MINERVA: I CHANGED MY MIND! NEW ONE WORK ANY BETTER?

By Juan Montoya
Last Tuesday, a majority of the board of the Brownsville Independent School District voted to extend the contract of superintendent Carl A. Montoya until June 2016 by a 4-2 vote.
Those trustees voting to extend the sup's contract were Otis Powers, Catalin Presas-Garcia, Minerva Peña and Carlos Elizondo.
Those voting against were Jose Hector Chirinos and Joe Rodriguez. Cesar Lopez was absent from the meeting.
What was not made public by the local daily was that teh extension was only for six months, since Montoya's current contract goes to the end of the year. The superintendent asked for the extension to finish out the 2014-2015 school year.

What was also not said was that not everyone was happy to see the contract extension even for that long. Those at the meeting said that one person who was shocked that Montoya had gotten the extension was none other than BISD general counsel Baltazar Salazar. Apparently, the overpaid, ($240,000 plus a 10 percent increase last year) underachieving, ethics-challenged legal eagle had told everyone far and near (including we hear, Montoya himself) that he would not get the extension.
When the trustees voted 4-2 to extend it, he nearly fell off his chair.
For much too long, Salazar has been the self-appointed eight board member of the BISD and has been allowed by the administration and (until now) a majority of the board to form policy through items placed for him on the agenda by pliant board members. When the subject of the superintendent's extension was discussed – even though he objected – he was told only to be told in no uncertain terms that his services were not required in what was, appropriately, a discussion and decision to be made by the elected board members.
We can understand why Rodriguez did not vote for the extension. He has made it known that he wants to bring his old pal Johnny I. Pineda back to the quarterback's spot with the BISD. Pineda, a former BISD teacher and assistant superintendent, also served as an interim superintendent for about  a year and a half before leaving for the Raymondville ISD.
With "Coach" Rodriguez back in the trustee saddle, it would be to his liking to have his old Stell Middle School physical education coach on the team.
A clue that this is where Rodriguez is headed was the hiring of Pineda's former CFO Lorezo Sanchez in BISD as a business consultant despite the fact that Sanchez is not listed among the consultants approved by the BISD's HR Department. Sanchez was let go by the Raymondville ISD board in May 2014.
After he left the BISD in 2007, Sanchez was first hired as a business consultant with the RISD back in 2008, but was ousted from his job in July 2011 by a board and then hired as the district chief financial officer a month later. The previous board, in a 6-to-0 vote in September of that year, hired him after he worked as business consultant for the district for the last 3-1/ 2 years.
Sanchez’s contract ended Aug. 3, 2011 but after he was rehired his salary was $71,000 plus benefits as a full time district employee.
At the time, Pineda was said to be elated by the RISD's board action.
“ I believe the school district, the staff and the community are united more than ever,” he said. “The district has been enjoying a good financial situation for the last 3 1/2 years.”

Neither Baltazar nor Rodriguez were pleased by the action of the majority in extending Montoya's contract to June 2016. Obviously, it spoiled their plans to being back the "old" team to BISD.

So that's why we are now hearing that Peña is now making noises about moving to rescind the extension to Montoya and justifying the action by saying that since Lopez was absent from the meeting it makes the extension somehow "illegal."

What really seems to have happened is that hapless Minnie did not realize that by voting with the majority to extend Montoya's contract, she upset the Rodriguez-Chirinos-Baltazar (the 8th board member) to give "Coach Joe" the free hand he wants to put his cronies back in control of the district's $500 million budget and its access to the lucrative patronage jobs for his favorites.