Nick Jimenez

Sunday, April 16, 2000

There are cautionary lessons in the CCISD travails

If all the elected officials in Corpus Christi haven't been watching the implosion of the Corpus Christi Independent School District leadership, they ought to be. There are some key lessons that should be absorbed by those at every level of public service out of the political chaos that has enveloped the board of trustees and resulted in the indictment of Supt. Abe Saavedra.
   If there was a handbook of do's and don'ts for officials, the story of what began as dissension on the board over Saavedra's salary and mushroomed into a political free-for-all should be included as a prime chapter.
   There's a tragic aspect to this tale. Saavedra is one of Corpus Christi's own. His roots in the city and the school district are in a sense a large part of his success. He understands the challenges that so many children in Corpus Christi face when they enter school for the first time. He understands that for many of those same children, minority and poor children, education is the only chance they have for a productive life.
   Saavedra's situation would be less wrenching for the community if he were in fact an outsider who had been brought in to do a job that just didn't go well. But many in the community identify with him because he is from Corpus Christi, because he is Hispanic, and because he has been successful.
   There were so many opportunities missed to defuse the controversy and possibly avoid the present situation.
   There's a saying: Hang a lantern on your own mistakes. Be the first to point out your own embarrassments and screw-ups. If you don't, you can be sure your political opponents will.
   The trustees and Saavedra tried to battle through the allegations of unaccountability and cavalier handling of money. They tried to use legal arguments to explain away what was essentially an ethical problem. The meals at district expense, the use of district funds as travel agent for trustee family members, the image of overreaching on an already generous contract all posed legal questions. But the real problem, it seems to me, was the public's sense that there had been an abuse of the ethics that ought to be held by public officials.
   And yet, the public has an amazing capacity to forgive - if public officials are quick to take the blame, to admit error and to don the mantle of reform. That step was never taken.
   The trustees forgot another political rule: Don't turn your opponents into your enemies. Your opponent on one issue is likely to be your ally on the next.
   That rule was violated when the majority muscled out Trustee Pinky Brauer last May as vice president. The vice presidency is a political bauble. A show of magnanimity by the majority to let Brauer continue as vice president might have been the beginning of a healing of the rift. It was another lost opportunity.
   Saavedra has been ill-served by his supporters on the board. At every accusation, the majority went into a defense mode. It's only human to reject the advice of opponents. But your friends should help you stay out of trouble.
   There is one rule that ought to be burned into the consciousness of every public official witnessing this debacle. Public duties should be carried out so that every trip, every meal, every expenditure, every seeking of favor can withstand being on the front page - because it just might be.
   The chaos on the CCISD board has been to a large extent self-inflicted. Every elected official should take note and look around his own shop now. The question should be asked of every questionable dealing or expenditure: Could I defend this if it appeared on the front page of the Caller-Times?
  

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