By Juan Montoya
The Texas Ethics Commission has found that the Brownsville Taxpayers Political Action Committee formed to defeat former Brownsville Independent School District trustee Catalina Presas-Garcia deliberately violated the Texas Election Code in at least two instances and fined its treasurer $1,500.
The final resolution on TEC SC-3170479 was issued to PAC treasurer Juan Flores Fermin June 29.
![Image result for caty presas garcia]()
But if one reads between the lines, BISD general counsel Baltazar Salazar's prints are all over the creation and the funding of the PAC even though he – and the person listed as treasurer – claims he was not member.
Salazar was listed on the PAC's reports as the only donor to the PAC making in-kind contributions totaling $13,200 in the form of payments to Brownsville advertising and marketing firm Breeden/McCumber. The TEC also noted that all the invoices were billed directly to Salazar.
The Brownsville Taxpayers PAC filed a treasurer appointment on November 26, 2016 listing Leal as its treasurer, and listed an address of 925 N. Iowa in its 30-day pre-election report covering the period from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29.
The address was for a vacant lot up for sale. The commission found that the Cameron County Appraisal District listed the owner as Marser Corporation. During that period at issue, the property was being offered for sale by Marser Corp. through the company Liz Realty, which is owned by Liz Vera, Salazar's sister.
Leal changed the PAC's address in the eight-day pre-election report to 9574 Ravensworth, in Houston. The commission's findings indicate that Harris County Appraisal District records list the owner of the property as Maria and Baltazar Salazar.
Leal initially denied the allegation regarding providing false addresses. Later, in response to written questions, he stated that the Brownsville address he had disclosed in the 30-day election report was an "inadvertent error" and that "the address has been used on the same computer writing the report and it was mistakenly left on the digital page by mistake."
![Image result for baltazar salazar contributions to BISD candidates]()
He also claimed that the Houston address the PAC disclosed on the eight-day pre-election report was the address the committee was going to use for mailing and business but that it was unable to get local utilities under the PAC's name. An amended campaign treasurer appointment Nov. 8. 2016, the day of the election, listed Leal's address as 3740 Glenmont in Ft. Worth.
The other violation of the Texas Election Code was the PAC's failure to identify in both pre-election reports the candidates supported and opposed and the officeholders assisted. In one report, the PAC disclosed that the committee supported three candidates and opposed one candidate, all of who were running for the BISD board of trustees against Presas-Garcia. The candidates who filed for the Place 5 position were 1. Laura Perez-Reyes, 2. Erasmo Castro, 3. Elia Cornejo Lopez, 4. Caty Presas-Garcia (incumbent), 5. Laura Castro.
Perez-Reyes ended up being the eventual winner, and was the recipient of two separate $2,00 campaign donations by Salazar in her race against Presas-Garcia.
In that eight-day pre-election report, the PAC disclosed that it accepted in-kind contributions totaling $13,200.42 from only one contributor, Baltazar Salazar, for web design, legal services, and political advertising mailers. The commission found that communications from the committee directly opposed only one candidate (Presas-Garcia) and that there was no evidence to show that it actively or directly supported the other three it listed.
The TEC did not find that the PAC did not disclose all political contributions accepted and political expenditures made by the committee. However, since the only contributions were from Baltazar in the form of in-kind expenditures, it found that the committee had not violated this this third part of the complaint.
When Salazar was hired by a majority of the district, Presas-Garcia and Lucy Longoria were the only members of the board who voted against him. They said his firm has scored the lowest of all 17 firms handing in responses to the BISD's Request for Legal Services. Later, Salazar accused Presas-GArcia in open meeting alleging that she had made sexual advances to him in the parking lot of the BISD's main office.
He later tried to submit an agenda item to the board to censure her and possibly remove her from the board. The board refused to consider the motion.
When Salazar applied for the board he admitted in his application that he had been convicted of three felonies of theft by check but that the convictions had been "set aside" by the court. When he tried to expunge the convictions, the Texas Department of Public Safety objected to the expungement and the expungement was reversed. The majority of the board – over Presas-Garcia and Salazar's objections – hired him nonetheless.
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/thirteenth-court-of-appeals/2013/13-12-00771-cv.html
To date, those three felony convictions remain on the record.
The BISD is currently paying Salazar more than $280,000 in salary.
The Texas Ethics Commission has found that the Brownsville Taxpayers Political Action Committee formed to defeat former Brownsville Independent School District trustee Catalina Presas-Garcia deliberately violated the Texas Election Code in at least two instances and fined its treasurer $1,500.
The final resolution on TEC SC-3170479 was issued to PAC treasurer Juan Flores Fermin June 29.
But if one reads between the lines, BISD general counsel Baltazar Salazar's prints are all over the creation and the funding of the PAC even though he – and the person listed as treasurer – claims he was not member.Salazar was listed on the PAC's reports as the only donor to the PAC making in-kind contributions totaling $13,200 in the form of payments to Brownsville advertising and marketing firm Breeden/McCumber. The TEC also noted that all the invoices were billed directly to Salazar.
The Brownsville Taxpayers PAC filed a treasurer appointment on November 26, 2016 listing Leal as its treasurer, and listed an address of 925 N. Iowa in its 30-day pre-election report covering the period from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29.
The address was for a vacant lot up for sale. The commission found that the Cameron County Appraisal District listed the owner as Marser Corporation. During that period at issue, the property was being offered for sale by Marser Corp. through the company Liz Realty, which is owned by Liz Vera, Salazar's sister.
Leal changed the PAC's address in the eight-day pre-election report to 9574 Ravensworth, in Houston. The commission's findings indicate that Harris County Appraisal District records list the owner of the property as Maria and Baltazar Salazar.
Leal initially denied the allegation regarding providing false addresses. Later, in response to written questions, he stated that the Brownsville address he had disclosed in the 30-day election report was an "inadvertent error" and that "the address has been used on the same computer writing the report and it was mistakenly left on the digital page by mistake."
He also claimed that the Houston address the PAC disclosed on the eight-day pre-election report was the address the committee was going to use for mailing and business but that it was unable to get local utilities under the PAC's name. An amended campaign treasurer appointment Nov. 8. 2016, the day of the election, listed Leal's address as 3740 Glenmont in Ft. Worth.
The other violation of the Texas Election Code was the PAC's failure to identify in both pre-election reports the candidates supported and opposed and the officeholders assisted. In one report, the PAC disclosed that the committee supported three candidates and opposed one candidate, all of who were running for the BISD board of trustees against Presas-Garcia. The candidates who filed for the Place 5 position were 1. Laura Perez-Reyes, 2. Erasmo Castro, 3. Elia Cornejo Lopez, 4. Caty Presas-Garcia (incumbent), 5. Laura Castro.
Perez-Reyes ended up being the eventual winner, and was the recipient of two separate $2,00 campaign donations by Salazar in her race against Presas-Garcia.
In that eight-day pre-election report, the PAC disclosed that it accepted in-kind contributions totaling $13,200.42 from only one contributor, Baltazar Salazar, for web design, legal services, and political advertising mailers. The commission found that communications from the committee directly opposed only one candidate (Presas-Garcia) and that there was no evidence to show that it actively or directly supported the other three it listed.
The TEC did not find that the PAC did not disclose all political contributions accepted and political expenditures made by the committee. However, since the only contributions were from Baltazar in the form of in-kind expenditures, it found that the committee had not violated this this third part of the complaint.
When Salazar was hired by a majority of the district, Presas-Garcia and Lucy Longoria were the only members of the board who voted against him. They said his firm has scored the lowest of all 17 firms handing in responses to the BISD's Request for Legal Services. Later, Salazar accused Presas-GArcia in open meeting alleging that she had made sexual advances to him in the parking lot of the BISD's main office.
He later tried to submit an agenda item to the board to censure her and possibly remove her from the board. The board refused to consider the motion.
When Salazar applied for the board he admitted in his application that he had been convicted of three felonies of theft by check but that the convictions had been "set aside" by the court. When he tried to expunge the convictions, the Texas Department of Public Safety objected to the expungement and the expungement was reversed. The majority of the board – over Presas-Garcia and Salazar's objections – hired him nonetheless.
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/thirteenth-court-of-appeals/2013/13-12-00771-cv.html
To date, those three felony convictions remain on the record.
The BISD is currently paying Salazar more than $280,000 in salary.