FORUM SHOWS CORNEJO-LOPEZ'S ROLE IN BISD ELECTION

By Juan Montoya
If ever there was any question that 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez is taking a personal interest in removing incumbent Brownsville Independent School District Place 5 incumbent  Caty Presas-Garcia off the board, her actions at the the forum held by Brownsville Educators Standing Together (BEST) seems to have removed all doubt.
Numerous witnesses say that Cornejo-Lopez arrived at the forum and was told that each candidate could only have one guest when she tried to in support of Laura Perez-Reyes who already had a sister as her guest.


Since the attendance to the affair was limited to Brownsville educators and the candidates and guests, she went up to Hector Chirinos and when he said he had no guests, invited herself so she could stay for the forum.
"She kind of stroked his back and went in," said a person who attended. "Chirinos just smiled."

Cornejo-Lopez has left no doubt that she has been targeting Presas-Garcia and that Perez-Reyes is on her slate even though as a district judge she is not supposed to be publicly endorsing or lending her position to support anyone politically.

As she was passing a group who was talking with candidate Erasmo Castro and Presas-Garcia and then burst out laughing by coincidence when she passed by, she took it as if she was the object of their laughter and shot back: "We'll see who's laughing after the election."
Then, as candidates were answering questions from the members, it became obvious that she was texting with Perez-Reyes to help her with the responses. The candidate would read and look down at her cell phone and in the direction the judge was sitting.

"When the organizers told those attending that the use of cell phones would no ;longer be permitted, she got up and left," said a teacher at the forum.
Generally, the incumbents had the advantage in answering BISD system questions since they dealt mostly with pay raises and teacher issues. Most challengers said they would have to wait and learn the specifics of the questions. The one exception of Dr. Sylvia Atkinson, a former BISD Asst. superintendent who was fairly explicit in her answers to the educators' queries.

Cornejo-Lopez has made no secret that she wants Presas-Garcia off the board.
In fact, she filed to run against her and would have appeared on the general ballot as the Democratic Party nominee for the 404th District Judgeship and on the separate BISD ballot in November until party officials told her it was against the Texas election Code.

Currently, there are two complaints against her filing as BISD trustee since the judicial canons state that a judge shall resign upon filing for another elective position. She withdrew as a BISD candidate four minutes after 5 p.m.the next day.
Insiders say that Cornejo-Lopez, a former BISD trustee, as well another former trustee, Hugh Emerson, have targeted Presas-Garcia for defeat because both had students at the BISD who applied for a Pre-AP class but missed the application deadline.

Other students without parents who were former BISD trustees were in the same boat and were not granted an exemption. When they heard that Cornejo-Lopez's and Emerson's children were going to be allowed, they contacted Presas-Garcia who went to administration to find out about the favored treatment that was going to be afforded the two students.
Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas could not explain and all the students' applications that were filed past the deadline were rejected.
"Thats' when the bad blood began and the former trustees started to work against her," they said. "Now, since Elia couldn't run, she is supporting Perez-Reyes to try to remove Caty."