EPISD stays secret - EP Times remains hypocrites

The El Paso Times have made it their mission to make life miserable for the folks running the show at EPISD.  I can say EPISD's board did earn that attention all on their own.  The coverage continued today HERE. 

Seems like their "task force," made up of people whose identities will remain secret, have a problem showing up and with public observation of their meetings.  That doesn't sound like a shady situation at all, does it?  No, it sounds very shady.  What would you expect from the most corrupt school district in State of Texas?  At least they're first in something!

First of all - why would an advisory committee need to meet behind closed doors?  They have no "executive powers" - so to speak.  They can't take action, only suggest it.  What suggestions would they make that the public couldn't hear?  An advisory committee shouldn't be analyzing top secret documents due to the fact that privilege is tied to the ability to act in these cases.  They are essentially "volunteers" and they shouldn't be put on top secret missions where secrecy is a must. 

I find it odd that there is no list of these people advising the most corrupt school district in Texas.  I also find it odd that two of them consulted attorneys on their involvement with the advisory board and that they felt the meetings had to be held in secret.  And it was also odd that half people on the board just didn't show up.   Oh wait, it's El Paso - not showing up to meetings for a board you were appointed to is par for the course (Larry Medina).  And it's always the ones who don't ever show up who brag the loudest about their seat on the board. 

The big question remains - who are these people and what do they want?  Are they meeting in secret because their advice to EPISD is going to be to send money their way?  I'm talking about the board advising EPISD to hire their company, friend or family member to solve problems.  I'm talking about the same corrupt schemes that have been pulled in the past.  I'm talking about getting a secret group of people together to figure out how to line their pockets with taxpayer dollars. 

Now, that might not be happening at all, but how would we know?  In El Paso you have to just assume that when people don't want you to know who's involved or what they're doing, that they're up to no good.  If they were planning a surprise party for someone all of this would make sense.  Somehow I don't think that's what they're doing in this case. 

And I'm still shocked that members of this board would be consulting attorneys before they've even met for the first time.  What are you planning to do that you have to retain the services of an attorney before you do it?  If you're that sure you're going to try and commit a crime, spreading some money around the elected judge circuit might be a good next move. 

As usual - the whole thing is just shady as it can be.  EPISD needs to be completely dismantled and built from the ground up.  The stink of corruption is in everything and no one can seem to get it out.

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Here's where the EP Times looks stupid.  They're all up in arms over not having access to an advisory board meeting where nothing but suggestions can be made.  On the other hand - they think an unelected board of citizens controlling hundreds of millions of dollars should continue to operate without any oversight whatsoever.  How do they square that? 

They took a giant shit on Rep. Niland for demanding transparency when it comes to the use public dollars, but turn around and take the opposite position in the same paper on the same day.  So which is it?  Let unelected people run free with public dollars or force them out into the light of day so that the people whose money is at stake can participate - pick one, please. 

And how about a pat on the back for Rep. Niland whose advisory board co-op with the PSB was so open to the public that too many people with position and title showed up and a quorum was had.  She did exactly what you are crying for the EPISD to do and you smacked her hand for it.  Shame on you EP Times.  Add this to your long list of failures. 

Comments

[lenny bruce]

Who's more likely to be corrupted? An elected official making $27k a year, limited to two terms, or a businessman making $300k who could get fired if he messes up?

I've probably got the numbers wrong, but you know what I mean.

[Norma's College Degree]

The problem is that the person in charge of the PSB is not supposed to act as a businessman. A businessman is in search of profit - nothing wrong with that in the world of BUSINESS. But certainly not all right in a government entity.

Come to think of it, the guy in charge of EPISD was making six-figures year. His salary obviously did not stop him from being corrupted.

[Paul]

Norma mentioned again.

[Tm Holt]

THe guy at Mock El Paso Times said it best in the comment section after the article appeared:

"Thank the El Paso Times. What reasonable human being would want to incur the liability and headache of taking on the task of digging the dirt and recommending fixes when you have an entire political gang and its enabling propaganda machine ready to undermine you and manipulate your findings to suit their objectives, pitchforks in hand.

By the way, fact-finding task forces need to be free of intimidation, interference and/or subterfuge from politicians, the media and the subjects they are investigating. Does the commission that investigated the horrific child sex abuse scandal at Penn State (led by a former FBI director) ring a bell Mr. Editor? Did the task force have members of the media pouring over their shoulders while they did their work? Did the 9-11 Commission have politicians who were serving in office participating in its critical fact-finding mission and open its daily work sessions to the national media? You may scoff at the comparison, but the principles are the same. And if you didn't know that, well shame on you for your ignorance, but even bigger shame on you for allowing your "reporters" to create a scandal that undermines that which you yourself have been so self-righteously clamoring about. In the end, who loses? Those which you or anyone have yet to acknowledge. Take a guess who

Oh, of course, if you apply that same demand for transparency (that includes you State Representative Marisa Marquez) to the El Paso City Council regarding selection of properties to relocate city hall to, negotiations with business leaders about a multi-million dollar sports arena and deliberations about VOTER petitions instead of hiding behind legalese, then we may be willing to accept just a tad of that self-righteousness that you've made into an art form."

[Tm Holt]

I would bet you big bucks that if EPISD paid as much in advertising each year to the Times as say, Casa Ford, there would not be any coverage at all.
Of course, we can never know the truth about EPT, because, unlike the schools, no one can access their emails...sigh...

[dot]

Personally, the Times (and the rest of the media in town) should be held just as culpable for their laziness. Very little of the corruption was actually hidden, but it went entirely unchallenged. Garcia and company didn't invent corruption and financial malfeasance in EPISD, he just forgot to play ball with the guy who knows where the bodies are buried. Shapleigh is not a white knight. He's been more than happy to support and defend other corrupt individuals as long as it benefited him - Sylvia Atkinson, Trujillo, Vranish and many others come to mind.

Reporters who are willing to investigate and request documents can ferret out and expose corruption, rather than take dictation - so, while folks are shouldering blame, our media needs to step up and take their lumps as well.

[Happy Hangover]

Tim Holt is an idiot.

The guy at "Mock El Paso Times" is Silvestre Reyes, Jr. who is angry at the world now that his "gravy train" has be de-railed! Chooo chooo

[TexasWoman]

They need a replacement for Luther