OLIVEIRA'S DISTRICT 37 JOINS THE "ME TOO" MOVEMENT

By Juan Montoya
Acting through an attorney as a "body corporate," Texas State Legislature District 37 encompassing most of Brownsville and South Padre Island claims it has been subjected to continued abused by its current representative since he has held the seat for the past 34 years.

District 37 – through its spokesperson – charged the abuse has been continuous and that at times Rene Oliveira – the alleged abuser, was joined in the gang rape by the state senator Eddie Lucio Jr. and his son, Eddie Da Third.

"District 37 says that it's time it came out and told the world about the ongoing abuse because it wants to encourage others in a similar situation to come out of the shadows and speak out," the statement reads. "I was handed over to Rene many years ago by his influential family, but everybody kept the dark secret hushed up. Enough is enough."

*For example, even though he claims he champions education, Oliveira would have to admit that the number of people with less than high school education is 40,134, or about 41.7 percent compared to the statewide 18.4 percent.

*Persons in poverty numbered 65,090, or 39.1 percent compared to the statewide 7.7 percent. Likewise, per capita income was $13,416  compared to the statewide average of $26,513.

The term barefoot and pregnant comes to mind. At the same time, Oliveira announced in his campaign finance report for the filing period from June 1 through December 31, 2017 that he has collected $126,107.70 in contributions to continue the orgy and seek reelection.

Some people have short memories. In 1991, Lucio and Oliveira bought into the disastrous "partnership" between TSC and the UT System (Rene's alma mater) that required the college district to foot the bill for UT to "partner" with TSC.

The taxpayers of the poorest community in the state and nation would pay for the oil-and-gas wealthy UT System to be here. Over the next 21 years, the community college district – under the "leadership" of President Julieta Garcia – "transferred" more than $1 billion to the UT System, indebted its taxpayers with $120 million construction bonds, and produced dismal graduation and retention rates in return. Tuition was charged at university level even for vocational classes and the community college mission abandoned.

It has only been since 2011 that an independent TSC board of trustees opted to separate itself from the UT System and gain operational independence two years alter in 2013.

But before that happened, the trustees went to Lucio and Oliveira and asked them to support the separation and allow the college to return to its original mission of providing affordable, accessible opportunity to local students.

Oliveira had submitted a bill ( HB 3689) backed by then-UTB-TSC president Julieta Garcia to turn over all the assets of the community college to the UT System diametrically opposed to the wishes of college trustees and residents. It took the testimony before the committee of TSC trustee Adela Garza and even gadfly Erasmo Castro to try to convince Oliveira to amend the bill to make TSC an independent institution. Even the chairman of the committee disapproved of the original Oliveira bill. A substitute bill had to be filed by State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, a Republican to boot.

If not for the resistance to the bill by the TSC trustees and district residents, Oliveira and Lucio were content to have TSC and all the assets nurtured by the district's taxpayers since 1926 gobbled up by the UT System, except for the $128 million in bond debt. As it was, Oliveira submitted a bill that in effect erased the $10 million in rent owed TSC by the UT System.

Now the worse fears of those back in 1988 that the new entity – in this case the UT Rio Grande Valley – would relegate Brownsville to a satellite campus without say so in its operations or academic decisions, have come full circle and a self-fulfilling prophesy.

These turns of events for the worse in the educational opportunities for students in the Matamoros-Brownsville are were made possible by our state legislators despite the fact that Oliveira's uncle – the late Arnulfo "Nuco" Oliveira – served as president of TSC and Pan Am Brownsville before his death.
Additionally, trustee David Oliveira – Nuco's son and Rene's cousin, both Texas Exes – showed his loyalty was to the UT System and not to the people of the district by voting for Garcia's plan to turn over TSC's assets to UTB and to continue to let the community taxpayers subsidize it.

But even worse than that, both Oliveiras and Lucio were willing to turn their backs on the 224 years of the labor of love of Matamoros and Brownsville residents to provide an education to their children.

At least three women say they had "creepy" experiences with the Lothario of Browntown but can't get themselves to complain about them. publicly. If and when they do, they might provide some specifics about his behavior.

And poor District 37, didn't even get a kiss out of it.