By JERRY RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
At a special meeting Friday, the San Benito CISD Board of Trustees rescinded action taken last week that authorized the governing body’s officers to negotiate and select an interim attorney.
Also approved on Friday was the selection of an interim attorney. Board President Yliana G. Rodriguez and Board Secretary June Aguilera were the sole opposing votes as the motion carried, 5-2.
The firm hired on an interim basis was O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath. It was not immediately specified if the firm in question, which is based in Austin, will be representing the school district at the same time as Gus Acevedo, the current attorney whose last day is June 28. The board voted in May to terminate Acevedo’s services.
Also pending is information concerning the amount O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath will be charging the district for providing legal counsel.
For the full story, read the June 13 midweek edition of the San Benito News.
8 comments
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GET Rid of Her…..i wonder how many of those people..regret votin for her..We as the citizens of SB…should get her out before she makes things worse…..Come on people wake up..she is Going to ruin
our school district!!!!…if we let her continue to make stupid…..idiotic choices…..Lastima que es una principal!!!!!!…
I had a friend that attended the Friday meeting tell me that the Board President was not very happy with the brother and sister not voting with her for the attorneys that she wanted. Of course the recent high school graduate was quick to make a motion but it died due to a lack of a second. Word is out on the streets that the board president is getting the previous maintenance director that sued the district to put pressure on the brother and sister team to vote with her without asking questions. Can you say on a power trip!
I don’t think the president has confidence in Ms. Anna Cruz to run the meetings. If the policy says the meetings are to be held on the second Tuesday of the month, then the president needs to abide by the policy. Mrs. Anna Cruz should have been allowed to run the meeting on Tuesday.
I agree with rosalindagarcia. The public comes first not the whims of the board president. I thought one the reasons for a vice president was to take care of meetings when the president is unable to do so. Mrs. Cruz should stand up to her board president and not let this happen again. In fact, I truly believe that the school board should reorganize or the board president needs a re-fresher course quick.
As written in the SB News on Friday, June 8th, the board rescinded their previous action on who would hire the interim attny. Remember, Mr. Leal, an excellent experienced board member suggested that they table the matter for later discussion among them, which Mr. Medrano second. Mr. Medrano asked if the fees were their concern maybe it was something that could be negotiated with present attny. To that, Ms. Aguilera replied that just because they were new bd. members it did not mean they did not know what they were doing. Well, with this noted, it’s the second time they rescind a decision, attempted to change insurance companies without prior bd. approval, wanted to strip supt. of hiring responsibilities, wanted to place a reprimand on his file. And if I am not mistaken, bd. president is not following policy regarding having regular board meetings the 2nd Tuesday of every month. This was brought up to her attention back in 2011. A Vice President was chosen. Does she believe that Ms. Cruz is not able to take on that responsibility when needed to? Or does Ms. Cruz feel she is not capable to take on that responsibility?
Very happy to see that Mrs. Cruz and the Huerta Family voted with Mr. Leal and Mr. Medrano.
Nice to hear that Mrs. Cruz made the motion. I hope she continues to be an independent voice along with the Huerta Family. We need independent thinkers and not followers.
O’Hanlon is an excellent choice! He will advice these board members on how to bring back integrity and respect to this board. And I really hope he brings order to the board meetings which have begun to look like a circus especially during the public portion. I heard the only two voting agianst O’Hanlon were June Aguilera and Yliana Rodriguez. What a shame! I really don’t think these girls truly understand the meaning of teamwork. I was also glad to see that Anna Cruz and the Huertas voted with Mr. Medrano and Mr. Leal. I hope this is a good sign of things to come. We are beginning to see who the real team players will be on this board, and it sure isn’t Yliana Rodriguez or June Aguilera. Kudos to Mr. Leal, Mr. Medrano, Ms. Cruz and the Huertas for making the right choice. You all should really consider selecting someone else as your president. I have a feeling Mrs. Rodriguez will not stay quiet on this one and might make another “Insurance” mistake which might end up costing all the taxpayers an arm and a leg. I say cut your losses and select new officers.
O’Hanlon is a very good attorney. I see that the Huertas and Anna sided with Leal and Medrano. Maybe a good sign. However, I dont think O’Hanlon is cheap. Gotta pay his travel time from and to Austin. Shoulda kept a valley attny.