3. Discussion, consideration and possible action to maintain a list of attorneys to assist Brownsville Independent School District on an as needed bases (sic).
By Juan Montoya
Not only is the word "basis" misspelled and the adjective "as-needed" not hyphenated, but this item on Tuesday's agenda of the board of Brownsville Independent School District's special called meeting is just another reincarnation of trustee Phil Cowen's efforts to give the board a carte blanche and hire lawyers at will.
This despite the fact that the board already pays general counsel Baltazar Salazar a $280,000 salary and another $250,000 for the district's legal counsel department.
In addition, the board routinely approves payments to a handful of legal firms to handle cases for teh district famed out by Salazar. Notable among these Colvin, Chaney, Saenz & Rodriguez, L.L.P., and Walsh Gallegos Trevino Russo & Kyle, P.C., for work on ongoing cases.
During the last meeting, COwen – a lawyer – had this item for consideration:
2. Attorney Consultation regarding potential litigation regarding TENASKA/PUB; VALCO; Graphic Spot and Board Member intimidation and action to hire attorney to represent district and Board Member(s) interest. (Board Member Request - PC)
That was rejected by the board after consideration in executive session. Many local observers say that the term "member intimidation" referred to Cowen thinking trustee Carlos Elizondo is being pressured by a district judge and City of Brownsville commissioners to make him resign. Before he was suspended without pay, Elizondo was the fire department chief.
After his demotion and suspension with pay, he was indicted by a grand jury accused of stealing more than $8,000 from the union's political action committee (PAC) over two years. The pilferage of the union PAC's bank account continued since 2009, and before the union members realized that the Texas Ethics Commission had sanctioned Elizondo and removed him as treasurer. However, Elizondo did not let the union membership know of the TEC sanctions and continued to oversee the PAC's bank account.
"The total taken those years is a lot more than $8,000," said a local politician close to the case. "Elizondo used money from the PAC to pay politiqueras and even $2,000 to fund an election recount by one of the sitting BISD board members who lost a JP race."
Trustee Joe Rodriguez – who is the father of the "Rodriguez" in Colvin, Chaney, Saenz & Rodriguez, L.L.P (Joe "Tony" Rodriguez – has argued before that the board needs the ability to seek other counsel if they feel that board counsel Salazar is not specialized for some cases.
"I don't have anything against Mr. Salazar, but we should have the choice of attorneys for specific cases," he said during a recent meeting.
When he was hired, Salazar told the board that he would eliminate the need to pay too many attorneys, and said he had saved the district money when he was making his argument for a raise to $280,000.
He promised he would "tone down your legal expenses" and bring "stability, because you have chaos, and when there's chaos, lawyers make money."
The school district, he told them, had "become a cash cow" because the district did not follow procedure and said he was there "to serve the board as a whole."
Apparently, both Cowen and Rodriguez think they need to spend thousands more get yet more lawyers as they see fit to fight their fights in the courtrooms.
14 comments:
I was at the lotus inn and found myself sitting next to Cesar Deleon his new wife and the mother in law all while listening to him ranting again about how these Mexicans in the kitchen don’t have papers to work and why they aren’t hiring him to do their immigration issues so that they can work here legally,while his mother-in-law sitting in front is just amazed at his conversation of racists remarks.All this happening in front of everybody at this restaurant just like his other tapes that where leaked out this one is gonna be sent or put out on display very soon,couldn’t help myself but to record it.
Part 2 : Cesar Deleon rants Onnn racist pig.
The only department to have grown under this Supt has been the legal department.
Now that’s a legacy
Racial profiling.
However - if they didn't have papers and are working in the US, would that be racist or illegal? The employee and employer are breaking the law. When you break a law you have to pay the price.
Cesar de Leon still being the Racist City Commissioner? Disgusting he is still at City hall.
The word is the not teh if you are going to comment on others mistakes. Take care of your house first.
Seems like everything went quiet these past weeks as if nothing is going on but , focusing the attention the other way as to the mayor and Gowen so that the majority Vote stays so that the rats keep eating the big pie of cheese, the quiet little mouse like Munguia just sits there and does nothing is just unbelievable.I wonder what kind of insurance deal the have for him on Elizabeth street or with the city so that he stays quiet.i don’t like to be negative towards people but to say nothing at all or not even to have input is just plain wrong.
NO VOICE FOR THE PEOPLE
Sounds like Cesar Deleon is "muerto de hambre". What person in their right mind would marry a racist who degrades women. Who knows what he says behind their backs "in private". Maybe know he can leave town and never come back.
Still trying to pay Carlos Elizondos legal fees under the table so that he wont sing like the dipshit canary he is against all the corruption. RATAS!
Everyone throwing distractions— Cesar de Leon? Old news
What the Board is trying to do is criminal — what Cesar said OR didn’t say is not a crime
Paul Cowen is so busy doing business for Coach Joe, that he doesn't have time to use spell-check. Cowen and Rodrigues want to control everything. If they are unhappy with the BISD attorney...get rid of him! But I expect he has a contract that they are now unhappy with and want to go around him in legal issues. Obviously the BISD board does not trust Salazar.
Maybe they want the ability to hire Cesar de Leon to be their in-house racist and bigot. De Leon is fast becoming the Brownsville Racist and Bigot and a "pet" of Mayor Tony Martinez, who clearly accepts racism here.
At Annoy 12:33, Apparently you did not listen to the entire tape of the things Cesar Deleon was saying or maybe you didn't understand what was going on. Cesar Deleon did more than use racial slurs and derogatory comments. He was using his official capacity to squeeze for favors which is a crime. Cesar Deleon is a big pile of shit and everyone who touches him or does business with him will also be covered in his shit.
Your right it’s not a crime but out of the horses mouth a lot of corruption that he is involved was undisclosed and made public.his character was also put on stage nation wide, with his predecessor Ben.He’s not someone who should be making decisions on who runs the city. That makes you as a citizen either dumb or his very close friend if you support him a city official. Not a crime,you say.
He also is gay but hides in a closet until this beautiful girl comes by with alone of money and now has marry her to continue his dream of living large but thru his wife’s wallet.
I don’t need to hear the tapes- this article is about BISD hiring more lawyers—-
What Cesar said at lotus isn’t illegal - may be stupid- but not illegal. I’m not sure about strangers recording conversations they aren’t apart of....
BISD is a mess and this board is a trainwreck
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