RODRIGUEZ, WOMEN, GET ALMOST $1 MILLION FROM BISD

By Juan Montoya
There may be a bit of back-pedaling over at the Brownsville Independent School District over the fact that non one – not the administration or the trustees – were aware that Traveler's Insurance was convinced that they should decided to pay off trustee Joe Rodriguez and his protege Tom Chavez $180,000 instead of going to court.
About the only one who knew because he was in the thick of things and directing the legal circus was BISD general counsel Baltazar Salazar. The trustees were under the impression that the insurance company attorneys were prepared to go to court to fight the claims of defamation of the duo over the release of a forensic audit that questioned their dealings over athletic equipment. At the time Chavez was Athletic Director and Rodriguez was a vendor for an outfit called BNS.
Both men sued the BISD and Defenbaugh and Associates, the firm that conducted the forensic audit.
The trial was to being this September 8. But just this past week, board members and the administration learned that the insurance company – at Salazar's urging – decided instead to pay off the two men instead of going to court. Defense attorneys had told board members that they would cap their fee at $50,000. Now, with the settlement, they are set to split the $180,000.
It would have been nice if the board had been told of the lawsuit status and been asked for their approval, but since Salazar has been here, it has been the chaos that he warned them about when he was hired.
Rewind to April 1, 2013, appropriately, April Fools' Day.
Current counsel Salazar was making his pitch to be hired by the district from among six other firms that had made the cut.
When Salazar came to the podium to make his presentation, he stressed the fact that he was a straight shooter who would "stab you in the front" in contrast to others who would stab you in the back.
He looked at trustee Minerva Peña and said pointedly: "I've known some of you since I was a kid," and said his goal was "not to make money."
He promised he would "tone down your legal expenses" and bring "stability, because you have chaos, and when there's chaos, lawyers make money."
The school district, he told them, had "become a cash cow" because the district did not follow procedure and said he was there "to serve the board as a whole."
In answer to a query by trustee Lucy Longoria, Salazar said that all board members had the right to speak out and that he believed in open arguments.
"You do have the right to speak out," he replied to her question. "I believe you have to have high moral values and high moral standards."
How things have changed.
He farmed out the Healthsmart lawsuit to a McAllen firm which some board members claimed would get the district $14 million. In fact, he had already sent them confidential information on the lawsuit before he got board approval to hire them.
Say goodbye to the $14 million and hello to maybe $1 million which the board will likely have to split with the lawyers. The other half of the settlement is contingent on Healthsmart not declaring bankruptcy. If they do, the district has to stand in line to get pennies on the dollar on the lawsuit.
Or how about the settlement of the stealth gender discrimination lawsuit filed by Terry Spellane et al (and this is very important) that was approved by the board in their August meeting? It is noteworthy that the board was also blind sided with the lawsuit that included 28 plaintiffs, all women claiming that the district had bypassed them because of their sex.
In fact, the et al in the lawsuit refers to the 28 individuals not named on the board item. A cursory read of the agenda would never heave revealed their inclusion in the agenda. It's called sleight-of-hand and Salazar is a master at it. Now oyu see it, now you don't.
The trustees were astounded to hear that the lawsuit had been in the works for at least a year before they ever heard about it when the women's lawyer addressed them in open session.
That is going to cost the BISD another $750,000 ranging from payments as low as $15,000 ranging to $23,000. Of course, the lawyers will take their cut first.
And why was the board not told of the impending litigation?
And why was the board not told about the proposed settlement with good ol' Coach Rodriguez?
Salazar was right. There is money in chaos.
Now at $240,000 a year plus a 5 percent raise recently approved by a board majority, Salazar is laughing all the way to the bank. Chaos. You gotta love it.