SENATOR SHAPLEIGH REQUESTS STATE AUDIT OF EPISD INCLUDING BOND PROCEEDS
August 21, 2007
"Over the next few years, El Paso has key bond issues that must pass. Unless people trust public servants with public monies, they will not vote to invest. So now is the time to root out corruption to restore public trust."
Written by Senator Eliot Shapleigh, www.shapleigh.org
EL PASO – On Monday, August 20, Senator Shapleigh delivered a letter to Texas State Auditor John Keel requesting an audit of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD). El Paso is currently in the midst of a historic public corruption investigation that reaches from the several school districts to the courthouse and the private sector.
"While the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office work diligently to resolve these federal criminal matters," Senator Shapleigh wrote, "it is also our duty as Texas officials to ensure state funds and other resources have not been misused."
The Texas State Auditor's Office may conduct an investigation under authority granted to it by Section 321 of the Texas Government Code.
On Friday, August 17, El Paso architect and interior designer, Bernard Lucero Jr., plead guilty in federal court to charges associated with fraudulent contract activities at EPISD. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Lucero admitted that from January 2002 to July 24, 2007, he agreed to assist an elected official secure a $25,000 home improvement loan by providing false and fraudulent information. In addition, Lucero admitted to conspiring to provide and help others provide money and services to an elected EPISD trustee in exchange for acts on the part of the official in his official capacity.
On August 18, the El Paso Times reported that a "mechanic's lien contract" filed by United bank of El Paso Del Norte in February 2006, shows that Lucero worked on a $25,000 project at the home of Katherine E. Mena in El Paso. Katherine Mena is the daughter of EPISD Trustee Sal Mena, Jr., who has been linked to the public corruption investigation and whose offices were searched by federal investigators in December 2006.
Lucero's firm, Lucero/Melendez Architects, was the lead designer of the new Harry S. "Hut" Brown Middle School on El Paso's West Side, as part of a $207 million bond EPISD voters approved in 2003. In addition, voters approved an EPISD/Ft. Bliss-related bond issue of $230 million in 2007. The firm was also paid $343,526 for its work on the fine-arts addition at Riverside High School, as part of a $250 million bond YISD voters approved in 2004.
In addition, Socorro I.S.D. and Thomason Hospital have recently scheduled key bond elections in the amounts of $397 million and $120 million, respectively, in 2007.
"Over the next few years, El Paso has key bond issues that must pass. Unless people trust public servants with public monies, they will not vote to invest. So now is the time to root out corruption to restore public trust."
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