EL RRUN RRUN
http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/
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PRESAS-GARCIA EXPLAINS WHY THE $700,000 SETTLEMENT
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By <strong>Catalina Presas-Garcia</strong><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGofmJ_k9u529q8lmNsybucZA7PTyKQtLV2ejtsK5qwsWvhT5VLqIoz5ZsvB0DFEsJ7-R3YdYSNOD7qHLynXlYtwgwaBzRy7YU6fFqL0Dt9N9kc53vcosUBHSsb-7ut16yXiougGzbME/s1600/cata1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGofmJ_k9u529q8lmNsybucZA7PTyKQtLV2ejtsK5qwsWvhT5VLqIoz5ZsvB0DFEsJ7-R3YdYSNOD7qHLynXlYtwgwaBzRy7YU6fFqL0Dt9N9kc53vcosUBHSsb-7ut16yXiougGzbME/s1600/cata1.jpg" /></a>No one â€"and I least of all â€" likes to give away the Brownsville Independent School District’s money. Like you, I would rather spend it providing a world-class education for our students, keeping our teachers employed, and easing the burden on our taxpayers.<br />But if paying $700,000 to settle means it would stop our paying three or four times as much if we lost in court â€" as our attorneys assured us we would â€" the prudent thing to do was to face the truth and cut our losses. The record will show that I wanted to go to court, until I learned that it would have meant disaster for our finances.<br />These lawsuits arose after two former board members â€" Rick Zayas and Ruben Cortez â€" and two current ones â€" Joe Colunga and Rolando Aguilar â€" voted to fire former superintendent Hector Gonzales and Chief Financial Officer Tony Juarez. They were angry that Juarez did not recommend that the BISD’s lucrative Stop-Loss insurance contract be given to the company whose agent of record was their longtime political supporter Johnny Cavazos. They ordered Gonzales to fire him, or be fired himself.<br />Federal Judge Andrew Hanen issued an order later upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Both found that there was enough evidence to go to trial to determine if the four defendant-trustees â€" Zayas, Cortez, Colunga and Aguilar â€" had conspired with others and engaged in illegal conduct to deprive the two men of their constitutional rights because both chose not to join the conspiracy and went to the FBI and state law enforcement instead.<br />Since the lawsuits were filed we have spent millions defending the district and the trustee-defendants. Even before we paid the $700,000, BISD estimates we had spent this much*:<br /><br />· $366,755 to Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal (includes the Art Rendon case)<br />· $150,000 on BISD Insurance deductible<br />· $1,100,000 ACE Insurance settlements<br />· $700,000 ACE Insurance Legal Fees<br />Until we settled, we had spent a grand total of<strong> $2,316,755</strong>…<em>with no end in sight.</em><br /><br />If we had lost in court, this would have been multiplied by three or four times. All of it would have come from our fund balance since the insurance companies do not pay damage judgments caused by the illegal conduct of the trustee-defendants.<br />That is the unvarnished truth. The federal record speaks for itself and I, for one, am not going to second-guess a federal judge and two federal courts and spend more of your money defending the indefensible.<br />Distasteful as this episode has been, it’s time to put this behind us and move forward and use our funds to provide our students the education they deserve.<br />*Source: BISD Financial Office </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-6090675802108035615?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/09/presas-garcia-explains-why-700000.html
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Y BARRANQUILLA QUERIDA, NUNCA TE PUEDO OLVIDAR
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By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong><br />We confess. When we suggested that Hizzonor Da Mayor Tony Martinez would advocate making Browntown a sister city to Barranquilla, Colombia, were were speaking tongue-in-cheek.<br />But lo and behold, even before he had gotten off da plane! da plane! that's exactly what he was advocating.<br />If his plan goes through, how many sister cities would Brownsville have total?<br />Let's see, we have our neighbors across the river, Matamoros. That's one. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtTSm1lOhi__nTvpKyICz5yDcfeNXfKPfHkc-V7YXywfBgTET6Zq0j_9bXXzkSRYD-y81lz5DaJFp9AygHU3gn_2VMG3oaGnKSuhS5TIZsbtB7x6HhagmuiFRrQar1-yIBEpn6AapalY/s1600/barranquillacolombia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtTSm1lOhi__nTvpKyICz5yDcfeNXfKPfHkc-V7YXywfBgTET6Zq0j_9bXXzkSRYD-y81lz5DaJFp9AygHU3gn_2VMG3oaGnKSuhS5TIZsbtB7x6HhagmuiFRrQar1-yIBEpn6AapalY/s400/barranquillacolombia.jpg" width="400" /></a>Barranquilla would make two.<br />Somewhere we had heard that even Valle Hermoso has at one time been counted as our sister city as well.<br />The we have Tampico, Tamaulipas, Miguel Allende, Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo, Santa Catarina, Nuevo Leon, and for cosmopolitan purposes, Capri, Italy.<br />Just what have we done with these cities to promote the sister city concept?<br /> Are there exhibits somewhere that depict life and commerce in these entities? Or will the adoption phase wear off after a while and the idea get tossed into the bin of forgetfulness like the others?<br />Maybe what we need is a Sister City Czar to keep all this stuff straight or at least to communicate with them every once in a while. <br />Let's see, we already have a Ambassador of Good Will in Raplh Cowen, who single-handedly adopted San Miguel Allende. Doubtless the fine food and wines there might have provided an incentive for Ralph to pander to the Miguel Allendans. But Ralph has been kind of busy lately trying spending our good money at the port trying to lure the elusive cruise ship business to Port Isabel and the Island.<br />But for example, when was the last time we had any inkling of what's happening in Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo? Or perhaps Capri, Italy? And just where is Santa Catarina? Does anyone even know without looking at a map of Mexico that it's nestled on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico?<br />Depending on who's mayor next, we wonder what other locale will be added to the Brownsville family? God forbid that someone comes up with the bright idea to open up a sister to sister relationship with San Fernando or other trouble spots south of the border.<br />All this talk about having another sister city isn't sitting well with some Matamoros residents.<br />"When," they ask, "has Tony Martinez visited Matamoros or attended any function there?"<br />And speaking of manners, remember when they had the Hands Across the River ceremony during Charro Days? The coordination between the city and federal authorities was so bad that during that ceremony, a large number of forced deportations was happening simultaneously, much to the chagrin and embarrassment of the Matamoros delegation.<br />"Isn't there someone coordinating these things?" asked an incredulous Matamoros businessman present during the ceremonies. "They could at least have coordinated the event with the federal authorities to wait until the event was over. It was awful. The US showed no tact toward their neighbors." <br />For the meantime, however, we look forward to the Colombians coming to Brownsville laden with exotic tropical fruits and gifts. Or is that what they expect us to do when Tony and Gilbert go back there again?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-2161521189275387400?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/09/y-barranquilla-querida-nunca-te-puedo.html
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