GONZALEZ CALLED ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST AFTER SHE, PENA BASH LOPEZ-VALDEZ; WAS SALAZAR PULLING STRINGS?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It's not often that we are treated to be the spectators of a pissing match between members of the board of the Brownsville Independent School District. But on Tuesday, during a regular meeting of the board of the BISD, that's exactly what we should get.

In this case, not only will residents be treated to a fight in an open meeting, but also a rematch of a fight that started during a special meeting June 24. That issue revolved around a unanimous vote taken March 2 to extend the BISD's bank depository contract to Lone Star National Bank for two more years. 

During the June 24 special meeting, board members Jessica Gonzalez and Minerva Peña submitted an agenda item seeking "clarification" on whether fellow board member Daniella Lopez-Valdez had violated the law by voting March 2 for the extension and not filing a conflict of interest form because her father – Cameron County Pct. 2 Commissioner Joey Lopez – received compensation in the amount of $250 per month for his service as a member of the bank's advisory board, but not the bank's board of directors. 

It should be noted that on March 2, then-board counsel Baltazar Salazar did not inform the board of any potential conflict of interest with any board members or the vendor, Lone Star National Bank.

However, Gonzalez – who also voted to extend Lone Star's depository contract March 2 – did not disclose that she had applied May 14 for a loan with the same vendor, the Lone Star National Bank. 

That loan was approved and the amount exceeded 10 percent of her gross income. Under state law, the loan created a conflict of interest that required she fill out a conflict of interest form with the district. It wasn't until June 8 that Gonzalez filled out the conflict of interest disclosure form, almost a month later.

Yet, despite this fact – that she may have been in conflict herself – she asked during the June 24 meeting that the board look into fellow board member Lopez-Valdez's potential conflict of interest in her March 2 vote on the depository contract extension.  

This Tuesday, the tables are turned and it is Gonzalez who will be queried on whether her loan from the same bank created a conflict of interest.

The agenda item reads, in part, that "In the interest of transparency and full disclosure; discussion, consideration, and action to make the legal opinion of June 25, 2021, regarding Board member Jessica Gonzalez's conflict of interest part of the record and minutes of the August 3, 2021, School Board meeting... Shortly thereafter, (May 14, 2021), Board member Gonzalez applied and was approved for a bank loan with the same bank that exceeded 10 percent of (her) gross income. 

"Under State law, the loan created a conflict of interest that required she fill out a conflict of interest form with the District. Board member Gonzalez filled out the conflict of interest disclosure form on June 8, 2021. In the same month, Board member Gonzalez also submitted an agenda item regarding the possible conflict of interest of a fellow Board member without publicly disclosing her own conflict of interest. (Board Agenda Request Dr. Prisci Roca Tipton - Board Support Denise Garza)"

Both Salazar and new board counsel Kevin O’Hanlon, of O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo, said that Lopez-Valdez herself, by filing the disclosure form within the seven day period after she was made orally aware of the potential conflict, complied with the law. 

However, in the case of her father's relationship with the vendor, Salazar said that a potential misdemeanor violation had occurred and that it would be up to the board and the Cameron County District Attorney's Office to determine whether to follow up with a criminal investigation. 

Under Texas Local Government Code § 171.002, Lopez-Valdez would have a reportable substantial interest in a business entity if either she or, in this case, her father (a person related to the official in the first degree by consanguinity or affinity): 

(1) owns 10 percent or more of the voting stock or shares of the business entity or owns either 10 percent or more or $15,000 or more of the fair market value of the business entity; or,

(2) received funds from the business entity which exceed 10 percent of the person's gross income for the previous year.

However, O'Hanlon wrote in his memo that Joey Lopez is "not employed by Lone Star National Bank in the traditional sense, but does receive compensation in the amount of $250 per month...(which is less) than 10 percent of his income from the previous year. However...(he) did receive taxable income in excess of $2,500.00 from...Lone Star National Bank during the 12-month period preceding the date... Lopez- Valdez became aware that Brownsville ISD was considering a contract renewal with (the bank). 

"Lopez-Valdez was first made aware of this requirement on or about June 3, 2021. She filed the required Texas Ethics Commission Conflicts Disclosure Statement (CIS) with the District’s Records Administrator on June 4, 2021. The filing of the disclosure was within seven business days after she became aware of the filing requirement."

Salazar – in contrast wrote in his opinion that: "The Board cannot and should not treat this violation as a minor oversight as this depository contract is the largest dollar value of any vendor for BISD. Finally, for purposes of transparency and for the integrity of the process the violation of Board Member Daniella Lopez-Valdez must be placed as a public agenda item for discussion to explain the violation to taxpayers, shareholders, and the public as trustees are entrusted with public funds and the process must be transparent."

Salazar – who had submitted a response for the BISD's Request For Qualifications for board counsel – was not chosen, but had managed to get a majority of the board to separate the special needs counsel services from the others listed on the RFQ issued by the district. Originally, the special needs services were included in the RFQ, but was separated and awarded to Salazar at $60,000 a year. 

Salazar had been board counsel since April 2013 and was earning $300,000 a year. O'Hanlon told the board that his firm would handle the original RFQ that included special services for $240,000, without adding the $60,000 that was carved out for Salazar. Board member Prisci Roca-Tipton was seconded by board president Eddie Garcia and passed 4-3 with Lopez-Valdez and Denise Garza joining them and Brown, Peña and Jessica Gonzalez voting against.

Brown lamented the fact that the previous vote was cancelled by the board and called the process "biased and tainted."

Peña heaped praises on Salazar's performance with special education services and said it was "disheartening" that the board opted not to keep him as special needs attorney. 

In the following item which had been negated by the previous vote, Salazar was stripped of the special needs contract and the motion made by Brown and seconded by Peña could only get another board member – Gonzalez – to join them. Again, Lopez-Valdez, Garza, Garcia, and Roca-Tipton voted against. 

Was Gonzalez – who like Peña received substantial campaign donations from Salazar – coached by the former board counsel to raise the issue on the very same day that the board was voting on whether to carve out the $60,000 special needs counsel contract for him? 

And how else would Gonzalez – an adult day care assistant manager– know about the arcane legal points raised in the conflict-of-interest statutes?

Roca-Tipton, who was often in the majority of the former board with Dr. Sylvia Atkinson along with Peña, and Brown, seems to be distancing herself from their influence after Atkinson was convicted and sent to federal prison. 

Is this the silver lining that came out of the Atkinson conviction for bribery and the the new board majority's vote to exclude Salazar from legal counsel and then the Special Needs services contract?

If so, this tempest in a teapot may be the end of the Atkinson-Salazar grip on power over the BISD board, and by extension, of the district.