3. Recommend approval of Election and Board Re-organization of officers. To begin effective January 16, 2018. (Board Member Request - Phil Cowen)
By Juan Montoya
What do you do if you have someone on the Brownsville Independent School District board of trustees who:
![Image result for phil cowen, carlos elizondo]()
1. Is under indictment for Theft by a Public Official and Misappropriation of Fiduciary Property?
2. Is accused of stealing $8,000 over two years from the Brownsville Firefighters Association's Political Action Committee?
3. Is accused of stealing between $20,000 and under $100,000 from those same funds over the six years he was listed as treasurer of that PAC?
4. Was removed as treasurer by the Texas Ethics Commission after he failed to file yearly reports of the PAC to the TEC as required by law after one year, but neglected to tell his fellow firefighters about it and continued to control the PAC's credit card?
![Image result for phil cowen, carlos elizondo]()
5. Was sued by firefighter Sacramento Diosdado who claimed that someone (nobody knows who) had changed Elizondo's grades on a captain's civil service examination so that his grade went up from 69 to 71?
Diosdado had scored a 70, and the changes placed Elizondo over him for consideration for promotion to that rank. After the story came out, the civil service director resigned citing emotional stress problems.
6. Had his record expunged to erase any mention of a felony charge against him for stealing materials from Los Fresnos lumber company?
7. Remained on the BISD board when he was a city employee despite the fact that the city's policy manual specifically prohibits it citing potential conflicts of interest?
Would you believe that Cowen has been pushing to make him president of the BISD board for months now and that the item on Tuesday's agenda of the board meeting was placed by Cowen to make it a reality?
Now, we know that Cowen is the chairman of the BISD Facilities Committee and needs every vote he can get to push through his agenda. After all, there will be $100 million of construction projects on the table and who better but Phil would want to direct how that money is spent and into whose pockets it will go? Think of it as Elizondo's vote being worth a mint.
Now, we all know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but the general tone of Elizondo's public service has not been one of honesty or integrity.
So what do we want to teach the children of BISD?
That if you steal, cheat and lie you just might be made president of the BISD board?
Now, it takes three trustees to place an item on the agenda, so try to figure out who agreed to place it there. Joe Rodriguez certainly needs Elizondo's vote for this $1.4 million scoreboard for Sams Stadium. And Carlos wouldn't mind being named president to thumb his nose at his detractors and Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.
Can you lower the bar any further down guys?
By Juan Montoya
What do you do if you have someone on the Brownsville Independent School District board of trustees who:
1. Is under indictment for Theft by a Public Official and Misappropriation of Fiduciary Property?
2. Is accused of stealing $8,000 over two years from the Brownsville Firefighters Association's Political Action Committee?
3. Is accused of stealing between $20,000 and under $100,000 from those same funds over the six years he was listed as treasurer of that PAC?
4. Was removed as treasurer by the Texas Ethics Commission after he failed to file yearly reports of the PAC to the TEC as required by law after one year, but neglected to tell his fellow firefighters about it and continued to control the PAC's credit card?
5. Was sued by firefighter Sacramento Diosdado who claimed that someone (nobody knows who) had changed Elizondo's grades on a captain's civil service examination so that his grade went up from 69 to 71?
Diosdado had scored a 70, and the changes placed Elizondo over him for consideration for promotion to that rank. After the story came out, the civil service director resigned citing emotional stress problems.
6. Had his record expunged to erase any mention of a felony charge against him for stealing materials from Los Fresnos lumber company?
7. Remained on the BISD board when he was a city employee despite the fact that the city's policy manual specifically prohibits it citing potential conflicts of interest?
Would you believe that Cowen has been pushing to make him president of the BISD board for months now and that the item on Tuesday's agenda of the board meeting was placed by Cowen to make it a reality?
Now, we know that Cowen is the chairman of the BISD Facilities Committee and needs every vote he can get to push through his agenda. After all, there will be $100 million of construction projects on the table and who better but Phil would want to direct how that money is spent and into whose pockets it will go? Think of it as Elizondo's vote being worth a mint.
Now, we all know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but the general tone of Elizondo's public service has not been one of honesty or integrity.
So what do we want to teach the children of BISD?
That if you steal, cheat and lie you just might be made president of the BISD board?
Now, it takes three trustees to place an item on the agenda, so try to figure out who agreed to place it there. Joe Rodriguez certainly needs Elizondo's vote for this $1.4 million scoreboard for Sams Stadium. And Carlos wouldn't mind being named president to thumb his nose at his detractors and Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz.
Can you lower the bar any further down guys?