Educaton (Part 2): Embattled ESD6 Board Members fight to take over the Southside ISD School Board

For those that follow my hubs, it is important to clarify that this hub is not about the Southside ISD School Board or it's election, but a continuation of the history and activities of the members of Ms. Mendelsohn's "inner circle" that are fighting for control of power in the Southeast Bexar County Community.

It was recently brought to my attention by several community members of Southeast Bexar County that "inner circle" candidates are trying to attach these hub pages to several community members, some who work for the district and one, incumbent candidate, Mr. Rick Quebe.

Rest assured that my interest in the atrosities perpitrated by the ESD6 and it's members began long ago and have continued due to the fact that to date, they continue to deny the fire protection and safety that the tax payers of the Southeast Bexar County community pay for.

Four members of the board are up for re-elction. Mr. Raul Martinez, Mr. Daniel Rodriguez, Mr. Rick Quebe and Mr. Craig Knapp. These gentlemen have been an important part of helping the district move forward at a time when the economy is putting great strain on the country and continuing to do a good job according the members of the community and the district. More information is available on these candidates and their voting records on www.southsideisd.org. Sadly enough, Mr. Daniel Rodriguez chose not to run for another term, instead vacating his seat at the end of his term.

It will be a tough election year, with economic cuts that are affecting many school districts throughout the country. From the expansion of the district and the programs they offer, this board has done a tremendous job, however, many individuals will be affected by cuts that the state itself has implemented and pushed on to school boards throughout the state; these issues hitting close to home will definitely affect the way the people will vote. This will be a very difficult election year involving education, hopefully the communities will rally around their elected officials that have worked hard for them in the past and continue to support them in the decisions thrust upon them. I do not envy anyone in a position of having to decide where to cut funds during these economic times. My hat goes off to the four members for a job well done, as well as those throughout the U.S.

Just when you think the ESD6 board is too busy trying to get a handle on the infractions they created; it rears its head once again. The ESD6 board members, by shutting down the Sandy Oaks and AtaBexar VFD's, the best equipped departments to handle situations of fire safety at the Southside school district, were taken to task for putting at unnecessary risk the lives of approximately 5200 students, staff and community members; who work at this rural district. Forcing the Southside ISD school board to file a lawsuit against the ESD6.

The Sandy Oaks VFD provides a ladder truck for hard to reach and two story buildings, which Ms. Mendelsohn and the ESD6 board cut funding for in October and refused to make payments on until ordered by the courts.

So, how do you ask are they crossing paths again? Ms. Mendelsohn's candidates are all on the ballot for the Southside ISD elections.

The Treasurer, Ms. Luisa Vargas, aka. Luisa Ramos Saenz, has dropped her name in the hat. The same individual who was in charge of the finances for the ESD6 and made no attempt to curtail their spending until it went bankrupt, is now running for the Southside ISD school board. This candidate ran once before, unsuccessfully, after being let go from her job. Community allegations that Ms. Vargas had several complaints against her, stating she struck a student, squirted another with water in the face, etc. that lead to her dismissal run rampant within the community, verification is pending. Financial reports show that Ms. Vargas didn't spend any funds on her last campaign or receive any funds, but she did put up election signs throughout the community. Ms. Vargas received a total of 220 votes in her election according to the elections website at www.bexar.org.

ALERT: Ms. Luisa Vargas has dropped out of the race, it seems that Ms. Vargas had put her name on the ballot to secure themselves a place on the ballot, as Mr. Chavez had not determined whether he would run. Since Mr. Chavez decided to run, she is removing herself from the ticket.

ANOTHER VIOLATION: Ms. Luisa Vargas announces that Mr. Norberto "Robert" Chavez will probably not be with the ESD6 for much longer because he's going to the School Board. Not only is this a violation because she brought up the school board election during an ESD6 meeting, Ms. Vargas is either showing ignorance or arrogance by stating the he's going to the school board, when it is an elected position, unlike the appointed one on the ESD6 board, Mr. Chavez, must be voted on by his community to serve.

The Vice- President, Mr. Norberto Chavez, Mr. Chavez is the ESD6 board member that failed to attend anymore meetings for the ESD6 once the funding was cut to the departments and the community became involved. Mr. Chavez like Ms. Mendelsohn, suffers from the inability to pay his taxes, which support the districts he's wanting to run and feels qualified to tell those hard working tax payers how they should spend theirs. Mr. Chavez also ran for the school board in 2009, acquiring 261 votes, according to the elections website at www.bexar.org.

Most recently, while still a sitting member of the ESD6 board, Mr. Chavez along with the board has voted to pay the volunteers, but have yet to actually produce funds for the VFD's departments. Yet, they have seen fit to spend monies on the development of the "new" ESD6 Fire and Resuce department that they are creating to own.

Raul "Roy" Martinez, incumbent, has served the district as school board trustee and is seeking re-election. Mr. Martinez's background is in education, has worked for the SAISD district most of his life. Mr. Martinez is also a member in good standing with the church of "El Carmen" . Mr. Martinez has proven to the community that he is morally and ethically about what is best for the children, the staff and the community as a whole.

The "missing" Golden Boy, Mr. Loren G. Brewer, (aka. Loren G. Adcock, Loren G. Martin, aka. Lorne Martin) according to ESD6 records, Mr. Brewer attended only the original meeting of the ESD6 and never attended another meeting, stating he was TDY with the military or on active duty with the military. His attendance record was the same for his seat on the City South Board, his attendance was also in question as well during his final year on the Southside ISD school board and prior to his "re-enlistment". Mr. Brewer is the only candidate that actually served on the Southside ISD school board, previously being censured and acquired land from the district while sitting as a board member. Records also show that Mr. Brewer as a board member fought for free Pre-K for all 3 year old, having a child that would qualify for it. When the board failed to pass it due to the expense to the district, Mr. Brewer somehow managed to have his child enrolled into the Pre-K program. At the time Mr. Brewer owned rental properties in Atascosa County as well as property in Bexar County. He and his wife were gainfully employed, bumping someone with less financial means from having the opportunity to take advantage of this program. It has also been stated throughout the community that Mr. Brewer has talked about his reason for running for a position on the school board, stating "I'm running to get rid of Dr. Jasso." Dr. Juan Jasso is the Southside ISD Superintendent. Mr. Brewer has mentioned bringing back a former Interim Superintendent of Southside ISD, Mr. Del Barrio, whom was not given the position of Superintendent, but replaced with Dr. Juan Jasso.

Minutes from Jan 19, 2005- School Board Meeting: Consider and Take possible action concerning the proposed disciplining of Board Member Loren Brewer through a motion of censure. Mr. Brewer requested deliberations be held in open session:

Mr. Brewer and all board members have received training that identified and explained proper role of Board members.......Mr. Brewer on a number of occasions has had conversations with persons either involved in the District's grievance process or wanting to raise complaints outside the process, conversations that went beyond directing those persons to the appropriate grievance policies. Mr. Brewer has made visits to District campuses during working hours without making arrangements with the campus administrators prior to going to the campuses and has gone outside the chain of command and required employees to respond to his questioning during working hours, conducting himself as noted above, Mr. Brewer failed to act in accordance with the standards expected of members of the Board of Trustees......He had eroded staff morale and has raised governance issues..

April 28, 2005-- The censure didn't take. Mr. Brewer was at the Southside Middle School campus, asking teacher questions about their positions and duties.

Mr. Brewer's voting record:

April 2005- Mr. Brewer voted against increasing the salaries of underpaid employees.

Jan 2004- Mr. Brewer voted against considering the donation for the land at Mission DeLago- now Gallardo Elementary. October 2004- voted against contractor for Gallardo Elementary. Opposed the building of Gallardo Elementary.

2004- Voted against filing positions for math teachers, reading teachers, Special Ed department personnel as well as maintenance positions and groundskeepers. He also voted against a TASB program that would evaluate positions and their pay to determine that employees were making what they should be and not underpaid.

2003- Voted against renovations to the existing buildings, Pearce, Losoya Intermediate, Southside Middle School and the Southside High School.

2011- Mr. Brewer has announced to the community that he believes in the "voucher" system. Using vouchers to take a child to another district, hurts the current district because funding follows the child and takes it from the district the child is from. A voucher is more like a scholarship and rarely covers the entire cost of a transfer to another district.

ALERT:This just in, The Southside ISD held a public forum meeting last night to get feed back from the community on their thoughts about possibly going to a 4 day schedule. (Texas does not allow for a 4 day schedule however, in Austin legislators are looking at the possibility of allowing this.) Mr. Brewer shamelessly used this forum to stand up and ask to speak, instead of voicing concerns he announced to the crowd that he was running for the school board and was asking for everyone to support him. While this was a classless move on his part, it is also a violation of the election process. A candidate "cannot" campaign on school property, during business hours or school related functions. Mr. Brewer continues to violate this rule, having been a previous member of the board, he should know better, but continues to show up at the campus to campaign with the different department members. If Mr. Brewer can not follow the law now, then what makes him qualified to sit on the board and follow it then?

Another Violation: It has become public knowledge around the district, that Mr. Brewer who sat on the school board previously and was censured for this and should be aware of election policies, violated another one this past week. Mr. Brewer having no children at the High School Campus showed up at the campus to campaign during school hours and was escorted off the premises by the police.

BULLY TACTICS---NOTHING NEW

Mr. Brewer has apparently a long history of being a bully according to some comments on these pages from those who went to school with him. Sadly, after twenty plus years, there seems to be little change in Mr. Brewer's moral compass. Mr. Brewer may be using intimidation to get and or keep voters to the polls. It seems several community members are upset because Mr. Brewer has told them that he will know if they vote or not. He also mentioned that he would know how they voted. This is true, a candidate can request a copy of the voters list daily to see who has voted by going to the election's website (www.bexar.org) and requesting a copy. However, they do not tell you how someone votes. This would be a great opportunity to show Mr. Brewer that you do vote, just vote for the other guy. Voter's should never be intimidated to vote by anyone. Mr. Brewer has chosen the people of Villa Coronado as well as locals near the district office to intimidate. In Villa Coronado, he took Ms. Luisa Vargas, member of the ESD6 board along for translation purposes.

Mr. Brewer and his fellow candidates made it uncomfortable for voters during early election by spending time at the Southside ISD poll site and stopping voters and harrassing them for their vote, then stopping them on the way out to try to find out how they voted. They were told by the elections people to stop this behavior, but they continued. It is my understanding that several members of the community chose to park at the rear of the building and walk around to the enterance to avoid Mr. Brewer and his group.

DECEPTION COMES NATURALY:

It seems that Mr. Brewer who is known for running on deception is once again deceiving the members of the community with false allegations against the Southside ISD district, board and administration.

1. Mr. Brewer has stated while campaigning that the Southside ISD has "done away" with Pre-K. FACT CHECK: The district has notdone away with Pre-K, this program as per an article in the Express News has had state funding cut backs and districts throughout the county have lost portions of their funding, but the program itself is still in tact and being offered at Southside ISD.
2. Mr. Brewer has been campaigning negatively against his opponent, his opponents spouse as well as the board President, Ms. Salazar and her spouse. Mr. Brewer is telling the community that they are taking vacations funded by ARAMARK, the food service provider for the district. FACT CHECK:Neither board member or their spouses have taken any trips sponsored by ARAMARK. Records show that Mr. Brewer, while a sitting board member tried to replace ARAMARK and did not have the substantial votes to do it. ARAMARK has been a good business partner of the district. According to board minutes, ARAMARK has worked with the district in providing not only quality meals for the students, they have "donated" free meals to all students in the way of free breakfast for all. The state funds breakfast for low income students, ARAMARK funds all the other students at no cost to the taxpayer or the district. ARAMARK also donates graciously to the Culinary Arts program and scholarships to Southside students.

Craig Knapp, incumbent, has served two terms on the Southside ISD school board, currently Board Secretary. He is a business professional with an Associate of Arts Degree and as stated at the "Meet the Candidates" forum, he is continuing his education at A&M San Antonio. Mr. Knapp is a decorated veteran of war, serving in Desert Shield/ Desert Storm. He has served the board well, looking into the future to help guide the district in the right direction and help prepare the children for a better future. Mr. Knapp and the current board have implemented many FIRSTS for Southside ISD.

The new candidate, Frank. H. Cannon, Jr., may be a new candidate, but he is not new to the community or ties to the embattled ESD6 members. Mr. Cannon is according to marriage records, the brother-in-law of Mr. Norbert (Norberto) Chavez. Mr. Cannon is a business owner in Atascosa and Bexar County where he owns a construction company as well as an electrical company and like his brother-in-law, has tax problems. According to county records, Mr. Cannon is in arrears for taxes dating back to 2009, after building a home valued at $325,000 and is attached to tax litigation dating as far back as 2003. Mr. Cannon's wife was a member of the Southside ISD staff until recently, when she went to work for another district and took her children out of the Southside School District. One child, a senior remains at the district until June when he graduates. Mr. Cannon, not a catholic, is using the El Carmen Catholic Church to gain voter support. Mr. Cannon went on a retreat with church members, which has angered many in the community. It has also been said to the community that Mr. Cannon's mother-in-law, a member of the staff at Southside ISD has been promised a promotion if Ms. Mendelsohn's candidates are elected.

Rick Quebe, incumbent, has been a long standing member of the district and an active member of Nuestra Senora del Carmen Catholic Church, a former CCD teacher and coach of youth sports through the church. Mr. Quebe is a business professional with a degree from UT Austin and has served on the Board of Directors of the Independent Insurance Agents of San Antonio. Mr. Quebe has been a knowledgeable and productive member of the Southside ISD school board and has helped the district move in the right direction, benefiting not only the students but the staff and community as well.

Another "not so new" candidate, is a former employee of the District, Ms. Alma Guzman Estrada (aka. Alma Rosa Guzman); who is involved in litigation with the Southside ISD as she runs for a position on the school board. According to a recent agenda, Ms. Estrada has filed an EEOC complaint, one of numerous complaints against the district while she was employed there. In October 2002, Ms. Estrada filed a level II greivence with the district. Mr. Brewer supported Ms. Estrada. Ms. Estrada like the other members has ties to Ms. Sylvia Ruiz Mendelsohn. Ms. Estrada is costing the district thousands of dollars in legal fees at a time when budgets are already strained as well as telling the community that she is seeking a settlement for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The question arises, how can a candidate run for a position on a board that makes day to day decisions for the students and staff, who is taking money away from them?

According to a comment made by Mr. Crowley of the South Bexar Fire and Rescue, Ms. Estrada was "forced" to file a lawsuit against the district because she was not given the position of Director of Maintenance. According to agenda minutes (www.southsideisd.org), Ms. Estrada, secretary of maintenance was given a promotion to Maintenance Manger. The Director of Maintenance position was given to a Mr. Bairado, who according to minutes, has continued to save the district money by taking his background in construction and emplementing his maintenance employees with the task of doing as much of the construction and repairs before spending school funds on outside contracts. In turn, training his staff with new skills and utilizing his own to save the district money.

Rey Gonzales, Ms. Estrada's opponent is an active and valued member of the community, who currently sits on the PTA at the district. Mr. Gonzales gives much of his free time to help at the campus with things as talent shows and student activities, etc. He has also facilitated such fundraisers as the Whataburger cardinal day, securing funds for the PTA.