A FEW QUESTIONS WE'D LOVE TO SEE THE ANSWERS TO

By Juan Montoya
Every year, the accounting firm of Patillo Brown & Hill does the audit for the Brownsville Independent School District.

Aside from bean-counting of revenues and expenditures and giving the district the thumbs up for bookkeeping, the firm also includes some interesting questionnaires for the district's board members.

The answers to these questions are kept strictly confidential and only the firm's accountants – which in Brownsville includes former Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos – are the only ones privy to the answers. Depending on how candid the individual trustees are, we, for one, would love to see answers to some of these questions.

For example, the first question is: "Are illegal acts fraud, stealing, etc., required to be reported directly to another party? (Please provide a name, title, and phone number)" 

We don't have access to the answers from the individual trustees, but we wonder, did anyone report the massive fraud involving the purchase of spoiled barbacoa meat from the now defunct Valco company that processed the meat in Mexico? Or how about the suspected sweetheart deal that Grafik Spot had with the district? We sure wouldn't mind taking a peek at some of the answers to those questions.

Another questions is; "Does management demonstrate honesty and integrity in their  daily conduct? Yes or No? (If No, please explain.)"

Suppose a trustee answered No and mentioned the issue of Anillogate, where for three consecutive meetings no one owned up to admit that they had ordered the 40 rings from Herrf Jones, a sister company of BSN, whose vendor is Joe Rodriguez, a sitting trustee.

Superintendent Zendejas didn't tell Lead Auditor Arvin Tucker she had responded to an email by the ring maker's competitor telling them that she and the Porter principal and athletic coordinator had already chosen a Herrf Jones to purchase the rings. So Tucker didn't probe too deeply into the subject and his report indicated no one knew anything about the rings.

The $31,025 transaction involved the ordering of the $895 rings each for the players and $995 rings each for 11 non-players ons April 2016.


After Tucker's "investigation," the Herf Jones representative said he was willing to make a $25,020 "donation" to the 28 students and said Zendejas "wasn't planning to bring it to the board." Tucker stated in his report that she had "negotiated" for Herrf Jones to donate the student rings for $25,020 and that the non-players would be required to pay for their own.

Included in the lot were two free $995 courtesy rings for Rordiguez and Zendejas. Now, both knew what had transpired as did the principal and athletic coordinator. In fact, Rodriguez, associated with the company as he was as a vendor, should have never been allowed to discuss or vote on the issue. He did and no one questioned it. Honesty and integrity? Hardly.

Question number three could also cause some

The next question should cause some discomfort. It asks: "Have you ever felt intimidated due to potential disclosure on work place impropriety?"

Well, now, we have had some settlements of high-dollar Whistle blower lawsuits where the district and its administration have paid out big bucks to make the issue go away. Former CEO Tony Juarez, Special Needs Director Art Rendon are but two of beneficiaries from this. Who knows what other BISD staffers are feeling the heat, in the purchasing department, for example?

And how about poor Rosie Peña, a purchasing administrator who was shunted off to Food and Nutrition after she raised the alarm that the superintendent was having Buy Board vendor Paragon address the Facilities Committee about artificial turf without having been vetted y Purchasing? Whst did she get for her diligence to protect the district and taxpayers? Off to the Siberia of the BISD.

Question four is similar: "Are you aware of any problems within the district that make it possible for some employees to violate policy, falsely report financial transactions, etc., Yes or No. (If Yes, please explain)"

Well, now this is interesting. Has anyone asked the former bookkeeper of the BISD's Food and Nutrition Service why she was moved from her position as soon as the news spread that her former boss had been found in his parked car, apparently a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head? She was the one who entered numerous questionable payments to several companies who did business with the district.

Another is: "If assets including money were stolen from the district, do you believe the individual would be caught in a timely manner? If not, why not?"

Remember when American Surveillance detected one of its armored-car guards was stealing money from the money drops with the BISD and the Cameron County Adult Probation Office? The county's auditors caught on quick and the culprit was found and reported to the police. On the other hand, the BISD had no clue that the thefts were occurring and American Surveillance managers had to inform them and replaced the missing money after a tally was performed. If they hadn't, they (BISD) would have had no clue. So what did the company get in return? It's owner was indicted for having hired the bad apple and his contract cancelled. No one at the district was disciplined for allowing the pilferage to go unnoticed.

Question 7 is: "Have you ever been asked to commit an illegal act? Have you witnessed a co-worker doing so? Yes or No. (If yes, please explain.)

There are probably a few hundred people among the 7,000 BIS employees who would raise their hands on this one. But as a forensic auditor stated the "culture of corruption" is ingrained in the system and no one who values his or her job is willing to risk it all by divulging what they know. No hagas pedo, bro.

End Part 1 (Next seven questions in a future installment.)