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

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.