AT BISD, ZENDEJAS AND JOE ROD UNLEASHED ON STAFF

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

IS THERE A PSYCHOANALYST OUT THERE?:
Does Brownsville Independent School District Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas suffer from paranoid delusions of prosecution?
Or is it just the unbridled power handed to her by trustee Joe Rodriguez, Hector Chirinos and Carlos Elizondo to do as she wishes as long as it fits their aims?
Zendejas – a former BISD super a few years ago before the board changed and she left – was a charter school principal in McAllen. The school had less that 300 students.
Her fortunes changed thanks to her old friend Rodriguez and she slipped into the super's job here at a not-too-shabby $240,000 salary.
Rodriguez (and a BISD board majority) forgot about the fact that they spent the better part of an hour discussing hiring a consultant to conduct a national search, giving the community input into the choice, and she didn't even have to submit a complete application. We have seen her "application" and it contains but a cursory outline of a resume without any of the embarrassing departures from school district who had had enough of her scorched-earth management style.
Yet, like the rich man who was forgiven his debt to his master and insisted that his servant pay him for a smaller debt or duffer the consequences, she is not as charitable as the district taxpayers were to her.
Take Lily Champion, for example. She has spent the last 10 years as secretary in the superintendent's office predating Zendejas by at least eight years. Now Champion finds herself in maintenance after she did not display the level of loyalty to her boss that was required. Zendejas is said to demand total and unconditional loyalty from her underlings, but returns nothing of the kind to them.
There are, as the super knows by now, consequences, especially in the little town that Brownsville continues to be. Her hubby is Fernando Champion, ma descendant of a Brownsville pioneer family who has been around the political block more than once. He is said to be upset at the untoward treatment of his honey and will surely seek to avenge the mistreatment of his wife come November 2016.
To add insult to injury, Zendejas' choice to replace Lily in her office was none other than J.J. Deleon, a former Rachel Ayala disciple who failed at a run for the school board. Beta are already on that JJ "and his special personality" will not see Spring Break from the third floor.
(If you remember, JJ caught the attention of a drug-sniffing dog at the Palm Bvld. BISD central office and refused to open his car or take a piss test. The Springston administration went along with Ayala and didn't make him follow the rules on drug searches.)
If you have not been to the BISD main office on E. Price lately, you are probably not aware of the increased surveillance cameras and heightened security on the first floor.
With her talent for cultivating a small cadre of boot licks, the heightened surveillance of employees is making some feel that they can't even go to the washroom without being overheard.
Enter the front lobby and it's like walking into a fortress. No Syrian ISIS fighters could make it to the elevator, much less ordinary fo9lks trying to do business. On any given morning, one will find parents, BISD school principals, and even trustees waiting downstairs until their number is called or are simply turned away to coma back another day. BISD has failed to be a friendly place at the moment. It is rumored Rodriguez and Elizondo have their own special way to get past the crunch of the commoners.

MENDOZA JOINS THE HAIRNET SET: Less than two months ago, the BISD was given the highest fiscal accountability rating by the Texas Education Agency. One would think that BISD CFO Lucio Mendoza would have been given na commendation or a free trip to Cancu for his fine work. Not to be. Under Zendejas, Mendoza was sent to Food Service to join the likes of Silver Capistran, former Transportation Director (and TSC trustee) Art Rendon, former Insurance Office staffer Ernesto de Leon Jr., and a growing number of discarded BISD employees.
Many say that Mendoza's departure from CFO is opening the door for Rodriguez's protégé Lorenzo Sanchez to be named to replace him. Sanchez started out as a one-time consultant and now has had his employment extended until just the proper time. Is that time now at hand?
Are Rodriguez, Elizondo and Chirinos going for broke? Some of the big purchases done through Cesar Lopez's buy board have raised some eyebrows. The insurance debacle, the $800,000-plus artificial turf purchase for the middle schools through one vendor (Paragon) introduced by Rodriguez (and from which he abstained from voting on the consent agenda) are all raising flags hither and yonder. Is there a vendor trip paid for by the vendors for Coach Joe to the Super Bowl in the works. Bet on it.
And the Rodriguez-Zendejas' butchering of BISD personnel goes on. Remember Martin Espinosa, the BISD facility manager? He was known as one of the hardest workers who followed the straight and narrow. What did he get for his troubles? Well, he is now on administrative leave. The scuttlebutt is that the super and her three masters are making room for a pliable lackey to fill his spot.

IS THERE BALM IN GILEAD?
Some see good news in the quickly darkening scenario above. They claim that trustee Minerva Peña – after mindlessly following the Joe Rod siren song to dump Otis Powers as president – is beginning to break away from the pack. That insanity brought Zendejas here and Peña hears the peasants grumbling. Some have heard Peña tell Joe rod that what he and his bods are doing is wrong and to be careful it does not lead to law enforcement taking a heightened interest at the goings-on at the district. The TEA has already received an earful from some district watchdogs.
She did campaign on her former position as a Texas Department of Safety trooper. Could she be having her Road-to-Damascus moment?
It may not be too late for Peña to realize the error of her ways before the next election. Some say she pretends not to understand the issues, but that in private, she may have had enough. It doesn't take a lemming to know that the rush of the crowd to the cliff can only bring destruction to the district.