Aletheia in La Joya Politics Presented by Parmenides

“Et tu Brute?"

2008-03-17T16:07:00.007-05:00

The Spilt and Downfall of Western Hidalgo County

It has been quite a while since I updated my blog and I even had trouble remembering my password in order to log on and make this post. This page has been idle for to long and while the new LJISD election begun in full swing today, I decided to take a stroll down history as to provide some background so that we can better understand the current turbulence occurring in present day Western Hidalgo County. I have been posting frequently in The Monitor’s comment section on a recent article by Sarah Perkins. This post is in response to a poster calling him/her self, “New in La Joya”.

Excuse my ignorance but, I have been living in La Joya enough to vote in the upcoming elections, but not enough to have voted in the last ones. Can someone please explain to me who belongs to what party and what is it that they want to do for the district? And why are these elections happening again? Please excuse my ignorance again.
-New in La Joya

First let me say that both parties involved in this race run under the banner of the democrats, and that in itself can be confusing when the word party is being thrown around. Back in the 1965 a man by the name of Leo J. Leo, the first mayor of the re-incorporated La Joya and Mexician-American Civil rights leader, had an idea of unifying all the Latinos of Western Hidalgo County as a political force. It was here that the term “The Party” was coined for this particular group of individuals. Billy Leo is the son of Leo James Leo, and continued his father’s legacy of the unification of the West and became the Party’s leader. With this powerful political bloc, the West was able to secure attention and funds from county, state, and federal leaders, rather than having multiple disorganized voices that no one would listen to. Kino Flores was one such political leader that was a member of this party, and with his ownership of a State Rep. seat, was a powerful ally to have in the party.

It is unclear when and what caused the party to fracture in half, but it is my opinion that Kino Flores was tired of playing second fiddle and not reaping any kind of personal benefits from "The Party". I believe the fracture first occurred during the 1998 County Judge race when Billy Leo entered the run-off election against a better financed and well known Hispanic name, Eloy Pulido (nephew to Tejano Star Bobby Pulido). Despite being the 2nd highest vote receiver of the 5 candidates, the lack of financial support and name recognition was clearly going to be to much for Leo to overcome. So one by one, the people whom Leo considered his close friends stopped being so vocal of their support for him and starting shifting their attention at the candidate in the lead. This is politics at its finest, where loyalties go out the window in order to satisfy the person who will emerge victorious. Politicians and elected leaders began to grovel at the feet of the soon to be victorious Pulido with the hopes of catching a favorable eye or even some scraps from the new “king”. Here is where Kino Flores comes back in to play, as he was one such beggar at the feet of the soon to be County Judge Elect Eloy Pulido. The infamous Irene Garcia, who was being watched by the Secretary of State for her tactics used in the recent LJISD elections (I can’t find the document detailing this even anywhere online, but I promise you I saw it in person- I’ll try to find a hard copy and scan it, and upload it for all to see), was seen driving around the Palmview area telling voters to go vote for Pulido over a PA system, and that is where everything went downhill. Kino Flores had pulled a Brutus by stabbing his Caesar in the back and thus creating the initial rift in “The Party”. Flores furthered the divide by putting up a Triumvirate slate of candidates to run against Leo’s “The Party” candidates in the March 2006 LJISD school Board race-Uresti, Salinas, Alaniz also known as USA-and officially produced the fissure in the West that remains till this day. Arturo Gonzalez (another former Party member) and Espie Ochoa (self proclaimed Team GO) are a continuation of this slate supported by Kino that has spilt a unified West in half. They are opposed by the original party candidates, Mingo and Elma, a party that was never involved in any fraudulent elections, scandalous promotions , creating hostile working environments, unethical and unprofessional tactics, or money squandering techniques. While those comments I just threw out may be considered opinions, they are backed up with plenty of factual evidence here in my blog.

The upcoming March 25 elections are a re-do of last year’s School Board election that were ruled fraudulent by a local court, an election that was run by the LJISD who was/is controlled by the Kino party. As the first article states, this election was supposed to have taken place on February 16, but a flurry of appeals and stalling tactics by the GO clan forced the date to be pushed back. After exhausting their first appeal, which upheld the fraudulent ruling of the first judge which stated that election clerks put there by the Kino party: "1) Allowed ineligible voters to vote, 2) Prevented eligible voters from voting 3) Improperly relocated voting machines, and 4) Engaged in Fraud."

While this new election has been delayed for a while know, it is only fitting that Early Voting begin on the week of the Ides of March, the same date that Brutus carried out his sinister plot in 44 B.C.

You Scratch my back, I'll Scratch Yours...Money is Not an Issue wink,wink

2007-05-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

A busy work schedule has kept me silent for way to long, but do not take my silence as evidence that things are quite in La Joya ISD. Quite the contrary; things have been as hot as ever. It seems since Uresti, Salinas, & Alaniz have been elected, things have slowly begun to deteriorate at La Joya ISD.

This post will address the Truth of the financial issues occurring at the La Joya ISD. The Truth that the people of La Joya first need to be aware of is the one that involves the fiscal irresponsibility’s of the school district. *Disclaimer* Since The Monitor updated their website, I have been unable to retrieve many of the news articles that would support my arguments. The following information was obtained courtesy of the La Joya ISD through the Open Records Act.*

A couple of months ago, The Monitor published an article that revealed Attorney Robert Jackson's outstanding $360,000/Yr salary. For those of you that may not know, Mr. Jackson was the attorney who represented Uresti, Salinas, & Alaniz during the 2006 school board elections. In July of that same year, the "new board" now controlling the majority (with the conversion of Arturo Gonzalez to the dark side) voted to replace Leo Montalvo as the school attorney with Robert Jackson, a man who has no experience in dealing with school law and runs a small law practice out of the city of Palmview. This was in stark contrast to a major law firm, Montalvo and Associates, which could handle the demands of such a large school district and was experienced enough to deal with litigation issues the district would soon be facing. There was also speculation floating around that this decision had already been made before the meeting and that Attorney Montalvo had been notified before hand that he would be replaced. Speculation, yes, but as we saw a year later in a different incident, maybe not so speculative after all.

A conversation Navarro recounted having with State Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores, who is campaigning for the candidates allied with Salinas, Alaniz and Garza-Uresti, bolsters what the three minority members say about the outcome being predetermine

Navarro said Flores, who called her to inquire about another voting issue, told her last week he was sure the board wouldn’t approve giving the elections to the county.

“Just by you mentioning that to me, you can probably infer that he’s talked to board members,” she said. --The Monitor

As stated by The Monitor in that article and proven through an open records request, Robert Jackson made $135,000 from July 31, 2006 through October 26, 2006 at a monthly rate of $30,000! Simple math then gives you the $360,000/yr. salary that I mentioned above, making him the highest paid school attorney in the Rio Grande Valley. You would think that Mr. Montalvo's excellent track record with the district would put him at a similar if not higher salary. Leo Montalvo was making a whopping $125,000/yr. which is $235,000 less than Robert Jackson. One word for that: WOW! The disturbing Truth of this salary and as it related to what I mentioned about Robert Jackson's capacity to handle the demands of the La Joya ISD, is that he does not have the resources nor the experience to handle this new client of his. As a result, the district was forced to retain the legal services of Leo Montalvo and in addition, hire two more attorneys (Ramon Rosales & Rene Ramirez) to come to the aid of an ill equipped Robert Jackson. I guess Uresti, Salinas, & Alaniz paid for their campaign legal services courtesy of the taxpayers of La Joya ISD. Adhering to the policy of you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours, Robert Jackson repaid the favor by hiring a new secretary, Frances De Leon, who happens to be the daughter of School Board Member Fito Salinas and city council candidate Maria Salinas. More on her later.

Oh people of La Joya, we should have seen the writing on the wall then! Robert Jackson and Filomena Leo were the forerunners for what was to become a torrent of U.S.A. & G.’s reassignments, political hiring’s and firing’s.

Next on the chopping block was Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Rebecca "Becky" Villarreal, and next up for hire was Antonio "Tony" Uresti. As I mentioned in my other post, "'Unacceptable' Actions at La Joya ISD", Tony Uresti, husband to Board Vice-President Rita Uresti, soon found himself in the Assistant Superintendent's chair despite his appalling track record as a principal. Again citing the open records as my source, his salary actually began at $81,758 due to the extraordinary leap from a poor performing middle school principal all the way up to the next in line for the superintendency-an appx. $20,000 increase. The interesting thing to note is that his salary increase did not stop there. As of December 5, 2006 (4 months after taking the job given to him by his wife) his salary was further adjusted multiple times to a total of $95,000. It seems that the new board felt that a $13,242 increase was in order since he was put under so much stress after his school was deemed unacceptable by the state and branded a PEG school. Seeing as my prediction about his promotion came trye, my future forecast for him, if they keep their majority, has him sitting in the top chair of the district: La Joya ISD Superintendent.

Another high level reassignment that I also talked about in "'Unacceptable' Actions at La Joya ISD" was that of Gerardo "Jerry" Perez. Lack of experience in their respective fields, seems to be a theme for Uresti, Salinas, Alaniz, and Gonzalez. Just as Tony Uresti had no HR experience, Jerry Perez lacks the experience in the Pupil Transportation Services field or any administrative field for that matter. His actions, as reported on KGBT Channel 4 News, give us an insight on how he conducts his job and treats his employees.

"It's a hostile environment because everybody seems to be on your back. We're driving a bus picking up some children and you see a white truck in back and they have some tablets and they're writing this or that, or they're looking to see where you're going, where you're turning, how long you're taking...He just gets a call and he just moves people around and he'll tell you, I can move anybody I want because I'm the director, said Transportation department employee Ermelinda Salinas.

This employee, Ermelinda Salinas, was later terminated (Item H, Personnel) from her job for exposing the Truth on the inner workings of the LJISD Transportation Department. Furthermore, she was denied action at last nights meeting (Item H, Personnel) in the third level of her grievance process against the district for unlawful termination. Well then, since Jerry Perez was also put under so much stress from the media coverage and angry bus drivers he too was compensated for his distress in the amount of $10,746.30. Beginning at an initial salary of $59,704.68 in September of 2006, his salary was adjusted to an amount of $70,450.98 by December 5, 2006.

And just like in the case of Robert Jackson, Jerry Perez soon found himself overloaded with a job he could not handle. So, U.S.A & G. brought in Reynaldo Contreras as a retire-rehire employee at a salary of $55,519.47 to relieve the pressure on Mr. Perez. By November of 2006, he too received a salary increase up to $59,912.01 at an increase of $4,292.54. Furthermore, the district's retire-rehire policy states that rehired personnel can only be hired in three areas: teachers, bus drivers, and principals.

Next up for hire was Sandra Ann Alaniz Villarreal, the aunt of board member John Alaniz, who was made the G/T Coordinator at a healthy salary of $70,078.58. Another example of where things go well for you when you have a relative on the school board. It would appear that these people are still living in medieval times in where the royal blood line of the monarchy rules the country.

Our next lucky person on the list that is also in the "royal bloodline" is Esmeralda Flores Anany sister to the crown: Kino Flores. The reassignment of Parental Involvement Coordinator Myrta Cardona left another position to be filled by those that are lucky enough to know, or in this case be related, to the right people. Esmer Anany held the position under M. Cardona with the title of Parental Involvement Specialist and still holds that title. This position has yet to be filled but despite the fact that she retains her title, Esmer Anany still received a salary increase of $13,141.67 to a total amount of $77,166.76. Esmer Anany is the same person that organized an appreciation lunch for parent volunteers, a school sponsored event, last week that turned into a political rally for Gonzalez and Ochoa. The guest speakers were a slew of Palmview folks that are avid supporters of the Gonzalez/Ochoa ticket: John Alaniz (well we know all about him don't we) and the man himself, Kino Flores. Also present, but not on the list, was Irene Garcia, mother-in-law, to Kino Flores and husband to Mayor of Palmview Jorge Garcia. Uninvited guests include: the Board of Trustees for LJISD (John A. was there representing the City of Palmview), and parent Cristina Alaniz who according to The Monitor is the “outgoing president of the state’s parent advisory council on migrant education, as well as a long-time parent volunteer in the district." The uninvited Irene Garcia took it upon herself to remind the parents, while wearing a yellow t-shirt with the candidates name on it, to remind the parents present of the favors owed to her and her husband in the form of votes for Gonzalez and Ochoa. Also, "Political fliers attacking Gonzalez and Ochoa’s opponents — current board member Elma Garza and former board member Mingo Villarreal — papered the cars parked outside the event.” Already proving that their concern for this gathering was more for promoting their candidates then the parents and students, the event organizer, Anany, took it a step further. In attempt to satisfy the hard working individuals that distributed the fliers, they were provided with food plates intended for the parents and students. This left many of those parents and students with nothing to eat. Instead of apologizing for the incident and taking some responsibility for her actions, Anany instead insulted the parent volunteer by calling her "1 percent of 30,000 parents in the district” and said that she has “been known to turn situations around, to lie. ” I didn't know being 1% of the parent population made you any less of a parent? She not only insulted the president of the state’s parent advisory council on migrant education, she insulted all the parents of La Joya ISD.

Lastly, we get to a position that did not involve any reassignments but rather was created for a specific individual. As an SAP Interventionist, Oscar Salinas was receiving a salary of $25,743 and an avid supporter of the U.S.A. campaign effort. Despite the fact that this individual does not have a degree, he was given the newly created "Radio Talent/Disc Jockey" with a salary of $38,661.39. This is an increase of $12,918.39 for an individual who does not have a college degree. His new salary is slightly higher than a degreed and certified beginner teacher at La Joya ISD makes which begin at $38,500. Well, so much for college huh, I guess I should have just joined the campaign of Uresti, Salinas, and Ochoa.

The Truth cannot be withheld from the people despite the actions these people have taken in order to prevent this information from reaching the public. What began as a snowball with Robert Jackson, the actions of this board have led the district into an avalanche of financial woes that we may feel for years to come. Taking into account all of the salary increases, the “highly qualified” attorney’s fees, benefits, and the salaries that still have to be paid to the people reassigned, you are looking at well over $1 million dollars that has been misused by this district since the new board took office. This is not taking into account the lawsuits that the district is being slammed with for their unlawful reassignments and terminations. They may think money grows on trees but the Truth of the matter is that the money tree comes from the taxpayers of the La Joya ISD. There is only one way for you to inform our leaders that the Truth has prevailed and that is to let your voices be heard in the form of the ballot box.

Why Fito Salinas Cannot Live With Himself

2006-12-01T18:39:00.000-06:00

As we all know by now, Mr. Fito Salinas, LJISD Board Secretary has some hate in his heart when he publicly stated that he hated liars. "I hate Liars."-Fito Salinas. Well, that is pretty clear and to the point, no argument there...he obviously hates liars. So what if Mr. Salinas himself is a liar...would that mean he hates himself as well?

When Fito Salinas stated that, "We had 62,000 students [in SAISD] and we transported everybody (emphasis mine)," he seemed to lack some truthful qualities to his statement. I made an inquiry with the SAISD Transportation department, and when I asked if they bused everyone in their district, their response was that they do not bus those that live within a two mile radius and as far as they could remember, this policy had been in place since they the 80's. Sounds very similar to the policy La Joya enacted back in 2004. In fact it sounds like the same policy that 13 other school districts in the San Antonio area follow (Only 3 school districts in the area bus their kids, and they all have a student population under 7,000). Interesting enough, this same policy is followed by most major school districts in the Valley, and most densely populated areas in the state as well (Incidentally, this includes Round Rock ISD where Rita Uresti has a sister working).

So it appears as if Mr. Salinas is a liar and so therefore must hate himself. Which brings to question, “if you hate yourself, then how could you live with yourself?” But, this isn't the first time Mr. Salinas seems to lack some truthful qualities to his statements.

When Team USA failed to disclose their campaign finance reports Mr. Salinas explanation was, "It was just an oversight. We understood that if we were intending to keep campaign funds (open) we didn’t have to file." But, it seems the campaign treasure had a different story when we was quoted as saying that, "he had filled out all the necessary paperwork and turned it over to the candidates to file with the appropriate district office. The file must have slipped through the cracks." So Mr. Salinas says he thinks they didn't have the file, but his campaign treasurer says it fell through the cracks? Oh Mr. Salinas, continuing on his fraudulent journey through his residency in office. Why do I bring this all up you ask? Because, I believe that the Truth must be brought out and expose those that do not serve the people but rather themselves. This self-service example has already been evident with Rita Uresti's promotion of her husband to assistant superintendent despite his school's poor performance rating (yes old news but, still relevant- also a thank you to The Monitor for mentioning my blog there).

One may argue that proof of their service to the people was shown when they kept true to a campaign promise to bus all the students of La Joya ISD. And one cannot deny that they listened to the people, but did they really have a choice? Their only definitive platform was that of the bus issue, and it was the platform that most directly led to their victory. Therefore, they had to keep true to their promise of the buses at no matter what cost to the district. I do not blame those that voted for this team based on this platform, since ideally I would love to see every kid across the state bused. Unfortunately, the State, not the school district, does not deem transportation of those living within two miles as a top priority and so does not fund this method of transportation. In an era of school finance, tight budgets, and rising gas prices, La Joya ISD did not have much choice in joining the long list of school districts in this state that do not transport all their students. All this meant was that more responsibility fell on to the parents to adhere to their parental duties off picking up and dropping of their children at school.

*NOTICE- This post was originally created on 9/04/06 but since I have been so busy this semester, I have not had the time to touch it up and post it. Since I do have a little more time on my hands, I will be attempting to catch up on my blogging. I do have another post that I was working on during that month that I will soon publish as well. Sorry for the delays, I will try to get back in to the swing of things and get up on the latest going on in La Joya Politics.*

Former Governor Ann Richards

2006-09-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'm sure many have heard the news by now about former Governor Ann Richards, but since no one else has posted anything else on their blogs, I thought I'd mention it here briefly. I always loved that commercial she made against George W. Bush some time back in referencing the losing streak of the Dallas Cowboys. She said something along the lines of, "Hey, when I was governor, the Cowboys didn't lose." Classic! I have great respect for that woman (even had the honor of meeting her a couple of times-was young), and I wish her family and friends well in this time of grief. Here is a great article from the Austin American Statesman.

"Unacceptable" actions at La Joya ISD

2006-08-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

The release of the 2006 accountability ratings has once again put La Joya ISD in the limelight due to the fact that one school has been rated unacceptable and is now effectively on the PEG list. TEA states another criteria to being on the PEG list includes campuses that "were rated Academically Unacceptable...under the statewide accountability system." As already stated by Rico Politico, in Rio Grande Politics, Nellie Schunior Middle School received the state's unacceptable rating. Those that have come to the defense of Mr. Uresti, principal of Nellie Schunior, claim the responsibility falls to the teachers and not the administrator. I agree with this to a certain extent. We are only human who are subject to make mistakes, and the best way to judge this principal, is to see how he copes with this mistake and makes adjustments as needed. It will due well to note that the last time a La Joya School was deemed unacceptable by TEA was in 1996 making this a 10 year record broken by Antonio Uresti. Unfortunately, as we all now know Mr. Uresti, husband of newly elected Board Member Rita Uresti, will not be held accountable for his ratings and will instead be given a promotion as Assistant Superintendent. This will increase his pay approximately $30,000 giving him a salary of apx. $90,000 per year. Where is the great investigative reporting of The Paper of South Texas that published their own similar views that occurred in McAllen ISD?

"A revolt over the firing of a popular McAllen High basketball coach has parents and teachers demanding that Chapa get rid of longtime McHi principal Delia Longoria. Parents and faculty are of the opinion that Longoria has demonstrated a lack of concern for the safety and well-being of students and faculty.
Close associates of the district tell The Paper that Longoria, a former Tippit and Chapa insider, is demanding that she be reassigned to a high-salary, assistant superintendent position that would need to be created for her."

While I do not know the complete facts on that situation, I do know that in this case when the person in question, Mr. Uresti, "demonstrated [his] own lack of concern" for his accountability, he was made an assistant superintendent.

Although I do not like to post anything based on "hearsay" it will be interesting to note that the "talk" before the ratings were released were: removal of several professional personnel to make room for their own people, including Mr. Uresti's promotion to Assistant Superintendent. It looks like the "talk" turned out to be the Truth as seven reassignments were made through out the district, including that of Mr. Uresti.

Others receiving promotion include Sandra Villareal to the position of GT coordinator for the district from the position of counselor. Comparing this to the newly assigned Assistant Superintendent, this too is a big leap. Sandra Villareal also happens to be the aunt of newly elected board member John Alaniz.

Jerry Perez is now the new transportation director for La Joya ISD. I guess he will be in charge of ensuring Team USA's bus plan runs smoothly since the proposed budget shows it will now cost the district an additional $4,382,267 to run the buses. Mr. Perez is also a city alderman for the city of Palmview who with another city alderman, Tony Uresti, will now be under Palmview City Manager-Board Member John Alaniz. I once argued with a student, on Rio Grande Valley Politics, on the incestuous relationships between Palmview and the district, and while I do not really see this as a major issue it is interesting to see how those before who cried foul at the relationship between the mayor of La Joya and the former superintendent react to this status quo.

The “talk” is that more promotions are on their way, and I will do my best to keep you all to date. The new superintendent for La Joya ISD will be named tonight. A busy work schedule doesn't allow me much time here, so I'll do my best.
**Update:** Dr. Alda Benavides was named the new La Joya ISD Superintendent last night.

Filomena Leo: A Successful Legacy at an End?

2006-07-20T02:32:00.000-05:00

As we all know by know, the La Joya ISD School Board hired international law firm Bracewell & Giuliani to investigate Superintendent Filomena Leo. While the timing of this was surprising, the fact that it occurred was not. It was something to be expected as seen by Team USA's comments throughout the election. As I have already shown, the reason for this was purely political. Before Fito Salinas helped to confer this theory, the board harped on the misdoings of Mrs. Leo and promised to get an investigation that would prove Mrs. Leo's wrongdoings and ultimately lead to her termination. Since we now the truth, however, the board had to choice but to negotiate a settlement with Mrs. Leo, as stated by The Monitor. It is no surprise that this move comes after the board admitted to its real reasons for ordering the investigation (look to the above post). So how do we know that the Mrs. Leo is guilty or not? If this board truly believed that, then they would have pressed forward with this investigation. Obviously, there were not enough (if any) facts to provide a reason for her termination. But it was never about any wrongdoing...it was all political. Again, "The board never disclosed any official reasons for suspending Filomena Leo or for hiring an independent counsel"(The Monitor).

I, unlike others, will not say with 100% certainty that she is guilty or not guilty, as there is no clear evidence either way to arrive at this conclusion, and I urge others to do the same. Make your own judgments according to what facts you do have. However, I will state that I do strongly believe that Mrs. Leo was never guilty of anything based on what little facts we do have. I believe that I have provided a sound and valid argument (post above) in supporting Mr. Leo's claims that, "it was apparent they (board members) wanted to embarrass her. We stand firm on the fact that they were trying to create something that was never there."

No matter what you do believe, this woman has served her district well and has established a successful legacy there that will be known for years to come. As a person, educator, a community leader, and administrator, Mrs. Leo has left her imprint on many others outside the LJISD as noted by her appointment by the Texas Association of School Boards. This woman deserves our respect for her commitment other students of La Joya ISD. It was disheartening and embarrassing to hear that "several [people that] whistled when the board announced the settlement." Making comments such as "Yes, she's gone", cheering & clapping, and publicly stating that a victory party was being held at the home of Robert Jackson, was anything but professional. I have observed to many comments on these local blogs that resemble these actions, and I just for once would like to see the people of the valley that are guilty of this, finally achieve some class.

The Prejudicial Judgment of Team USA

2006-07-16T02:16:00.000-05:00

This my first post on my blog is in response to a post made by the Friday, July 14, 2006 6:25:16 PM Anonymous poster on Rico Politico’s blog.

“How do you know that suspending Leo was not the right move? Granted we do not know why this move was made which is my point exactly. Granted public comments could have been worded differently. Granted the current school ‘board’ may have closets in their past.”-Anonymous poster.

To answer that first question, one only has to look at all the posts made in The Politicos blog and you will see facts that provide valid reasons on why she should have stayed in that position, including her certification, which has always been an issue. Many of these posts show her qualifications and prove her competency which debunks the claims of this board:

“Salinas, the board’s secretary, said he and fellow members have a long list of questions about Leo’s competency. Among those, he said, are concerns about her qualifications” (The Monitor June 23, 2006)

Competent as defined by Webster’s dictionary:

1 : proper or rightly pertinent
2 : having requisite or adequate ability or qualities : FIT (a competent teacher) (a competent piece of work)
3 : legally qualified or adequate.

Although there is, to a certain degree, a subjective quality to proving competence, let’s look at the facts. Mrs. Leo has served La Joya I.S.D. for 27+ years in various capacities: a teacher, a school principal, a counselor, an assistant superintendent. Interesting that her career track not only shows experience in the district, but a succession of jobs and promotions within the district which would leave me to believe---and any logical person, that she must be doing something right. Is that a stretch? With such responsibilities, wouldn’t a lack of competency make itself known? One can labor in relative obscurity when ensconced in a position of little responsibility that allows complacency and even laziness but the list of positions Mrs. Leo has held force much public scrutiny that would have brought to light a lack of skill and experience. An assistant superintendent’s position in human resources that requires finesse, skill and savvy to deal with the most personal of issues would clearly highlight deficiencies in a person. At the same time, having to make difficult decisions in that arena would also make many enemies. More on that later...On qualifications and educational attainment we turn to more objective criteria. So how does she rank? Again, citing her resume, ---and hoping she is not the “liar” someone said she is---she has an advanced degree and, on, 06/10/2006, she received her permanent Superintendent’s certificate. If again, incompetence is measured by attainment of certain certifications, degrees, etc., there is no issue here. Mr. Salinas himself holds the same certification. Would he call himself “incompetent”? So objective measures aside, what is the real issue? What is the real motivation for the Board action?

Her real reasons for her suspension are tied to the anonymous posters statements: “skeletons in their closet(s)” (emphasis mine-I am assuming you accidentally left out that word) to the “public comments” and to the fact that suspending Leo was a bad move. Let us examine this “closet”, see what we find, and see how it is relevant; and while many of these examples are not “skeletons” per say, they are still relevant.

Beginning with Mrs. Uresti, we know that her husband had some “qualification” issues. He served as a principal for almost six years without having his principal’s certificate. In the Fall Of 2004, this was brought to Mrs. Leo’s attention and she had no choice but to reassign him—an action wholly consistent with her position (Anonymous mentioned problems with administration- well here is an example of her dealing with some of those problems). Mr. Urersti then went on to correct this problem by completing the necessary work to attain his certification on April the next year. This being completed, Mrs. Leo went ahead and reinstated him as principal now that he had the proper credentials. On April 12, 2006, according to dozens of eyewitnesses, Mrs. Uresti confronted Mrs. Leo after a board meeting in an aggressive manner screaming at her. This aggressive move on Mrs. Uresti’s part forced Mrs. Leo to retrieve the police chief, Mr. Raul Gonzlez, and remove Mrs. Uresti from her presence. Although an official police report was not filed, the fact that Mrs. Leo felt it necessary to have an officer of the law intercede highlights the verocity of Mrs. Uresti’s action. This account is verified by dozens of witnesses who were present at this meeting who also observed Mrs. Uresti being removed from the board meeting itself at the request of the board president, Elma Garza. Again, this action occurred, after Mrs. Uresti’s husband was put back in his former position.

As for Mr. Adolfo “Fito” Salinas, we know that he had some problems regarding his unauthorized use of school property. At the property in question, located at 5 mile line and N. Tom Gill Road, which is under title to the La Joya Independent School District, Mr. Salinas took it upon himself to fence in said property to allow his cattle to graze the land. In response to this, Mrs. Leo, as the head administrative agent for the district and as part of her fiduciary duty to the district, asked Mr. Salinas to remove his fence and cattle from the property.

Now we get to Mr. John Alaniz. For reasons known only to himself, although they may indeed be valid reasons (the reasons are not relevant in this argument), he requested his children be transferred to another school. Unfortunately, due to zoning regulations the district denied his request. In response to this, he enrolled his kids into a private school. Now, we do know that this is not a decision that is handled by the superintendent and we also know that Mr. Alaniz was unhappy with this decision. This is a fact that I learned from supporters of the Alaniz camp during the campaign, as they stated many times that he was upset with Mrs. Leo for not transferring his children.

As we now see, USA all have motives to get back at Mrs. Leo which, I would argue, form the basis of their vendetta. I choose that word carefully, but mindful of what that entails. Again, I turn to Webster’s.

VENDETTA

1 : BLOOD FEUD
2 : an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts or exchange of such acts vendetta against those who opposed his nomination>

This is strong word and quite an accusation, but there is some evidence, in the form of public behavior by Mrs. Uresti and Mr. Salinas to support this claim. Mr. Salinas is obviously still upset, when he uses strong rhetoric and makes “public comments” such as “She’s a liar. I hate liars, and the Leos are a bunch of liars” (The Monitor, July 9, 2006). What proof does he have to make such a claim? He cites no evidence or examples and leads the reader to believe that absent any hard evidence—or even anecdotal for that matter—these comments are the words of a man fueled by a personal anger and bitterness to the Leo family. The base of this personal animosity is first introduced on the eve of Mr. Salinas’ successful election to the La Joya School Board—a time that should have been marked by celebration and instead strikes a negative tone with the comment from Mr. Salinas, “It is the beginning of the end of Billy Leo…He sees the writing on the wall.” (The Monitor, May 21, 2006)

We can also see how Mrs. Uresti is still upset by observing the way she would speak to Mrs. Leo during board meetings. While it is difficult to read in to how people speak to each other and interpret them, as I am no Psychologist, our common knowledge as human beings can clearly show us the situation at hand. On many occasions whenever Mrs. Leo spoke, she was immediately interrupted by Mrs. Uresti in a disrespectful and demeaning way. It was almost as if she did not acknowledge the presence of Mrs. Leo in the room, as she would then proceed to ask questions to the other board members or make some kind of statement. This occurred on many instances in many meetings. So much so in one meeting, that it caused me to take notice of it. As representatives of the district, it is disheartening to see our elected officials act so unprofessionally in a public setting and to be quite honest, a little embarrassing. Then again, it is not surprising, as witnessed by their actions taken before they were elected into office.

What really happened between Mrs. Leo and Mrs. Uresti concerning the action against Mr. Uresti, and then again with Mrs. Leo and Mr. Salinas concerning his use of school property for grazing of his cattle, may be subject to interpretation (the typical game of he said, she said), but that these incidents did transpire are a matter of fact that can be corroborated by public records and eyewitnesses. So the question for the outside observer is, do these differences form the basis of a personal vendetta that resulted in a public display of improper comments and board action, or is Mrs. Leo simply blowing it all out of proportion to support her claim as the recipient of unwarranted action? On answering that question, we turn again to Mr. Salinas’ most recent comment in the Monitor where he says, of the board action, “it’s political. I’m not going to say it’s not.”...

So, you be the judge.