By Juan Montoya
![Image result for dr. rey garcia, tsc]()
By now we've all probably heard about the lawsuit filed in federal court by former Texas Southmost College President Lily Tercero after she was terminated by the board of trustees.
Tercero protests that she was not provided with due process in her termination hearing, that she was not fired for good cause, that she wants the board to pay her for three years that the former board of directors extended her contract until May 1, 2019 ($228,228 x 3= $684,684), and that they de made to pay damages and attorneys fees.
She, of course, makes no mention of the fact that under her watch the TSC nursing program is, for all practical purposes, DOA, that she unilaterally extended the windstorm and hail property insurance contract without going out for proposals and without board approval, and that she was using the signature stamp of trustees no longer on the board to make payments to vendors and individuals that amounted to more than $1.5 million.
Her attorney (as lawyers are wont to do) blames individual trustees – Adela Garza, Trey Mendez, Ruben Herrera, Ramon Hinojosa and Dr. Tony Zavaleta – for her alleged wrongful termination and give a get-out-of-jail ticket to trustee Dr. Rey Garcia and Art Rendon. Both of these gents voted not to terminate Tercero. Additionally, Rendon is said to have been pushing for the windstorm insurance carrier to be picked before the company sued for a Temporary Restraining Order to keep the trustees from considering the proposals from other carriers.
Besides the general allegations by her attorneys that the individual board members were picking on her, that she was being asked for too much information, and that she was being asked to do things that hadn't been approved by a majority of the board, they also charge the defendants with breach of contract.
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But it is the exhibits attached to the lawsuit that have caught the eye of legal observers. Her attorney Richard A, Illmer, of Dallas, included a glowing letter of support from former trustee Ed Rivera where he describes her performance as "stellar" and says her extension of the windstorm insurance contract was a "matter of urgency" and that he did not find her actions as "surreptitious in any way."
This is from Rivera, the trustee who jumped ship and ran for commissioner of the Port of Brownsville and used his girlfriend's Brownsville address instead of his in Laguna Vista because he lived outside the TSC district.
Tercero used Rivera's rubber-stamped signature even after he was replaced on the board June 27 by Dr. Tony Zavaleta. Her use of the bogus rubber-stamped signatures continued until late July and early August. It wasn't until August 5 or 6 that chairperson Adela Garza's countersignature stamp was used on checks Tercero approved. This was despite the fact that the administration had her signature stamp on file from her serving as a board officer on a previous term
Tercero also used the signature rubber stamp of former TSC chairman Kiko Rendon way after he was replaced by local attorney Ruben Herrera on May 18.
In all, Tercero paid out some $1.5 million in checks from TSC to individuals and vendors using the obsolete rubber-stamp signatures. And when new trustee Herrera wanted to personally sign checks paid by TSC over $10,000, Tercero considered his request illegal since no board action had been taken directing her to do it.
But it is the letter to Adela Garza by Dr. Rey Garcia that elicited the most attention. His style of
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writing – besides being melodramatic – borders on the maudlin. In one sentence he calls chair Garza's style "despotic and tyrannical" that he charges she is "counter-productive to student success."
Garcia also contends that the continuing requests from Garza and other members for information from Tercero created "distractions" that "I am sure contributed to our missing the deadline for windstorm insurance."
He close with "May God help you! Blessings, RG."
Local attorneys who have practicves in the local federal court say it is highly irregular for these type of exhibits to be attached to complaints and motions before the federal bench. But even more serious, they say that Rivera and Garcia, in effect, have joined the side of Tercero and the attorneys who have sued TSC for damages.
And in our pursuit of a copy of a letter Garcia is said to have written against Garza and her fellow trustees to TSC's accrediting agency, we have been told by TSC that they do not have any such correspondence.
Good morning, Mr. Montoya.
Per your Public Information Act request on Oct. 24, 2016, Texas Southmost College (TSC) does not have any documents regarding any communication between TSC Board of Trustee Dr. Reynaldo García and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
TSC was also unable to obtain any documents regarding your request from Dr. García or SACSCOC.
Edgar Chrnko Salas
Director of Marketing & Community Relations
We know that there is such a letter and that Garcia wrote SAC to complain about the actions of his fellow trustees on the TSC board. Why the accrediting agency? What do they do? Oh, yeah, they can give or withdraw accreditation.
Not to worry, we will eventually get a copy of the letter that trustee Garcia does not want anyone to see. With friends like Rivera and Garcia, why does TSC need enemies?
Tercero protests that she was not provided with due process in her termination hearing, that she was not fired for good cause, that she wants the board to pay her for three years that the former board of directors extended her contract until May 1, 2019 ($228,228 x 3= $684,684), and that they de made to pay damages and attorneys fees.
She, of course, makes no mention of the fact that under her watch the TSC nursing program is, for all practical purposes, DOA, that she unilaterally extended the windstorm and hail property insurance contract without going out for proposals and without board approval, and that she was using the signature stamp of trustees no longer on the board to make payments to vendors and individuals that amounted to more than $1.5 million.
Her attorney (as lawyers are wont to do) blames individual trustees – Adela Garza, Trey Mendez, Ruben Herrera, Ramon Hinojosa and Dr. Tony Zavaleta – for her alleged wrongful termination and give a get-out-of-jail ticket to trustee Dr. Rey Garcia and Art Rendon. Both of these gents voted not to terminate Tercero. Additionally, Rendon is said to have been pushing for the windstorm insurance carrier to be picked before the company sued for a Temporary Restraining Order to keep the trustees from considering the proposals from other carriers.
Besides the general allegations by her attorneys that the individual board members were picking on her, that she was being asked for too much information, and that she was being asked to do things that hadn't been approved by a majority of the board, they also charge the defendants with breach of contract.
But it is the exhibits attached to the lawsuit that have caught the eye of legal observers. Her attorney Richard A, Illmer, of Dallas, included a glowing letter of support from former trustee Ed Rivera where he describes her performance as "stellar" and says her extension of the windstorm insurance contract was a "matter of urgency" and that he did not find her actions as "surreptitious in any way."This is from Rivera, the trustee who jumped ship and ran for commissioner of the Port of Brownsville and used his girlfriend's Brownsville address instead of his in Laguna Vista because he lived outside the TSC district.
Tercero used Rivera's rubber-stamped signature even after he was replaced on the board June 27 by Dr. Tony Zavaleta. Her use of the bogus rubber-stamped signatures continued until late July and early August. It wasn't until August 5 or 6 that chairperson Adela Garza's countersignature stamp was used on checks Tercero approved. This was despite the fact that the administration had her signature stamp on file from her serving as a board officer on a previous term
Tercero also used the signature rubber stamp of former TSC chairman Kiko Rendon way after he was replaced by local attorney Ruben Herrera on May 18.
In all, Tercero paid out some $1.5 million in checks from TSC to individuals and vendors using the obsolete rubber-stamp signatures. And when new trustee Herrera wanted to personally sign checks paid by TSC over $10,000, Tercero considered his request illegal since no board action had been taken directing her to do it.
But it is the letter to Adela Garza by Dr. Rey Garcia that elicited the most attention. His style of
writing – besides being melodramatic – borders on the maudlin. In one sentence he calls chair Garza's style "despotic and tyrannical" that he charges she is "counter-productive to student success."Garcia also contends that the continuing requests from Garza and other members for information from Tercero created "distractions" that "I am sure contributed to our missing the deadline for windstorm insurance."
He close with "May God help you! Blessings, RG."
Local attorneys who have practicves in the local federal court say it is highly irregular for these type of exhibits to be attached to complaints and motions before the federal bench. But even more serious, they say that Rivera and Garcia, in effect, have joined the side of Tercero and the attorneys who have sued TSC for damages.
And in our pursuit of a copy of a letter Garcia is said to have written against Garza and her fellow trustees to TSC's accrediting agency, we have been told by TSC that they do not have any such correspondence.
Good morning, Mr. Montoya.
Per your Public Information Act request on Oct. 24, 2016, Texas Southmost College (TSC) does not have any documents regarding any communication between TSC Board of Trustee Dr. Reynaldo García and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
TSC was also unable to obtain any documents regarding your request from Dr. García or SACSCOC.
Edgar Chrnko Salas
Director of Marketing & Community Relations
We know that there is such a letter and that Garcia wrote SAC to complain about the actions of his fellow trustees on the TSC board. Why the accrediting agency? What do they do? Oh, yeah, they can give or withdraw accreditation.
Not to worry, we will eventually get a copy of the letter that trustee Garcia does not want anyone to see. With friends like Rivera and Garcia, why does TSC need enemies?