http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/
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IF CORTEZ SUCCEEDS, A H.S. GRAD WILL RUN HERD ON PHDS
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-weight: normal; ">By</span><b> Juan Montoya</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Like a phoenix who has gone down in flames and rises to fly again, political observers are shaking their heads in disbelief at the resurrection of former Brownsville Independent School District board trustee Ruben Cortez who was defeated two years ago but is now running for the Texas School Board of Education on the ballot this May 29.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Cortez, who was beaten by current trustee Enrique Escobedo, then ran for the board of Region One, which oversees the boards and districts in South Texas and ...won.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Then, less than two years after he rose from defea<span style="font-size: 100%; ">t on the Brownsville board, he shook off the dust of defeat and is now running for the state board of education.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">The wonder of it all, say some, is that just as he did when he was in Brownsville and Region One, if elected, he will be over people with college degrees such as those with bachelor's, Master's, and even PhDs.</div><div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">"Can you imagine having someone like Cortez making decisions over people with doctorates?," asked a former Brownsville trustee. "This is ludicrous."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">During the 2010 campaign for BISD trustee, his opponent Escobedo focused o</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB4nU_8zEI-QFqf-GbqNvxAMRzCEshel2kpNr5C_bA_3fH3F76xi5oHrtFOJbX829_vUUE_nztz5P1hdZlXv6dTaFBoHm70Jf3AiWNubAejjt76wmFTKpyEXk6824XoKwStHsBmZ8XcU/s320/cortez.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730220936635801602" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px; " /><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">n Cortez's jetting around the country as a district represe</span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">ntative and spent some $35,874 in only two years taking 27 trips, including one to Las Vegas at district expense.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">He also paid for an ad where he stated that back in 1994, Cortez had been arres</span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">ted for DWI after he refused to blow into a breathalyzer.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">But the kicker is that Cortez, who sat on a board that would make decisions and evaluate the performance of people with educational attainment higher than he had ever reached, only listed a high school diploma as stated in a story in the Brownsville<span style="font-size: 100%; "> Herald.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Additionally, the ad stated that Cortez had been "personally sued" for defamation, retaliation, conspiring to silence, plotting to intimidate and more. In all, the ad continued, the BISD "has spent at least $228,447 in legal fees prosecuting and defending these cases."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">That was even before the latest round of lawsuits where Cortez, Rick Zayas, Joe Colunga and Rolando Aguilar â€" the</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "> reigning majority at the time â€" were named as defendants by the former director of the Special Needs department, the former Chief Financial Officer, and former superintendent.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">In the case involving former CFO Antonio Juarez, a federal judge refused to give him and the other three co-defendants qualified immunity<span style="font-size: 100%; ">, meaning that they can be charged as individuals as well as in their official capacity. The lawsuit alleges the defendants conspired to deprive Juarez of his constitutional right </span>to<span style="font-size: 100%; "> protected speech.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">In the case involving the former superintendent Hector Gonzales, a state case also charges that Cortez was pressuring the former superintendent to fire Juarez after the former CFO did not recommend that an insurance broker be awarded the district's lucrative Stop-Loss contract.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">In the case of former Special Needs director Art Rendon, the district's new board majority voted to settle the litigation rather than air the allegations in open court. In the Rendon case, he specifically states that Cortez interfered in the department's hiring process to have one of his relatives hired after the application period had expired.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">"58. On or about June, 2008, Ruben Cortez, a sitting board member on BISD, contacted Plaintiff directly via telephone. He instructed Plaintiff to hire his sister, Linda Aguilar, for summer school employment as a Special Education teacher.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">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.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">60. Cortez sent Plaintiff his sister's application and insisted Plaintiff call her immediately and giver 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.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4569120114486784140?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/04/if-cortez-succeeds-hs-grad-will-run.html
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A FEISTY HERMINIA GETS SIDELINED IN HOSPITAL WITH ILLNESS, VOWS TO RETURN
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<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">By </span><b style="font-style: normal; ">Juan Montoya</b><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Herminia Becerra, who is either a politiquera or a community political activist depending upon one's point of view, was hospitalized after complaining of acute stomach pains and nausea.</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Friends and family members said she started complaining of pains in her stomach and vomiting violently after a full day of campaigning on behalf of her candidates and that they decided to get her medical attention after she was unable to stand the pain.</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Today, speaking from her hospital bed after undergoing MRI exams, a visibly weakened Herminia said she felt somewhat weak. Nurses said that they won't have a clear idea what downed the 83-year-old matriarch and would have a better idea after the results of her examinations were analyzed.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-style: normal; ">"Blame Ruben Peña," quipped a local </span><i>politiquero</i>. "Maybe Herminia got an ulcer from all the stress caused by people who accuse her of manipulating the mail-in vote in Cameron County."</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Herminia, however, remained feisty (but weak) as she spoke with family members.</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">"I am being followed by at least three different cars," she said. <i>"Pero nadie me hace nada porque yo no hago nada malo."</i></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhW9DSNRD3P8fIdhPIZYHWoSyYCJjZlXniF0iZzoq3vMNa_RhLBLgIdKIilO3FVGl0zWO16-HD9-wln1VdMRgO-UwFbMigXht_BFke4FonVoeDx3ORj4sSqHd3zO2gPWRVknkr5x936Q/s400/herminia.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730197596505635154" /><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Family members have defended her and say that the acquaintances that she has cultivated from the mid-1960s when she left the migrant stream and decided to work the political field instead. The names of those politicians that she has helped by convincing her acquaintances to vote for her candidates are legion. Ray Ramon, Ernie Hernandez, his daughter Erin G. Hernandez, Dan Reyna, the late Pete Benavides and his wife Sofia, Blanca Vela, etc., all came to her for help. She maintains that she helps them because she believes in them.</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Others are less charitable and say she convinces her elderly charges to vote for her candidates and manipulates their vote for pay. Until now, no law enforcement official or prosecutor â€" county, state or federal â€" has been able to make the charges stick. Paradoxically, most judges and district attorneys may have used her services at one time or another.</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">In fact, when Peña was trying to get her indicted on voter fraud, she took every opportunity to point out that she had worked to get his sister-in-law Blanca Vela elected mayor of Brownsville. </div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><i>"Yo le ayudo a la gente</i>," she maintains as she lies on the hospital bed in her gown after the exams. "I've got all the telephone numbers in my head," she laughs. "I don't need a notebook. The hard disc still works."</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Until the results of the medical exams reveal what brought the feisty <i>politiquera</i> down, her relatives said she hopes to be back on the campaign trail, albeit slowing down just a mite.</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">"No para," said a niece tending to her. "She's up at dawn and doesn't stop until it gets dark. We get tired just watching her. Maybe it was time she took a rest." </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-2615032145755786639?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/04/feisty-herminia-gets-sidelined.html
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FRENCH MAIDS IN A ROW, THE POKER CHIPS FLYING, THE CANDIDATE DEALING HANDS OF 21
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8l327JdkS57tThGmf636OspKUWeTuZu-Ab0K6Qr2Dg8CNgz9Jd2L1ciP3oAg1EvwDVUWJNyvoyRXDbHy29Ru93Upc0bXV8ZRb1TxPj3qeXpxSnYPrSBwg1QP2kYxx9QU_wO42syJc5ZA/s1600/tad.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8l327JdkS57tThGmf636OspKUWeTuZu-Ab0K6Qr2Dg8CNgz9Jd2L1ciP3oAg1EvwDVUWJNyvoyRXDbHy29Ru93Upc0bXV8ZRb1TxPj3qeXpxSnYPrSBwg1QP2kYxx9QU_wO42syJc5ZA/s400/tad.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730186609996352978" /></a>By Juan Montoya<div>The poker chips were flying, wine and drink glasses clinking and the French maid-dressed hostesses were sashaying around the tables waiting on guests last night at the Days Inn.</div><div>By any measure, this campaign event â€" dubbed Tad's Fabulous Casino Night â€" was singularly unique. Tad is running against Dr. Reynaldo Garcia for Place 6 on the Texas Southmost College District election this May. Now, we've seen everything from the traditional pachanga with the local conjunto, the chicken plates and the keg in the corner for the imbibers, the Loteria Mexicana with equally fabulous prizes which has been a hit with Yolanda Begum's followers, the ritzy restaurant greet-and-meets, but the French-maid Casablanca motif was slightly different.</div><div>Don't get us wrong. This wasn't a Evelon Dale Hollywood theme production with Oscar presentations for the candidate, etc. In fact, the caterer for the event was none other than Republican candidate for District 38 State Representative Alex Torres, who's running against E-3 (Eddie Lucio III). </div><div>Still, the thrill was to go through the 13 chips, of different denominations, while the rest of the players sought to lighten you or your stash.</div><div>Through it all, Tad (a la Rick [Humphrey Bogart]) slithered through the game tables checking on the games.</div><div>"I'm shocked, shocked, that there's is gambling going on in this establishment," he told a visitor. </div><div>"Here's your winnings, sir," said James, sidling up to him and handing him a handful of chips which Tad surreptitiously pocketed in his tux inside pocket.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-2076274887494159808?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/04/french-maids-in-row-poker-chips-flying.html
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