LOCAL ATTORNEY REPRESENTED UVALDE CISD ADMINISTRATION'S RECOMMENDATION TO TERMINATE SCHOOL POLICE CHIEF ARREDONDO

(Brownsville attorney Mike Saldaña, of Walsh Gallegos Treviño Kyle and Robinson, left, emerging from closed session after representing the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District administration in its recommendation to terminate school district Chief of Police Pete Arredondo last Wednesday, August 24.) 

Special to El Rrrun-Rrun

The unanimous vote this past Wednesday by the board of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent District District to terminate its district police chief Pete Arredondo whose performance (or non-performance) in protecting Robb Elementary School's children and staff was greeted with general approval in that city, the state, and probably across the United States.

Nineteen elementary school children and two teachers were slain that fateful day, and the repercussions of that horrendous event are still being felt across the country. 

Before the board members reached that vote, however, they were presented evidence by a well-known Brownsville attorney.

That attorney was none other than Mile Saldaña, born and raised in the barrios of Brownsville and a longtime associate with the prestigious statewide law firm of Walsh Gallegos Treviño Kyle and Robinson who works out of their Harlingen office. The firm has represented the Uvalde CISD as general counsel for several years and  has handled all legal matters for the district since the fateful, gut-wrenching tragedy occurred May 24.

Saldaña – once the board attorney for the Brownsville ISD – is a stickler for attorney-client confidentiality and would neither confirm nor deny his role in the board's vote for Arredondo's termination. But video of the role he and Walsh Gallegos Treviño Kyle and Robinson played in assisting the board to reach their decision has surfaced on social media as he emerged from closed session and the board voted for Arredondo's termination after hearing emotional and angry comments from an audience that included the families of the slain victims.

Overwhelming visual evidence, coupled with witness testimony by parents and law enforcement officers all pointed to the fact that Arredondo had failed miserably to honor his oath to serve and protect  the residents – and the 19 children and two teachers – who were slaughtered by a deranged teenager with an assault weapon while the chief and other law enforcement officers cowered in a hallway outside the classroom door.

But the school board members – caught between demands from outraged citizens from a community that is far from emotionally recovered, if it can ever recover, and forced to make a decision on his firing – relied on Saldaña, who represented the administration in its recommendation to terminate Arredondo.

The board's decision to terminate Arredondo – coincidentally, three months to the day after shooting – was made after due deliberation and without opposition from his legal representative who announced about an hour before the hearing that he would not allow his client to appear at the open hearing. 

Arredondo had been the focus of the media and several investigations  of his role and response to the active-shooter incident. The Texas House Committee report on the Robb Elementary shooting was critical of the former chief for failing to take command of the situation which resulted in a chaotic and disorganized response by hundreds of law enforcement officers representing more than 20 different law-enforcement agencies.

Security camera footage shows officers and Arredondo, specifically, frozen in the hallway of the building for over an hour when the shooter opened fire on them from inside the classroom where the children and teachers were trapped. 

The political fallout was exacerbated after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made initial statements to the press praising the response by law enforcement, only to be confronted with contradictory evidence that the officers' response was substantially less than heroic, which Abbott said had made him "livid."

Although Saldaña declined to comment, his longtime colleagues say he was probably selected by  Walsh Gallegos Treviño Kyle and Robinson because of his extensive trial experience, knowledge of education law, and aggressive style in the clutch when it comes to representing his clients.

"Mike is a good attorney," said Brownsville attorney Rick Zayas, himself a former BISD board member. "Some people don't like him because he can be too direct and blunt at times, but when push comes to shove, he's the guy you want in your corner."