By Juan Montoya
It's almost laughable to see the new slogan that Joe "Coach" Rodriguez is using for his reelection campaign.
Rodriguez wants the voters to return him to his place at the feeding trough at the Brownsville Independent School District that he has enjoyed for the major part of this adult life as coach, AD, and trustee. He want our vote to "keep up the momentum."
And what momentum is that? Is it the almost $7 million that has been spent to install artificial turf purchased from BuyBoard vendor Paragon whom he championed as the "best in the world" and who the administration chose from recommendations fro other superintendents "over coffee" without putting up with the niceties of vetting by purchasing or entertaining other bidders?
Aside from the fact that he is a retired BISD employee and has pocketed his share of settlements from various lawsuits, we also know that he is a registered vendor (Sports Consultant) for BSN Sports, an outfit under the Varsity Brands umbrella and a sister company to ring-maker Herrf Jones.
The terms of that employment are between Coach Joe and BSN, but we understand that he pockets between 15 to 20 percent on commissions of all sales of sports equipment made by the company to BISD and other nearby districts. A request for information to the district yielded the BISD's annual purchases. Now we begin to understand why it is that Joe won't go.Sales to BISD by BSN which then pays Joe commission in the last eight years have totaled $2,440,222. At a 20 percent commission that would have put a cool $488,044 in Coach Joe's pocket. At 15 a little less (366,033), but still nice pocket change.
As you can see by the numbers in the graphic above, sales by BSN Sports to the BISD jumped from $225,792 in the FY 2013-2014 to $316,758.01 when Rodriguez was elected to the board.
The only FY that was higher before then was in 2010-2011 when BSN raked in $497,116.90 in sales to BISD through Rodriguez, whose commission at 20 percent would have totaled 99,423.20. At 15 percent, $74,567.
That year, according to a forensic audit, there was "no doubt the Athletic Department in general and Tom Chavez in particular exercised undue influence and misuse of authority in choosing BSN Sports, through their sales rep. Joe Rodriguez” in purchasing uniforms and other sports supplies for Manzano Middle School and Veterans Memorial High School for the 2010-2011 school year."
In a lawsuit that followed, Rodriguez's attorneys contended that both men were defamed when it stated that "Chavez allowed his and Rodriguez’s friendship to interfere with what should have been a business decision, causing a potential loss of revenue to the district.
Be that as it may, in the four years since Rodriguez has been on the board after he was elected in 2014, BSN sold $1,391,632.08 through this FY (2017) to the BISD. At 20 percent, that would have earned Coach Joe a cool $278, 326.40 while he has been on the board, and $208,744 at 15 percent.
But, wait, you say, Coch Joe abstains from voting or discussing anything to do with BSN Sports. Well, if you ask Mary Solis, the former principal at Veterans Memorial High School, she would tell you different. In her grievance that reached Level 3, Solis charged that Rodriguez had pressured the coaches to buy their equipment from "certain vendors." Could one of those have been BSN?
And even if Rodriguez abstains, the field work had already been done through purchasing and with the board majority to award BSN a good chunk of the district's sports equipment purchases. As long as he's got the majority in his pocket, Rodriguez's vote really doesn't matter. His "friends" will take care of him.
Other purchasing agents up the valley have also said that Rodriguez and other Varsity Brands representatives were after them to sign "exclusive" contracts with their companies and emailed the BISD inquiring about them.
12 comments:
The effect of the new scoreboard isn't that people get more out of the game, it is that the focus on advertisements on the scoreboard takes the focus away from the student activities on the field, especially during halftime and at breaks. Focus on the kids, dammit, not on a scoreboard that shouldn't have been purchased. Coach Joe just wants to fill his pockets....not interest in the kids, their activities or academics.
That should be and might be illegal how can someone on a school board make a hefty commission on contracts that go thru his district isn't that a conflict of intetest.Its amazing that this guy talks all his crap that its the kids he cares about when in reality he's always been under handing the district,the tax payers and especially the kids.From what I understand this guy Joe has been doing this for a long time,.His kids should be proud.
Anonymous @ 2:09
You're just one of the many complainers that live here in Brownsville . Nothing is ever good enough for you and anything nice we have here you complain about .You're saying that people are focusing on the scoreboard and not the students, You have clearly not been to a game . Majority of people in attendance have their faces glued to their phone !
Coach Joe is BROWNSVILLE PROUD and has my vote !
A person who goes to watch a football game could care less about commercials or even that in one week-end they brought in $12,000 for funds that will be used for the students. While watching a game where your son is playing the game or daughter is playing the flute, I can assure you that no one is going to be listening to them. The stadium is small enough where we can see the actual play in front of our eyes and not have to sit sideways to watch the play on the huge TV. But, the fact still remains that no one really knows whether or not Coach Joe is pocketing so much money in the process. Do you not think someone (law-enforcement) would be investigating such process? Coach Joe seems to be the only one who makes sense, even in his arguments, during the meeting, cause he has been around for a long time and has so much experience on the events of the district. He is not there as a vindictive idiot who opens his mouth just to contradict everything the district is trying to do to improve. However, it bothers me that his actions and those of others are, like someone else said before, their actions are ruining the reputation of a very good and intelligent superintendent. She, in fact, contributes much of her salary back to help out with certain activities in the district. So, all of us should make sure who we are voting for this coming election. Mr. Montoya, how about sponsoring an article or a forum where each candidate is asked to express his platform and tell us why we should vote for him/her. Gracias!
he cant even spell momentum
I am puzzled that nobody of the board asked Joe how much money he stood to make if the scoreboard was approved. It is possible he rewarded the board members who supported his recommendation. After all, some members of the board, along with the board attorney, have questionable reputations. It is imperative for the voters to stop Joe's momentum now and oust him out.
old Joe what a joke he's sucks !
Coach Joe was to late setting up a retirement plan, so he had to go with what he had.
What does Joe Rdz have on anyone that they keep siding with him, and keep pumping money into his feeding tubes ?
Get rid of this asshole, Joe Rod, he is bad for our community. Vote him out!
The "WHITE IS NEEDED"
Vote "JOE RODRIGUEZ OUT".
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