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LENNY BUTTS INTO INTERNET SPAT, DOES CHEEZMEH'S DIRTY WORK
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<div>By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br /><br /><div>It's been a while since we've last peeked into the small world of Brownsville Fire Department Chief Lenny Perez.</div><br /><div>You remember Lenny. He's the same Lenny that allowed his underlings to send Station 6 personnel and fire trucks to Vela Intermediate for a Fire Prevention Week presentation only to have a fire break out in an apartment in nearby Coffeeport (no<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmGEAK6geydbCmCFWM6PE-C5m4M6ttNEv6rDhd773w8FI-g7OUp1kVkRjg0-bxFLJ0biTnpwhReOQaV-jIQuq6i-iwTLmhEQRgAr7bj9OMcdz_R0stV3yGtXhd9aqnGFuKYwL3vz_Zq8/s1600/aaaa.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5743594310235552322" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmGEAK6geydbCmCFWM6PE-C5m4M6ttNEv6rDhd773w8FI-g7OUp1kVkRjg0-bxFLJ0biTnpwhReOQaV-jIQuq6i-iwTLmhEQRgAr7bj9OMcdz_R0stV3yGtXhd9aqnGFuKYwL3vz_Zq8/s320/aaaa.jpg" border="0" /></a>w on the stretch renamed Jaime Zapata) that led to the death of a child.</div><br /><div>Since the crews were making a presentation at Vela, the fire crew from the station on Old Alice Road had to be sent there, only to arrive too late to prevent the fatality. That resulted in a lawsuit being filed against the city. </div><br /><div>Then there was the occasion where Perez issued an indefinite leave of absence as a disciplinary action to firefighter Marco Longoria after he refused to submit to having a drug test performed on him by an authoritative clinic technician but had it performed at another site by certified personnel that same day.</div><br /><div>Lenny took umbrage at Longoria and issued the edict. After costing the city thousands to defend his actions, a panel ruled against the city and Longoria is back on the job. His case was defended by the Brownsville Firefighters Association.</div><br /><div>Then there was the case of the pet dog adopted by the firefighters at Station 6 that caused Perez to go ballistic, and he personally went to the station to take custody of the offensive pooch. Even though there was a whole station crew there, Perez singled out members of the union and sought to write them up for the incident. </div><br /><div>At the time of the incident, a group of Brownsville firefighters filed a police report against the fire chief accusing him of "taking" their puppy. Longoria was, and remains, president of the union and Jorge Lerma, at that time a firefighter at Station 6, is a board member of the Brownsville Unity Council, a coalition of unionized members from different professions. Rico Bocanegra, also a firefighter is president of the BUC. </div><br /><div>Perez justified his taking the dog to the dog pound saying that having a pet at the station constituted a "liability."</div><br /><div>"One of the kids can pull the dog's ear or do something and the dog can bite him. That's a liability. ... The dog runs around the station. It can get hit by one of the fire trucks." </div><br /><div>To say that there is bad blood between Perez, the BUC and the Firefighter's Association would be an understatement.</div><br /><div>Enter Erasmo Castro, the self-appointed Head Cheez of the Internet group Cheezmeh who has pretty much thrown the mantle of community watchdog of Brownsville over their shoulders. Castro took umbrage that the the firefighters and EMS department paramedics, previously members of Cheezmeh, left the group. As if that wasn't bad enough, they endorsed Yolanda Begum over Castro's choice of Erin Hernandez Garcia, the daughter of Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez for Justice of the Peace 2-2.</div><br /><div>Then, to his dismay, Castro, who is not above calling people who disagree with his political philosophy or opinions in general, "idiots and "bitches," on his Facebook page, was insulted over what he alleges were libelous statements directed against his ample person on the Brownsville Crossfire blog operated by Lerma.</div><br /><div>After conferring with Perez (and getting direction from him?) on the phone, he submitted a formal complaint demanding that the chief take disciplinary action against Lerma for "posting libel and defamatory posts and comments" against him and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd2_cGlEed8mYBHbz9EqapuSS86gCVy02EA5yy4oh9WFD77_XU2lMWpt6kt3HYrkgGR6z-rC1bIlWodzhdm9CsbJBTWYoWGJZ3asNeJubgAayhKZqHpRfrVKj5B79ib5WKVaH_85n3DU/s1600/FatBastard_2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 262px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5743593536949259442" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd2_cGlEed8mYBHbz9EqapuSS86gCVy02EA5yy4oh9WFD77_XU2lMWpt6kt3HYrkgGR6z-rC1bIlWodzhdm9CsbJBTWYoWGJZ3asNeJubgAayhKZqHpRfrVKj5B79ib5WKVaH_85n3DU/s400/FatBastard_2.jpg" border="0" /></a>calling him the "mastermind and exposing my criminal background."</div><br /><div>He also wrote Perez to complain that Lerma has "interjected these posts but has also included pictures of a "Fat Bastard" character from a movie making fun of my weight and implying that I'm a bastard."</div><br /><div>After informing Perez that he was a taxpayer and a voter in the city and that "I am a resident of Brownsville who at the moment is studying a Masters Degree in Austin" and said he had filed a police report against the bloggers in that city. He added that "if action is not taken by this the city's employer, I will pursuit (sic) any and all relief granted by the law. If relief is not granted I will consult with legal counsel."</div><br /><div>As an afterthought, he added in his own writing on the bottom of his formal emailed complaint that "please note that it is also Rigo Bocanegra permiting (sic) libel material to be seen and distributed from this page." </div><br /><div>Well, apparently that tickled Lenny to no end and he sent notice to Lerma at Station 6 and to Bocanegra at the Central Fire Station that a complaint and investigation into possible misconduct under Texas Govt. Code Ch. 614 and ordered them to give a statement.</div><br /><div>Not to be outdone, Bocanegra and Lerma filed a complaint against Castro with the Brownsville Police Dept. alleging his complaint with the city against the operation of an Internet blog on their own time constituted harassment that could endanger their livelihoods.</div><br /><div>Now, we don't know if the Texas Gov't. Code for municipal employees covers activity outside the firehouse, but to have the likes of Perez place himself (and the city) as an arbitrator of free speech on the Internet is somewhat of a stretch. Does Lenny know what he's getting the city into by intruding himself in his official capacity into this spat?</div><br /><div>Or will his desire for vengeance blind him to the fact that he is stepping way over the bounds of his authority and calling the operation of a blog a "subversive act?"</div><br />We can just imagine the civil attorneys out there with their mouths watering to see what Lenny does and how much they will be able to take from the city as a result of his actions. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4440214033129769785?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/05/lenny-butts-into-internet-spat-does.html

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ANOTHER WORKER HURT AS A RESULT OF COUNTY'S PUBLIC WORKS COMPADRISMO
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By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br /><br />Remember when we told you about the rampant "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" <em>compadrismo</em> plaguing the Cameron County Works Department fostered by Pct. 2 Commissioner Ernie Hernandez?<br /><br />We outlined how Public Works Director Louis Ara and his supervisor Santana Vallejo have stuffed that department with their <em>compadres</em>, relatives and in-laws, often resulting in material losses for the county as in the case of the Carmen Road overlay fiasco that is being redone today after Vallejo and his crews supposedly finished an expensive overlay less than a year ago.<br /><br />We outlined the fact that Ara's sister, a former Hernandez employee at Ernie's Fiesta Graphics, is now the receptionist for Pct. 2; how one of Vallejos brothers is in the <em>colonia</em> road crew, and how Vallejo's <em>compadre </em>Rosendo Rodriguez and himself have somehow slipped through the cracks after being the targets of a homeowner's complaint that they were selling driveway pipes they dug up during county road projects.<br /><br />The complaint against the men were dismissed, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-JjYVayOvcQA6VEAJlUjua-FCsED5DFH8Y_tesppkQucB2moBX0X-ydo35EbrVXC9PW8eUwIViZ6uqj9ARkuByRDEa7Em3br1rsKAu5H_rtL5KYXonZff-lGr0xt-0uac5ejqd6AP1g/s1600/a.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5743578194510742386" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-JjYVayOvcQA6VEAJlUjua-FCsED5DFH8Y_tesppkQucB2moBX0X-ydo35EbrVXC9PW8eUwIViZ6uqj9ARkuByRDEa7Em3br1rsKAu5H_rtL5KYXonZff-lGr0xt-0uac5ejqd6AP1g/s400/a.jpg" border="0" /></a>according to sheriff department officials, on a "technicality."<br /><br />We also outlined how Vallejo's placing of inexperienced an foreman on the Cameron Park <em>colonia</em> project had resulted in at least one worker getting injured after the foreman did not follow safety procedures and a trench caved in on him causing severe injuries and resulting in costly medical bills for the county.<br /><br />We also wrote how Rosendo's brother Ricardo was given a position in the Cameron County Cameron Park crew simply because Vallejo and his brother Rosendo are <em>compadres</em>.<br /><br />Now we learn that Ricardo Rodriguez is no longer with the Cameron Park crew following yet another mishap involving heavy equipment while he was the operator.<br /><br />Apparently, Ricardo Rodriguez was given the job of operating a backhoe with members of the road crew assisting him as they worked on roads in Cameron Park.<br /><br />One of them, one Noe Santibañez, was working helping Rodriguez when the operator lost control of the hydraulic arm and struck Santibañez, causing injury that fortunately turned out to be non-life threatening. However, as is the policy of municipalities and governmental entities, the fact that an onsite accident occurred required that the operator be subjected to a test for the presence of alcohol or other controlled (illegal) substances to determine whether their consumption may have contributed to the accident.<br /><br />Rodriguez, apparently, refused to take the illegal substance test and is no longer part of the <em>colonia</em> road crew. Now, will the fact that his brother Rosendo is Vallejo's <em>compadre</em> lead to a reinstatement somewhere else on the county payroll, or will county administrators apply the rules impartially on this one?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-1537992695396509821?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-worker-hurt-as-result-of.html

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WILL WE PROVIDE BISD-REJECTED CORTEZ WITH A STEPPING STONE TO ACHIEVE HIS POLITICAL AMBITION?
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By <strong style="font-style: normal; ">Juan Montoya<br /><br /></strong>Some past Brownsville Independent School District board members still remember when they visited the Texas Legislature in Austin with some administrators to lobby against unfunded federal mandates that would have to be paid by local districts.<br />As they tell it, they were wondering the hallways of the Texas capitol looking for the names of the key legislators they wanted to collar and make their pitch to protect school districts who were having to bear the costs of implementing the mandates from Washington.<br />Among them was former trustee Ruben Cortez, who said to the group: "One of theses days my name is going to be on one of these doors."<br />The groups stood in silence until one wisecracked: "Ruben, it looks like you already have your name on a few of these doors."<br />"What do you mean?," asked Cortez.<br />"Well, I remember passing a few doors with the word 'Men' on them," responded the other.<br />In the roar that followed, with former superintendent Hector Gonzal<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHt9DZQtTpj6jER2XN1PcZZViH0yaIC0KPIq2ooQLqaKUwk47iqztrN3jhni5ZWh3yrN061fXTQ0no5QZSmkYUh0iLfiRAfB9HE0qMKqRztlTlLcGdUvvLHRK_xrGveQUWouu3jurJrc/s1600/01_Social-Climber.jpg" style="font-style: normal; "><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 280px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 340px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5743549704420410578" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHt9DZQtTpj6jER2XN1PcZZViH0yaIC0KPIq2ooQLqaKUwk47iqztrN3jhni5ZWh3yrN061fXTQ0no5QZSmkYUh0iLfiRAfB9HE0qMKqRztlTlLcGdUvvLHRK_xrGveQUWouu3jurJrc/s400/01_Social-Climber.jpg" border="0" /></a>es choking with back his laughter, Cortez stood unsmiling.<br />"Ruben meant it," said a trustee who was there. "He was serious when he said his goal was to be a state rep from South Texas."<br />Cortez hasn't allowed his overweening desire to be dampened by the rejection of the BISD voters when they ejected him from the board after he and the former majority basically gutted the district of its reserves to cover the egregious overspending on construction projects that enriched local architects and contractors.<br />In two short years, the district went from a reserve balance of $175 million to $68 million. It was change-order galore on several school projects, the most notable was the Veterans Memorial High School that went from a planned $45 million price tag to more than $60 million.<br />Then he, along with his fellows on the majority schemed to fire the superintendent, the Chief Financial Officer and the director of the Special Needs Department. In the litigation that followed, the district had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars ($100,000s) to defend them. In fact, the spending continues as Cortez and his fellows still have two lawsuits in federal and state court charging them with conspiring to rig insurance bids, retaliation, defamation and violation of civil rights.<br />The BISD, which had been the recipient of the prestigious Broad Award which netted it $2 million in scholarships and the CUBE award for the performance of its administration and board of trustees, earned the unflattering slogan of going "From Broad to Broke" during his watch.<br />Undaunted, after he was rejected by the BISD voters in 2010, he continued his upward climb into the politics by running â€" and getting elected to â€" the Region One board of directors. After the 2010 census, when the 15 districts in the Texas State Board of Education were redrawn, he saw a chance to advance his ambition and is now running for District 2,which serves the counties of Aransas, Calhoun, Ca<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijn5zf40eM-R_fVqbUD25KxNPPINo5caxo1g8_IYWkKE1hRI8Y_BsgB7ouBj71E_0sjRWicjb_lrSMV6pkf6nR6ng6Zu8TKm92h9e8CzWNj-3bxQq-Oy1k2oBplhXtqqFt7_X0WBerAEc/s1600/celeste.jpg"></a>meron, Goliad, Jackson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Wharton and Willacy, as well as parts of Hidalgo County.<br />Unbelievably, he, a high school graduate, somehow wrangled the endorsement of the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) for the position over two better educated and qualified professionals. One of them, Kingsville Independent School District (KISD) Trustee Larry E. Garza R.Ph. has nineteen years of service on the KISD School Board and is a licensed pharmacist. The other, Celeste Zepeda Sanchez, D-San Benito, just up the road from Brownsville is assistant superintendent for curriculum with the San Benito School District with 45 years of experience in education.<br />She has the breadth and depth of experience ranging from her early years as an elementary school teacher that followed her migrant students to Michigan providing summer classes for these Texas school children to serving as the Director of the Gifted and Talented Program at San Benito ISD, followed by a position as Assistant Superintendent with the Edgewood School District in San Antonio, Texas.<br />Sanchez holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Texas A&amp;M-Kingsville.<br />As the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum with the San Benito School District where she has focused on curriculum innovation, technology enhancements, and successful efforts in external funding through sponsored grant programs.<br />Now, really, what business does the TSTA have in endorsing an undereducated political social climber over these two, especially Ms. Sanchez, who has dedicated her life to education? Will their members follow their leadership over the cliff by voting for the least qualified candidate for District 2.<div>Just last week the <i>Corpus Chrisiti Caller-Times</i> endorsed her for the the Democratic nomination. <br /><div style="font-style: normal; ">An ad in Sunday's Brownsville Herald, McAllen Monitor and Harlingen Valley Morning Star outlines Cortez's utter failure as a trustee at BISD. Do we as voters deserve to foist this man on the unwary $1.7 million residents on District 2?</div><div style="font-style: normal; ">God forbid!</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-5002432803988382370?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/05/willwe-provide-bisd-rejected-cortez.html





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