BUSINESS IS BOOMING FOR BISD TRUSTEES UP FOR REELECTION

By Juan Montoya

In the last four years that trustees Cesar Lopez, Joe Rodriguez and Carlos Elizondo have been in office, vendors they listed as being associated with them on conflict of interest disclosure forms have been paid 23,477,541by the Brownsville Independent School District.

The vendors listed range from law firms, sports equipment manufacturers, an EMT and firefighter academy, and the BuyBoard associated with the Texas Association of School Boards of Education (TASBE).

Trustees are required, when they have a personal interest in vendors, to fill in a disclosure form or an affidavit of conflict of interest. Also, they cannot deliberate, discuss, or vote on agenda items related to the vendors listed in their affidavits, a rule that is almost always ignored.

In any case, even if these three don't vote on items from vendors they disclose, their colleagues on the majority vote in their stead.

In the case of trustee Joe Rodriguez, his affidavits stated that he has a son (Tony) who is a member of the law firm Colvin, Saenz, Rodriguez, and Kennamer LLP.

Since he has been a trustee this time around, BISD general counsel Baltazar Salazar has tapped the firm to represent the district in a number of law cases, notably, the First Amendment lawsuit filed against the district by former trustees Catalina Presas-Garcia and Lucy Longoria. One of the trustees sued was Rodriguez as was legal counsel Baltazar.

That case has since voluntarily been dismissed, but not before the firm owned by Tony Rodriguez's firm racked up $88,521 in legal fees from the district representing it in the First Amendment and other lawsuits.

Another – more profitable firm – for "Coach" Joe, the vendor, has been BSN Sports, which sells athletic equipment under its Varsity Sports parent company umbrella. BSN Sports has been paid $1,638,739 by the BISD the last four years that Rodriguez has been on the board. In his affidavit, he states that he draws more than 10 percent of his personal income from BSN.

As a vendor, Rodriguez gets a percentage commission from BSN. If he gets a 10 percent commission, that means that in the four years he has been its representative and  trustee, he pocketed $163,873.

It is doubtful that Rodriguez, a senior representative of the firm would settle for 10 percent. If he gets a 15 percent commission, it would be $245,810. And if he gets 20 percent, as it is believed, he has made $327,747 in the last four years as their representative.

In the case of Carlos Elizondo, he filed a disclosure statement listing his relationship with International Academy of Emergency Medical Training LLC, the company the district hired to teach basic EMT and firefighter courses to its students. So far, IAEMT has been paid $943,080 for teaching those classes. In their June 5 meeting, the board approved paying the firm $330,000 for the 2018-2019 school year.

IAEMT also has a teaching contract with Texas Southmost College which Elizondo was instrumental in acquiring while he was the city's fire chief.

Elizondo is currently facing 15 charges including theft, violation of his  fiduciary duties, and for breaching the security of a computer system belonging to the fire department after he had been suspended and told not to log into the site.

As far as former board president Cesar Lopez, he is listed as a South/Southeast Texas and El Paso
representative of the Texas Association School Boards of Education BuyBoard, which pays his salary. We understand he also gets a commission for increases of TASBE BuyBoard sales in the region he works. In the four years that he has been a BISD board member, the district has paid BuyBoard vendors $20,806,301.

The BISD, like other governmental entities, has increasingly entered into agreements with purchasing cooperatives to buy goods and services without having to go through the normal bidding process. Some local elected officials have complained that this leaves out vendors who live in the district and who may not be able to afford the membership dues.

In some cases, they say that the goods and services can be acquired cheaper from local suppliers who pay district taxes and hire local people. The BuyBoard procurement process, they say, effectively leaves out these suppliers.

In the case of the BISD, this means that more than $20 million in local assets have been sent out of the district to places like Houston, Austin and San Antonio from a district which is located in the poorest community in the United States. Lopez – as was counsel Salazar – was highly critical of Presas-Garcia for her $2 million against board members and the district. But taking $20 million from the local economy seems small potatoes compard to the $20 that leave with BuyBoard purchases.

Lopez, just yesterday, resigned as president citing personal problems, and handed the reins of the board to the vice-president...Elizondo, who will go on trial for theft and breach of computer security this summer.

We are currently seeking information about Lopez's salary and commission from his employment as a TASBE BuyBoard representative.

We have also learned from other sources that all three of these trustees have indicated they will run for reelection to the BISD board in November. If you were drawing these kind of rewards, wouldn't you?