1. Discussion and action on motion taken by BISD Trustees on December 12, 2017 as it pertains to reorganization of the Board of Trustees and possible action for Board ReOrganization. (Board Member Request - JAR)
By Juan Montoya
These two items on the Brownsville Independent School District agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 6, may not seem at all related, but some sources in the district say they are.
The first deals with the forming of a public-private partnership related to the proposed $120 million facilities construction plan using a vehicle called the P-3 under the Texas Facilities Commission.
Under those guidelines, according to the Commission, "There are inadequate resources to develop new education facilities, technology and other public infrastructure, and government facilities for the benefit of the citizens of this state, and there is demonstrated evidence that partnerships between public entities and private entities or other persons can meet these needs by improving the schedule for delivery, lowering the cost, and providing other benefits to the public."
The Commission was passed through legislation dating back to 2015. There have been P-3 partnerships established across the country to finance affordable housing, roads, and other infrastructure, including educational facilities
A public-private partnership is a contractual agreement between a public agency (federal, state or local) and a private sector person or entity organized for the purpose of timely delivering services or facilities in a cost-effective manner that might not otherwise be possible using traditional sources of public financing.
Through this contractual agreement, the assets and professional skills of each sector (public and private) are shared to deliver a service or facility for the use of the general public, e.g., planning, designing, financing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and owning, and each sector shares in the potential risks of the timely and efficient delivery of the service or facility.
Sources in the district say that the adoption of these guidelines by the BISD board will bypass the traditional method of funding such as the issuance of bonds through the traditional financial consultants (Hinojosa, Estrada) and partner with pruvate lenders (such as Lone Star National Bank). The Lone Star National connection is through Noble General Contractors owner Rene Capsitran, a member of the Lone Star National Bank advisory board as is David Oliveira, the Brownsville attorney and cousin of District 37 State Rep. Rene Oliveira.Insiders say that Lone Star has been angling to be the lender to the BISD of up to $120 million over five years to construct a number of facilities in the district. To adopt the guidelines, the board only needs a majority to approve the establishment of the P-3 corporation.
That's where the reorganization of the board now being pushed by trustee Joe Rodriguez takes on a major importance. Before Rodriguez, it was trustee Phil Cowen who was pushing for the restructuring.
That was tabled, but the word is that both Cowen and Rodriguez want to make Carlos Elizondo, a former Brownsville Fire Department chief now under indictment, board president. They argue that Elizondo is next on the cycle to be board president. However, there have been some rumors indicating that he may have played a pivotal role in the acquisition of barbacoa meat processed in Mexico by a Region One Purchasing Cooperative vendor named Valco.
Elizondo, board president Cesar Lopez and unnamed "investors" were said to have traveled to Mexico to set up the deal for the BISD to purchase the meat. The matter was handed over to a local law firm which presented the board a report which it has declined to make public. El Rrun-Rrun has requested that it be given a copy of the report. The district is currently in a state district court trying to get some of its money back from the company which is now out of business.
As it is, with Elizondo charged with stealing funds from the firefighters union Political Action Committee, making him president of the BISD may not sit well with district residents. If Elizondo is not palatable, then Cowen may be tapped by Rodriguez, et al, to head the board.
But Rodriguez, Cowen and Lopez need Elizondo's vote to push forward the financing scheme through the P-3 corporation and start the facilities projects. The board in the past voted to increase ad valorem taxes on district properties by 11 cents to use as leverage to borrow the $120 million over a five-year period.
In a sense, Elizondo's vote may well be worth millions and Cowen and Rodriguez will hunker down and are prepared to weather any storm of criticism over Elizondo's current criminal status to get their plans passed. But with Lopez contemplating a run for port commissioner, he might not want to go through the reorganization and having to answer to the voters for placing an indicted criminal defendant to head the school district.