her that the school district lawyer had tried to stage a confrontation with me for no apparent reason.
I still don't know what prompted both of these encounters, but as the adult "professional" in the room, Salazar's actions and his propensity to intimidate don't reflect the kind of personality and judgment that one would desire in the legal representative of the BISD.