HEARING SET FOR ROVING BROWNSVILLE TAXPAYERS PAC SUIT

By Juan Montoya
The continuing trial of the fictitious Brownsville Taxpayers PAC that was used to campaign against former Brownsville Independent School District trustee Cartalina Presas-Garcia is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in Judge Migdalia Lopez's 197th District Court.

Presas-Garcia sued BISD general counsel Baltazar Salazar over the formation of the PAC and charged that he sent out mass mailings incorrectly alleging that she had been used for not paying her property taxes on her home. Presas-Garcia showed that Salazar and unnamed conspirators defamed her by running advertisements in the local daily repeating the incorrect information.

Salazar's attorney Noe Garza asserts that the advertisements and mass mailings are protected and that he was merely exercising his freedom of speech. Garza is also trying to remove Salazar's wife from the lawsuit.

During the campaign last November, the Brownsville Taxpayer PAC under its treasurer Juan Flores Leal, filed a campaign report with the Texas Ethics Commission and reported that Salazar – its only contributor – had donated $13,500 used to print and mail cards, set up ma website, and a Facebook page where he alleged  that Presas-Garcia had cost the district $2 million through a lawsuit.


Research showed that the PAC listed the treasurer, Leal, living in  vacant lot on Iowa Road. Later, the treasurer's address was listed in a house in Houston that turned out to be owned by Salazar and his wife. That house was also vacant and the utilities were disconnected. In the latest TEC report filed electronically by Flores, he now lists his address at 3740 Glenmont Drive in Ft. Worth.

The roving Brownsville Taxpayers PAC is now said to be quartered in a Ft. Worth suburb.

Is there a real Juan F. Leal, or is he a fictitious entity used by Salazar as a cover for the PAC?

In her lawsuit, Presas-Garcia asks for simple and special damages.
"Defendants' false statements caused injury to Plaintiff, which resulted in the following damages: injury to character or reputation, injury to feelings, mental anguish. Further, since Defendants are liable for defamation per se Plaintiff is presumed to be entitled to these general damages. Additionally, as special damages, Defendants are liable to Plaintiff for loss of past and future earnings caused by Defendants' false statements.

"Furthermore, Plaintiff's injuries resulted from Defendants' malice, which entitles Plaintiff to
exemplary damages under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code..."