The last time he ran in 2014, Cesar Lopez made a lot of hay over the First Amendment lawsuit filed against the district and its board majority by trustees Catalina Presas-Garcia and Luci Longoria.
The women's attorneys were demanding that the district' insurers pay them $2 million in exemplary damages for the majority censoring their voices, their attempt to censure them publicly for complaining, and the board's efforts to keep them from expressing themselves on behalf of the constituents who elected them to represent them.
That lawsuit has languished in the federal court and to this day, neither has received one red cent.
Lopez knew these type of lawsuits are always more symbolic than material, but that didn't stop him from campaigning on the bogus $2 million claim he charged they were going to take from the children of the district.In his ads, Lopez wrung his hands in despair and bemoaned the "fact" that the phantom $2 million should "provide for our students, enhance employee salaries, improve our facilities and most importantly NOT RAISE YOUR TAXES."
Well, none of that has happened four years later.
In fact, the only one who has profited so far from that litigation was the firm who district's legal counsel Baltazar Salazar farmed out the lawsuit to, namely Colvin, Chaney, Saenz & Rodriguez, L.L.P.. At last count, the firm had milked the job and has billed the BISD for more than $300,000.
But that doesn't seem to bother Lopez much. Could it be because the "Rodriguez" in the firm's letterhead is none other than Joe "Tony" Rodriguez, the son of fellow trustee Joe Rodriguez? Lopez's criteria seems to be that he will protect the district from overspending on legal costs, but well, Coach Joe's kid is something different.
As far as raising property taxes, well, Lopez certainly needed no prodding when he – as president of the BISD board now – oversaw the vote to raise property taxes by 11 1/4 cents by board vote. He followed CFO Lorenzo Sanchez's advice not to put the property tax increase to a vote of the district's residents and instead raise it by board-vote fiat.
The administration and the board plans to use the additional income as collateral to get a $100 million loan for building more facilities. They plan to pay it over five years. They didn't ask the voters of the district if this is what they wanted. All they saw was lucrative contracts for architects and engineers who are regular contributors to their reelection campaigns.
In other words – just as they did in Presas-Garcia's and Longoria's case – they'll stay consistent with the philosophy of taking the voice away from the board's constituents and their representatives and to muzzle any dissent.
Well, Lopez is running for reelection to the board and it might be well to remember how he became a board member to begin with. He was working for the BISD as a purchasing clerk, then transferred to the Mercedes ISD as a purchasing agent until a BISD board member left for San Antonio and he was appointed to take her place.
By then he had become the representative for the TASBE Buy Board, a cooperative purchasing company that offers member school districts goods and services (for a fee, of course) so they won't have to go through the ordeal of competitive bidding. These buy boards will do the bidding for them and the member districts will simply pick the companies they want from the board's list.
In that way, the BISD followed Rodriguez's recommendations that it pump more than $7 million, and counting, to install artificial turf on some district football and soccer fields. How was that company chosen? Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas said she heard of them over coffee with fellow superintendents and picked them from the Buy Board, of course.
At a later meeting, Rodriguez argued on behalf of Paragon saying they were "the best company in the world." Mmmm.
Several entities have found that sometimes the goods offered on the board's list are less expensive when they shop with local vendors who are not members of the boards. That has happened at Cameron County, the City of Brownsville, and the BISD itself.
But Lopez and the BISD administration don't want to bother with the pesky details of shopping locally and keeping the district's money at home paying for goods and services that local businesses – who pay taxes here and hire local people – may have at prices competitive with outside vendors.
Could it be because as a regional representative for the TASBE Buy Board Lopez gets a commission on buy board sales in Region One? In his ad above, he mentions at least twice that he is "committed" to serve the district. Committed is also another word for involuntary detention. Was this an inadvertent slip?
Compared to the profits to be made by the Buy Board on BISD's $450 million budget, the phantom $2 million amounts to mere peanuts.
18 comments:
Cesar Lopez, is too deep into the mess of Corruption and Abuse of Power just like Joe Rodriguez and Carlos Elizondo who are thieves non the less the rest of the Board is also part of the Corruption. No one is clean they all cover for each other and look the other direction. Sylvia Atkinson place Baltazar Salazar for his increase on his Contract and Baltazar Salazar is a Convicted Felon!!! Yet the District Policy and State Legislature Law says School Districts shall not hire VENDORS who have a Conviction of a Felony...
People Cesar Lopez is a worthless piece of shit and he thinks he is going to get away with all he has taken from the District. He's aware of the connections with the Barbacoa and he is involved.. I work for the District and use to see who walked in and out of Capistran's Office .. We used tax payers dollars to pay to a Vendor who was close to Jaime Escobedo, Cesar Lopez non the less Carlos Elizond and Joe Rodriguez know exactly what happened and Baltazar Salazar with the Wicked Witch of the West(Esperanza Zendejas) are covering up for the Abuse of Power in the BISD...
Enough is Enough!!! Remember all this when Elections come in 2019..
So what? Always bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, juanito. Never goes anywhere, bro!
This disgusting piece of shit and his cronies have now increased the purchasing item(s)limit from the BuyBoard from $25,000 to $500,000.
More purchases more money for this assholes! Hope he ends up in jail before election yime!
BISD is corrupt from top to bottom. The Superintendent let's this corruption go on to save her job. If she turns a blind eye to the corruption, then she will keep her high salary position. Then the "trustees", all seeking under the table kick-backs ("mordida") for directing contracts to those who will provide the "mordida". BISD is a corrupt school district and the "trustees" make academics a low priority.
No Tiene verguenza
Y la gente ignorante Que vota Por el!
TO ALL BISD BOARD MEMBERS: PLEASE QUESTION THE BASIS OF THE COACH MAKING AN
UNFOUNDED STATEMENT THAT PARAGON IS THE BEST CONTRACTOR IN THE WORLD FOR BISD.
ALSO, WHY IS THE COACH ALSO GOING OUT ON A LIMB BY SAYING THAT PARAGON WILL
WORK IN THE BEST INTEREST (lOWER CONTRACT PRICING) OF THE BISD TAXPAYERS AND
THE CHILDREN OF BISD ?
MAYBE THE COACH (ONCE FIRED BY BISD, ALONG WITH CRONIES COACH CHAVEZ & COACH
LORENZO SANCHEZ (NOW CFO) SHOULD GO BACK TO DIAGRAMMING " Xs AND Os".
? HAS ANYONE QUESTIONED WHAT THE COACH'S TIES ARE WITH PARAGON ? PLEASE
QUESTION THIS IN OPEN FORUM.
Don't worry fellow taxpayers! There are groups, as we speak through this blog that are very quietly positioning themselves to mount a challenge this upcoming election. They are getting their ducks in line, from former members and the community as a whole. Money will not be an option, all are willing to contribute to mount a very strong challenge.
Zendejas is under direct control by the board even though they are micro-managing and interfering with the running of the district. She, can of course, squeal to TEA and turn them over to the law. I bet she has a lot she can turn over, better than Elizondo. I urge
Dr. Zendejas to do this and to not let these bunch of idiots interfere with what she is trying to do for our children. She works endlessly to make BISD shine and almost everyday,
BISD is awards some kind of accolade for some program she has initiated. I can bet my life that no one has one thing to put over on Dr. Zendejas and if they do, why do they not do so -starting with Atkinson. She is the one who thinks she is above all others and wants everyone to bow to her. Cesar has been a big disappointment to those of us who used to believe in him. He is no where near any ability to be the president of the board, when he allows Minerva, Syliva and Cowen to speak over him and tell him what he is suppose to be doing up there in that chair. He can not keep order of any form and is criticized by everyone for having as his main objective the fastest board meeting ever. He even beat Dr. Escobedo who used to do the same. They add all these agenda items and want the meeting to be short. If all the corruption discussed in the public is true, we should be ashame of ourselves, for the children are the ones keeping the district's honor and profiting from the many initiatives Dr. Zendejas has introduced. One thing that hold her back is the ring issue, and even though she was able to work out a settlement to approach the refusal of Atkinson accepting the company paying for them. Sylvia says she will work to get her out
so she can take over. If that is true and it happens, all will need to be kneeling and praying for their jobs and harassment and rudeness. If for that reason only, it would serve us right if she got the job once Dr. Zendejas decides she has had enough from this board who is so ineffective. Cesar Lopez needs to go and I only wish that people like Mr. John Wood would run for the board to bring in some class. What we have now is the bottom of the barrel and we need to empty it out.
Please - your Supt was hired by this board because she’s a “player”
She made promises to get the job and she delivers to keep her job?
Innovation? Rings? Turf? Buybioard? Tablets? Pumpkins?
BISD has less students, teachers, and schools then ever—- but more attorneys, lawsuits, and grievances then ever.....
You call that progress?? And it isn’t dr Atkinson’s or Minerva or Cesar’s fault
Fire Baltazar Salazar he's a worthless scumbags and is way over paid! Shame on you board members that condom this felon!
Citizens of Brownsville unfortunately, the fact is there's corruption in BISD. Sad but true it's all about the four (4) votes as long as there is (4) Board Members who made deals behind closed doors and talked to vendors prior to the purchase order it doesn't matter what "We the People" think!! Their Abuse of Power EQUALS our tax dollars and our dollars will always be wastefully spent!! Current Board Members 1.Cesar Lopez Thieve, 2.Joe Rodriguez Thieve, 3.Carlos Elizondo Thieve, 4.Phil Cowen Idiot/Thieve, 5.Sylvia Atkinson Vindictive Bitch, 6.Laura Perez Reyes Worthless Ho, and 7.Minerva Pena Idiot/Stupid/Back Stabbing Two Face Bitch will refuse to follow policy and procedures and will change polices if they don't benefit from the policies. The truth is when they got elected and who ever voted for them literally allowed them to be thieves they (BISD Board Members) don't care!!! So let's start making sure the facts are shared throughout the community and we get rid of them in 2018. Wait a minuet how about they get arrested for the corruption prior to Elections in 2018...
To 5:15 blogger - hooray if you are correct. We need to get the entire board thrown in the trash but not all will run next time. We need to get started with those that do run and follow through in the next elections. We need trustee's that will function as "trustees" and not "chingones" que se creen. We need to teach them a lesson. They are just board members when they sit at their 10 hour board meetings once a month. The rest of the time they are just interfering with the smooth operation of the district by messing around at the main office and going around pretending to care in public, listening to chismes and getting phone calls at all hours of the night. I bet Minnie Winnee gets phone calls in the wee hours of the morning cause she is just so important. Pinche embustera,hypocrita! No se calla el osico, nunca! Ponganle in tafetan!!!! I say, "let's go for it and get rid of them one at a time and bring people like Mrs. O'Quinn who can really help out, and not like Minerva. Let's start the campaign now as a grass roots organization with banners and todo lo demas.
IS CESAR LOPEZ WILLING TO ANNOUNCE WHAT HIS COMMISSIONS EARNED FROM
THE "BUY BOARD" ? CESAR, ARE YOU WILLING TO DONATE THESE COMMISSIONS
BACK TO BISD TO ALLOW THE CHILDREN TO BENEFIT FROM THESE CASH
COMMISSIONS ?
10:30 blogger! You hit the nail in the head with your accurate description of each of the board member that we stupidly elected. What a shame that not one of them have a description as dedicated to the children and betterment of the district. Check it out, but when the matter was brought to the board about selecting an interim supt. Dr. Zendejas had not even applied yet for the application was not opened yet. It was the board members that brought her name out as a side fact and she was readily available and the board voted 7-0 to hire her.
They knew was she had accomplished when she was here the first time and knew that if anyone could fix the mess Dr. M left behind, including Dr. A, it would be Dr. Z. Some of us are not being objective in evaluating her performance because like it or not, our district had never been rated as number one in the nation and she as the number one supt for a district of our kind. She is not perfect and none of us are, but if you weigh the accomplishments that are evident you will see that prejudiced information being spread comes from one or two of the board members, and you know who that leader is.
I beg to differ, Cesar is definitely part of the problem. Pinche naco!
Citizens of Brownsville, I and many others share your concern regarding the current Board Membership at BISD. The issues stated above have become a distraction and liability for those Board members running for re-election. More so than before and with today's political climate, it's becoming very obvious in social circles that what we have now (Board Members) is not what taxpayers and BISD signed for. We members/taxpayers of this community agree that those Board members running for re-election and based on their actions/votes, have not earned the privilege of being re-elected. It is those running for re-election who have instigated their own self destruction based on fake and shallow promises. Their actions while on the Board, whether they acknowlege them or not, have "CONSEQUENCES". They will not go "UNCHALLENGED" and "FINANCES" will not be a factor.
Crooks, Crooks and Crooks!
Any relation to Joe?
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