Faced with the most important decision they have made while they served as trustees on the board of the Texas Southmost College, six members cast a 5-1 vote to put president Lily Tercero on administrative leave and schedule a dismissal hearing to terminate her employment at the community college.
But why 5-1? Aren't there seven trustees? Was there a trustee absent or abstaining?
No, it was trustee Art Rendon making his finest impression of a duck as he made hasty exit to avoid voting on the matter. Since Rendon works for the Brownsville Independent School District as an administrator in the Food and Nutrition Service Department, it couldn't have been an excuse having to do with his work. The votes took place after 11 p.m.And in talking to his friends, we know of no family emergency that required his immediate attention.
And, having been at the Gorgas building earlier that day, we know the air conditioning system was working just fine. So why couldn't Rendon stand the heat of public service?
Perhaps he felt that if there was any fallout as a result of Tercero's termination he could always point to the record and say he never voted to get rid of hapless Tercero.
She became the third public administrator in recent memory who fell into the insurance trap and signed off on the $1 million dotted line without going to their board for approval.
Mark Yates, the current County Cameron Program Management and Development director was led out in handcuffs when he did the same thing there years ago when he was the auditor.
And former BISD Chief Financial Officer Lucio Mendoza was transferred to another position after he claimed he had signed off on the same type of insurance because the policy was also about to lapse and he flt it was his "fiduciary" duty to prevent that at all costs.
Garcia and granddaughter Tercero should be grateful the police weren't called to charge her as they were called to arrest Yates.
Or perhaps it was because the nursing program, the jewel of college before the the ill-advised UTB-TSC "partnership" decimated the vocational-technical mission of the community college, was put in in its death throes because of her dismal managerial skills.
That's the institutional loss.
On a more personal note, numerous students who had charted a career in nursing and took the first step at TSC were suddenly left out in the cold with no place to go after the mismanaged program was put on notice that unless the remaining students scored higher than 80 percent on the state certification test, there would be no more program. Tercero allowed that to happen
Art Rendon dismissed the educational aspirations of these young people saying: "What's 50 students compared to the needs of the other 5,000?"
It is, after all, as a BISD administrator survivor knows, a numbers game. People's dreams and efforts at getting an education in medical science don't really count for much, do they?
And TSC was conspicuously absent from the list of six community colleges who received federal grants to assist low-income students forge a road to a college education announced by Congressman Fil Vela Jr. Where was Lily?
Even former trustee Kiko Rendon chimed in in support of Tercero. He said the board while he was chairman would give her a TSC bucket list of "objectives" at the beginning of the year and she would have them finished at the end. So what happened to nursing, or the insurance, or the grants? Was that the board and its chairman's fault, then?
Kiko Rendon and his United Brownsville pal Ed Rivera locked $25,000 of the community college's budget funds to pay for the annual "membership" to that organization with negligible returns on the investment. However, this did allow these to fine gents to "get a seat at the table" with the Big Boys and ingratiate themselves with the movers and the shakers the likes of Carlos Marin, Fred Rusteberg, and Julieta Garcia.
Now we understand that Kiko – who was in hock with IBC's Rusteberg over $100,000s in unpaid loans – has taken his game to Mike Hernandez's OP 10.33 as a paid "consultant" to assist his messianic quest to eradicate poverty by October 2033.
Grampa Garcia, who may have whiffed a bit much of his patients' Novocaine over his long career as a dentist, even went as far as to call Tercero's forced separation a "personal vendetta."If he wants talk to someone who wouldn't mind getting even with Tercero, he should interview those students whose dreams of working in the medical profession in the nursing field were shunted aside by Tercero's woeful performance as president of TSC.
As for Art Rendon, "if it quacks like a duck, and waddles like a duck," then his not voting in Tercero's firing constitutes a ducking of his responsibility to those who voted for him and the students who looked to him to protect their educational aspirations.
9 comments:
Art Rendon has always been and will always be a cool arrow. cant stand the heat, tough decision and does not want to hurt his image or chances of being re-elected. puro pedo.
Does Art Rendon have an "image" to protect????? Art may know the words to every rock and roll song of the 50's and 60's, but when in doubt, he leaves the room. Maybe he lacks moral courage and as said above, "can't stand the heat" of decision making. Why did he run...not out of the meeting, but for his elected position on the Board of Trustees??
TSC is without leadership! The future looks bad!
The problem with the blogs is that the posters hide behind Anonymous and use the blog to spread chisme or launch cowardly attacks, both of which do a lot of damage to good people. Some is based strictly on a personal and agendas, or blog to deflect criticism of themselves and/or to misdirect naive readers into believing something they know not to be factual or true. I was taught not to say anything, unless you can say it to the person him or herself and can stand on what you say. Having said this, it is my opinion the blogs provide a good source of information, which sometimes can be very helpful and can have an impact on the issue or the outcome, like the Lincoln Park issue. However, I find that if the bloggers were forced to use their names when posting, a lot of the gossip, haters, or bloggers with hidden agendas would not post and that would have a much positive affect on the issues and our community. More so, then the positive results achieved by the blogs when exposing wrong doings like the Lincoln Park and other issues. I strongly believe the Anonymous bloggers rights to say anything and everything far outweighs the good that can be achieved if they were forced to post their names.
Having said the above, the blog regarding Trey Mendez, Adela Garza, Tony Z; and others is damaging to the mission at TSC. I find those mentioned to be ethical, serving with integrity and beyond reproach. You may disagree with them, but they are not as been portrayed and the perception that is being created by bloggers who probably have no ethics and have hidden agendas, but their posts are unfortunately believed by some and do their damage.
Being on the Board of Trustees is like serving on a jury, who must seek the truth and act accordingly in good conscience to do what is best for the college, students, employees, and the taxing entities they represent. I find it disgusting that these bloggers who hide behind Anonymous are allowed to go unchallenged by the Blog Administrator, who in my opinion in many instances provides the gasoline and matches based on their own agendas for personal reasons or hatred of others. It is sad, that much harm is done to our community in many instances strictly based on conjecture, gossip, and with a mentality to seek and destroy, instead of building to move our community forward.
It is a given that there will be differences of opinion, which should be respected, but should be stated as a personal opinion with their name and not as facts behind the Anonymous mask as cowards do. To say that all blame should be placed on those blasted on the TSC Board for the bad performance by the President is wrong, because there is enough blame to go around, starting with those who are no longer on the Board and yet they cast stones at those who had to make the tough decision to suspend the President pending a dismissal hearing. Perhaps they should have acted sooner, but maybe the dynamics to have the votes to act were not there. I do not the answer to that, but I too had privately stated my opinion that President Tercero was in over her head and not up to the standard of being the TSC President. I felt and made it known to some board members long ago, to get rid of her, but obviously it took time and longer than I preferred.
The good thing, is that they are trying and made a tough decision, which will be debated and passionately argued by some who will oppose the decision and those who support the President. But, like the juror who hears the testimony and the facts of the case, at this point the verdict is out and we can no longer second guess them, but support them to move forward by make a better selection for TSC President. It should be our hope and wish that it is better than the current one. Hopefully, they learned from the previous selection and get the right person based on a criteria that meets a high standard and the right fit for TSC.
Those people ethical? Pat you are dumber than I though, can't you see that all this is being orchestrated so Adela can rig the insurance bid to award the contract to Dino Chavez.
Kiko is full of himself. His comments on the Herald make look like an idiot that he is. Mr chair was not told the nursing program was in trouble etc, etc, etc. if he had stayed another two years with the help of Grampa Garcia, Art, and Ed. TSC WOULD have fallen of the clif.
Art the coward. Pictures, pictures, pictures. What a childish coward you are. A great role model you are for your kids. Eres un asco.
In response to Anonymous 8:48 pm, you make my point about bloggers who hide behind Anonymous postings. You and your kind do a lot of damage to our community, you have a license to say anything and everything, because you can safely hide behind Anonymous. No one can tell you personally how dumb and damaging your statements are. First of all, I am sure you know, but conveniently ignore the fact that it is a crime to discriminate. You surely know that anyone who meets the RFP criteria can and should submit a bid to provide insurance coverage for TSC, which the elected Board will evaluate based on the merits and make a decision responsible and if not, they should then be held accountable. For you to say that Adela, Trey, Tony are unethical because you do not like Dino Chavez is an agenda you are pushing and it is personal. So, you try to undermine what the elected board was elected to do and with baseless accusations. At this point, I think no one knows if the current insurance provider will be changed or if the insurance contract will be put up for for bids, or if there will be any savings by putting it up for bids. They may have to wait another year to do what you are suggesting. I do not know, but you are already blasting and creating a perception of wrong doing, when there is no wrong doing. You do not even know what criteria will be used for an RFP. It also seems that if by chance Dino Chavez submitted the lowest bid with the optimum coverage, you would prefer the Board give it to someone you approve, regardless of a higher cost to TSC, which not very smart. I guess that is why you hide behind Anonymous. You may not like a person, but you have no right to demand taxpayers money be spent unwisely, just because you do not like someone. I am certainly not defending Dino Chavez or advocating for him. Dino is not even a friend of mine or nor a past supporter, but in spite of this I made it a practice to set aside personalities when making decisions on behalf of taxpayers. I know Trey, Adela and Tony well are ethical people and trust they will do the right thing based on the merits. Now, Anonymous, you can continue to hide knowing you hurt our community.
Dino Chavez?...I thought he was dead!
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