AT ZENDEJAS' BISD, GIANT VARIETY CALBAZAS FLOURISH

 "(Jose Manuel, Meme) Longoria and (Abel) Limas used code words such as calabazas or "candy" or tacos or golf balls or "signs" as a secret code language for bribes."

Valley Morning Star, Sun., 17 Apr 2011

By Juan Montoya

Maybe current Brownsville Independent School District Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas wasn't around during the heyday of the judiciary corruption trials of former 404th District Judge Abel Limas or Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos, or else she would have thought better about having her calabazas growing contest.                                               Meme Longoria and Limas used code words such as calabazas or "candy" or tacos or golf balls or "signs" as a secret code language for bribes. Sure, growing a giant pumpkin, even one out of season, teaches students the value of working the earth with your hands, watering and taking care of your plants, and then the satisfaction of harvesting your drop. In the case of giant pumpkins, the rewards are, well, as Don Trump says "Huge."

Those, of course, are worthy lessons for a student to learn. You work hard enough at something, expect a good payoff during harvest time.

With those fine sentiments in mind, the editorial satff at El Rrun-Rrun would like to suggest a few nominees for the Calabazas Prize Awards this year.

1. BISD trustee Joe Rodriguez, a former BHS football coach, trustee, Athletic Director, sports equipment vendor, and now in his new reincarnation, a board trustee again. Coach Joe nurtured a 1969 loss by the Golden Eagles to the Seguin Matadors back in 1969 to build up an industry of patronage and influence in the city that has made him  wealthy man. Over the years, Coach Joe turned that 47-14 drubbing into a gold mine.Somehow, Rodriguez managed to transform that loss into an industry and personality cult from the jaws of this yawning defeat. Along the way, he has to line his pockets and those of his adoring followers with cushy assignments and bloated salaries. If you played the game with with Coach Joe, he would let you play with his balls.
Over the years, as he negotiated his way in and out of district employment and later as an unusually successful vendor of athletic equipment. someone always had Coach Joe's back. Now, he has lined the pockets of Paragon artificial turf company with millions after he led his board majority to use the addition millions the district got through the Tax Reorganization Election to use their product not only in the high schools, but even some middle schools.

Did someone say that the district has other, more important priorities than to provide professional-level playing football fields for a district that has yet to produce one professional football player? How about teacher salaries, classroom materials, infrastructure, etc..., maybe even some realistic scholarships for deserving students? Just today, a parent complained that summer school students got one piece one slice of pizza for lunch. Yeah, but he could have gone and looked at the $1-plus million Astro turf at the football field. This is Calabazas Politics at its best.

2. BISD Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas, who drifted from buyout to buyout of her contract from school districts across the county, always one step ahead of getting fired when the local community leaders realized their district was heading in the wrong direction and elected trustees to can her. She has exemplified the Calabazas Philosophy better than most. 

Hired as an interim superintendent under a majority led by Joe Rodriguez, the Head Calabaza himself, they let the BISD residents think that there would be a nationwide search for a superintendent, that they would hire a search consultant to assist the board, and to appoint a citizens committee to advice the board on the selection. 

None of that happened, of course. Zendejas was hired without even turning a full resume or work history, and no consultant or citizens committee had a say so into the bygone conclusion. Under her we've seen a CFO approve a multi-million windstorm insurance extension without a board approval, massive personnel changes and firings, and a district thrown into turmoil. 

We've also seen a head of the Food and Nutrition Dept. commit suicide as the feds and state regulatory agencies closed in on questionable deals on the district's purchase of $100,000s in barbacoa meat, cafeteria furniture, knick-knacks and accessories, etc. In the district, Zendejas is seen as the killer in "No Country for Old Men," ruthlessly removing administrators and staff who were unwary enough to get in her path. Of course, the Super wouldn't select her calabazas to win her own contest. Or would she?

3. Baltazar Salazar, the BISD general counsel who has just received a three-year extension on his contract and a hike of his salary to $264,000 a year. On April 1, 2013, appropriately, April Fools' Day, Salazar was first hired at BISD. As he was making his pitch to be hired by the district from among six other firms that had made the cut., he 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."
Even before the board had approved the hiring of outside counsel to deal with the Healthsmart lawsuit, Salazar had already sent the confidential files to a law firm of his choice without the board's approval. Proponents of the lawsuit said there might be $14 million to be gained by the district. It was an illusion. When the settlement was reached, lawyers on both sides cleaned up, and the BISD might make $600,000 and whatever else is left after Healthsmart declared bankruptcy, a clauses in the settlement approved by both sides. He was right. Lawyers like him make money when there is chaos.
But all is not well in BISDland. Rumors are running rampant that Zendejas is not happy that while Salazar has been bumped up to a salary above her, she has not received a contract extension before the board changes in November, as has her able legal counsel. Up to now, Esperanza has received calabazas. We're sure to hear more about this fight in the pumpking patch in the future.

4. Trustee Carlos Elizondo, the former Firefighter Union president who was elected trustee. Elizondo managed to parlay political connections to get himself appointed chief of the Brownsville Fire Department. Firefighters a re afraid that as chief, he will work with the city's administration to destroy their benefits under the "me-too" clause in their contract. So far, negotiations have broken down and the firefighters are in danger of working without a contract.

Elizondo's past is, to say the least, checkered. He avoided a felony theft conviction when his court-appointed attorney Armando Villalobos (gasp!) was able to secure a dismissal of the charges in the court of the Honorable Abel Limas (gasp, again!) when he agreed to pay restitution to the victims. How do you dismiss a felony conviction simply by paying restitution?
Who knows? But working in tandem with the Limas-Villalobos tag team, there isn't even any record of it in the District Clerk's Odyssey court system.
That's where the Calabazas Philosophy comes in. Just before Elizondo was named chief, he was sued by another firefighter who had scored higher (70) than Elizondo (69) on the captain's exam. Over the course of two revisions of the exam scores, Elizondo's score was lowered back to 69, but no one could explain how the scores had been changed. The former head of the city's civil service department resigned saying that he had a bout of dementia and could not remember that part of the episode.
Then we find out that the city's policy manual prohibits city employees (especially administrators) from holding an elective or appointive position with other overlapping jurisdictions. Does this mean that Zendejas will have Carlos off her back soon? We can;t see Elizondo giving up the $100,000-plus fire dept. salary for a non-paying trustee position? Or will anyone do anything about this apparent violation of the city's policies? Da Mayor Tony Martinez apparently doesn't have a problem with it.
Sources say a Brownsville Police Dept. detective assigned to look into Elizondo's past came up with a file of incriminating facts that she presented to city management only to be told to shelve it and forgedaboutit!      

Next: The City of Brownsville Calbazas Price Award nominees!