THE REAL RUBEN CORTEZ: GRACIA OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR D-37

 (Ed.'s Note: One of our eight readers from up the valley sent us this mass social message aired by Tejanos Against Corruption PAC reminding voters of what Brownsville resident Ruben Cortez – in a runoff against former JP Jonathan Gracia for Texas House of Representatives District 34 – did while in public office. Cortez, like a recurring nightmare, is once again trying to bamboozle the voters with his smooth criminal act and hopes the district residents have by now forgotten his unenviable performance which ended costing taxpayers millions. Refresh your mind with this.)

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Taken from the Federal lawsuit by former School

Superintendent Hector Gonzales:

CORTEZ TRYING TO RIG INSURANCE CONTRACTS TOWARD PAL JOHNNY CAVAZOS:

Cortez, who has a H.S. diploma (GED?) became one of 15 new members to the Texas School Board of Education and ran against Celeste Zepeda Sanchez, who has a Bachelor's and Master's degree and has been an educator for 45 years.

With early voting starting on May 20th, please don't forget what Cortez accomplished as a BISD trustee. From the lawsuit in state court by former Superintendent Hector Gonzales:

February 2007: (Ruben) Cortez visited Gonzales and told him he did not want insurance provider Healthsmart as the new insurance carrier for the district. He told Gonzales that he and the other (co-conspirators) wanted Mutual of Omaha, or any other firm in which Johnny Cavazos would be the agent. Gonzales said he would not participate in this conspiracy.

March 2007: Cortez approached Gonzales again on the same issue and insisted that Gonzales only recommend one of Cavazos' insurance firms for the upcoming insurance contract. Again, Gonzales refused to join the conspiracy.

Dec. 2007 to February 2008:(Rolando) Aguilar, (Ruben) Cortez, and (Joe) Colunga met with Gonzales to discuss their "concerns" regarding the upcoming health insurance contract. They made it clear that they did not want Healthsmart, but one of Cavazos' companies.

Sept. 16, 2008:CFO Antonio Juarez recommended AAG/Berkley for the Stop-Loss Insurance contract which was not adopted by the board at that meeting. Afterwards, Cortez visited Gonzales in his office and told him he did not like the recommendation and didn't like "being lied to." Gonzales said he would have Tony Resendez, counsel with Walsh, Anderson, Gallegos, Brown and Schultze to look into the matter. Resendez recommended the matter be handled administratively with a warning to Juarez that perhaps he did "not communicate effectively" to the board.

Oct. 21, 2008:Cortez requested a consent item on the agenda related to "apparent misinformation" directed toward board members on insurance contract. Another "superintendent evaluation" was placed on agenda but no action was taken. Aguilar. Cortez, and Colunga all met with Gonzales separately after the meeting regarding Juarez. Each conveyed to Gonzales that they wanted him to fire Juarez for "lying" to them regarding the Stop-Loss insurance contract they wanted to go to Cavazos. They all wanted Gonzales to fire him and then give a recommendation to Cavazo's company.

When Gonzales didn't fire Juarez, but instead reassigned him to a grant administrator position, Cortez's reaction was immediate. – "Upon discovering the reassignment, trustees Aguilar and Cortez went to Gonzales' office outraged.They both screamed: "Why didn't you fire Tony? Why didn't you just terminate him?"

SUBVERTING THE BISD'S GRIEVANCE PROCESS TO "GET HIS ENEMIES":

– Immediately after the Sept. 23, 2008 board meeting: Gonzales and board members attended CUBE convention in Las Vegas and Cortez approached Gonzales and told him the current board did not extend his contract because they were going to "hold him hostage." He also said his job "was on the line" and that the superintendent needed to "prove that he would do as they directed" and to "start proving himself by firing (former Special Services Director Art) Rendon because that would make Colunga very happy."

Further, Cortez said there was going to "be a change" and that Gonzales needed to "play ball with his side" or be fired. He also said that once Zayas was elected, they would have the majority vote and that they wanted the current insurance policy cancelled and a new insurance policy to be awarded to Cavazos. Cortez also told Gonzales they wanted Rendon fired and his contract terminated immediately. Further, Cortez warned that Gonzales "needs to listen to him because they will be in control and all he has to do is do what they tell him to do" because "this was the way Brownsville operated."

– In the days and months following this episode: The BISD majority and its co-conspirators tried to procure false grievances against Gonzales in a further attempt to discredit, discriminate against, and terminate him.

– Sept. 18, 2009: Because of his refusal to stop and/or silence efforts to uncover and expose illegal and other improper activity of the conspiracy, Gonzales was terminated. He further charges in his petition that the conspirators – including Cortez – "manipulated and created evidence, coerced and intimidated witnesses, gave false testimony, and falsified records to make it appear that the Special Services Department was in a financial mess and in an organizational shambles. Further, the conspirators controlled, corrupted, and manipulated the entire grievance and appeal procedure such that the outcomes of specific and selected cases at the conspirators' choosing, were pre-determined."

SO THIS IS "KEEPING POLITICS OUT OF THE CLASSROOM"

Also May 2008: Cortez went to Gonzales and instructed him to promote his wife to principal of Benavides Elementary. Cortez threatened Gonzales that "if he wanted to remain at BISD as superintendent, he should make it happen. Gonzales said he could not oblige such a request. Cortez responded "we will see what happens." Cortez was also in the majority sued by former Special Needs Department Director Art Rendon, who stated in a sworn deposition in his case (Southern District of Texas 1:10-cv-00198) that:

"58. On or about June, 2008, Ruben Cortez, a sitting board member on BISD, contacted Plaintiff directly via telephone. He (Cortez) instructed Plaintiff to hire his sister, Linda Aguilar, for summer school employment as a Special Education teacher.

59. Plaintiff informed Mr. Cortez that BISD had hiring policies in place and instructed him that the hiring application for the summer of 2008 had already been accepted and processed.

60. Cortez sent Plaintiff his sister's application and insisted Plaintiff call her immediately and give her a job. Plaintiff set up a meeting between Cortez's sister Linda, Ana Lerma, who was a Special Education supervisor, and Dr. Lee Garcia, Assistant Director for Special Services. At the meeting, Ruben Cortez's orders were followed, and Linda Aguilar was given a job for the summer of 2008.*Source: https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/search?q=Ruben+cortez&m=1

THE REAL RUBEN CORTEZ:

Ethics Complaints

Cortez TX Ethics Commission Complaint 2-5-24Download document


Cortez TX Ethics Commission Complaint 11-28-23Download document

Tax Delinquency
Tax Document 1Download document


Tax Document 2Download document

Federal Lawsuits


Judge Hanen Decision 6-23-10Download document

NEWS SCANDALS

BAD FOR TEXAS

He (Cortez) was hired as a grant writer by Ruben Gallegos Sr. and Ruben Gallegos Jr. for International Educational Services (IES), a shelter for migrant minors that was shut down by the federal government after it was revealed - among other things - that the Gallegos had been paying themselves between $600,000 to and $700,000 in violation of federal guidelines.

And he won't say that he was getting around $70,000 as a "grant writer," although there is no mention of what grants he wrote or whether they were successful.

Not profiting from the misery of children? Did he refuse the cash or return it once he found out? Hardly.

Cortez even got the AFT teacher's union to issue a scathing assessment of the charter schools and migrant centers in Texas and they issued a statement saying:

“Anyone associated...with the troubling work of building and running a child prison camp should be disqualified from running for office..."

And what was IES for whom Cortez worked and received his inflated salary if not that?

And if the AFT had done their due diligence they would discover that Cortez was actively pursuing the establishment of a charter school in Brownsville which would have been in competition for state funding with public schools.

People from Brownsville remember when Cortez was trying to raise seed money to establish one here, going as far as to contact Ray Montanero – among others – to invest in the scheme that would leave a nice pile of cash from public-school funding in his bulging pockets.

"Everyone remembers thinking, why is Cortez pushing for a charter school when he's a member of the Texas State Board of Education and trying to fund a charter school in competition with the public schools when he was a BISD school board member where his wife is a principal commanding a $100,000 salary from the public schools,?" recalled a former county administrator.

And if the AFT had done their due diligence they would have discovered that Cortez was actively pursuing the establishment of a charter school in Brownsville which would have been in competition for state funding with public schools."Criticizing his opponent Luis Villarreal for having worked for one year while he (Cortez) was receiving his $70,000 from I.E.S. is the height of hypocrisy, a hypocrisy that has characterized all of Ruben's public life," he added.

(Ed.'s Note: Ruben Gallegos Sr. and Ruben Gallegos Jr. are scheduled to go on trial for conspiracy to steal from federal grants and embezzlement this September 3. IES finance director Juan Gonzalez, Sr.'s father-in-law and political uncle to Ruben Gallegos Jr., has pleaded guilty and will turn state's evidence in the government's case against the two men.)



*Source: https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2022/02/ruben-cortez-pot-calling-kettle-black.html





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