Geeklog Site

Ask HCCS about their MILLION DOLLAR WEBSITE

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 15:57:30 -0500

For those of you that have come to HCC Sucks! from the HOUSTON PRESS, welcome. Have a look around, if you want proof that HCC SUCKS! you have come to the right place. There is lots more to investigate, for example their MILLION DOLLAR WEBSITE... The Chicano Avenger knows for a fact that $300,000 was spent on a STUDY of HCCS's admittedly lousy website. By now HCCS has spent at least $600,000, and most likely more than $900,000 on a REDESIGN of the HCCS website.

The Chicano Avenger filed a Texas Public Information Act request to see the contract in 2003. The Avenger did not see any DELIVERABLES made by the CONSULTANTS when he inspected the contract after the DUE DATE of the STUDY.

The Chicano Avenger noticed IRREGULARITIES in how the contract was bid out. There was a tally by the committee looking at the bids and then how the tallies were made was changed mid-stream. A little BID RIGGING maybe?

The rest of the money is supposed to be for IMPLEMENTING a new website but where is it? Why does HCCS have to spend a MILLION DOLLARS on a website when talented in-house IT personel could redesign the current website for much less TAXPAYER MONEY?

Yet HCCS continues to spend lots of TAXPAYER MONEY, maybe close to a MILLION DOLLARS by now with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to show for it. I hope that HCCS at least KISSED the taxpayers before SCREWING them!

Alright TAXPAYERS, here is you all's chance to find out once and for all how much HCC Sucks! Call CHANCELLOR BRUCE LESLIE at 713-718-5059 or e-mail him at bruce.leslie@hccs.edu and ask him for yourself about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that have been spent on the HCCS website with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to show for it.

Don't be surprised if HCCS makes you make a Texas Public Information request to get that information. After all SECRECY another of their specialities!

The Houston Press verifies that HCC Sucks!

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 18:48:58 -0500

An anonymous hero sent the Chicano Avenger the following link to a Houston Press article covering some serious HCCS misconduct. The story covers the problems that Diana Castillo, interim president of HCCS Southeast College, has had with the HCCS Administration and Board of Trustees.

It is actually a pretty decent article, Houston Press reporter Josh Harkinson is an excellent writer. I do have a few nits to pick though...

I noticed that Josh did not mention that Diana Castillo is the ONLY HCCS President that does not have a Ph.D. and thus is unqualified to be President of an HCCS college in the first place!

In addition, Josh did not mention that Diana Castillo's husband is Dr. Charles Cook's assistant and thus when Diana complains of nepotism she is applying a double standard. Diana, have you ever heard the expression "pot, kettle, black"?

All the Chicano Avenger can say to Diana is: "If you had done your job and helped me with my problems with the HCCS administration when I approached you, you would have my sympathy." Instead all he can say is: "It couldn't have happened to a more deserving person!" :-)

Houston Press Article verifying that HCC Sucks!

More HCC Lies!

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 23:57:45 -0500

As an anonymous poster indicated in a comment, there is a Texas State Performance Review (TSPR) of HCCS conducted by the Texas Comptroller's Department online located at http://www.window.state.tx.us/tspr/hccs. In the TSPR the Texas Comptroller's Department came up with ways for HCC to save millions of dollars of taxpayer money and HCCS Chancellor Bruce Leslie lied in several public meetings held in 2003 when he said that HCC would implement these changes. First of all, what is really funny to the Chicano Avenger is how the Texas State Performance Review praised HCC General Counsel Miles Le Blanc for lowering how much HCC spent on lawyers! The Chicano Avenger bets that has changed and HCC is spending a sizeable percentage of the legal budget fighting off the Chicano Avenger.

The Chicano Avenger does not know for sure because HCC refuses to tell the him how much they have spent on expensive lawyers Bracewell and Patterson in his case. And guess what, when the Chicano Avenger asked HCC for that public information, they filed another bogus Request for Opinion to the Attorney General's Office claiming privilege applies to how HCC spends taxpayer money on high-priced lawyers!

The Chicano Avenger thought this nugget was particularly interesting:

In addition to the in-house legal staff, HCCS contracts with outside law firms for specialized legal services. Fees paid to the outside firms range from $125 to $300 per hour depending upon the expertise of the firm's attorney.

The Chicano Avenger has spent maybe $400 on his Whistleblower lawsuit, Houston and Harris County taxpayers should be calling HCC Chancellor Bruce Leslie and the HCCS Board of Trustees and asking them how much HCCS has spent on expensive lawers Bracewell and Patterson in Alcala v. HCCS, case number 2003-60788, currently pending in the 55th State District Court.

Now lets get to the lies to the Houston / Harris County taxpayers. Read a little more of the Texas Comptroller's Department TSPR recommended that HCC save almost four and a half million dollars of taxpayer money by reducing the number of colleges from five to three:

FINDING

HCCS' shift toward greater centralization and coordination of services has surpassed the institution's need to maintain five separate college presidents' offices. Under the competition-based concept of resource allocation present between 1992 and 1995, having a strong leadership and independent team in place at each college was beneficial and necessary to each college.

Chancellor Leslie's recent efforts to centralize and coordinate services and the presidents' initiative to standardize college operations and funding indicate a new direction for HCCS. The institution has outgrown the need to maintain independent executive teams at each of its five colleges.

Historically, this system of college presidents established in 1992 encouraged each president to compete for resources. The theory was that competition would only serve to strengthen the system. However, this concept of competition only served to divide the system. College presidents told the review team that under the old, competitive model presidents competed and politicked to get their budget requests approved.

The chancellor initiated efforts to consolidate and centralize some of the functions that each college handles. The goal of these efforts is to improve services across the system, to provide equitable services across the system, to eliminate or reduce duplicative services and to gain efficiencies across the institution. In addition, the Colleges to Standard initiative demonstrates further systemwide efforts to provide an equitable process for allocating resources.

Though it is still important to maintain a strong president at each college to serve as the instructional leader and connection to the community, HCCS no longer has the need to maintain five separate and largely independent college structures. Maintaining the staff to support each college president's office proves costly to HCCS.

Exhibit 1-19 shows the total budget for each college with the budgets for the office of the president presented as a percent of the total budget. Items included in the budget for the president's office include the president's salary, support staff salaries, travel and supplies.

Exhibit 1-19
HCCS College Budgets
2002-03

College	President's Office Budget	Total College Budget	President's Office Budget as Percent of Total
Central	$263,358	$28,935,340	0.9 %
Northwest	$335,395	$16,753,344	2.0 %
Northeast	$478,000	$20,689,476	2.3 %
Southwest	$290,712	$25,659,929	1.1 %
Southeast	$458,173	$19,388,232	2.4 %

Source: HCCS budget, 2002-03.

Recommendation 4:
Reduce the number of college presidents from five to three and create a system of three geographic areas for HCCS campuses.

HCCS should align its schools by three geographic areas based on boundary lines that meet system and community needs. This alignment will reinforce the system concept and also reduce administrative expenditures. In addition to reducing staff by two president positions, HCCS would also be able to reduce the executive staff at two colleges.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE

1.	The chancellor develops a transition plan to reorganize HCCS from a system of five colleges to a system of three areas with a president and executive staff assigned to each area.	December 2003
2.	The chancellor presents the transition plan to the board.	January 2004
3.	The board reviews and approves the plan.	February 2004
4.	The chancellor implements the plan.	September 2004

FISCAL IMPACT

By following this recommendation, HCCS can eliminate 12 executive level positions. The system can eliminate two presidents (average salary of $124,442), two Academic dean positions (average salary of $84,220), two Workforce deans (average salary of $77,590), two Student Services deans (average salary of $78,966), two COOs (average salary of $85,916) and two CRDCs (average salary of $78,164). HCCS calculates benefits at 6 percent of the position's salary. The total fiscal impact estimate for this recommendation is $1,122,112 ([$124,442 + $84,220 + 77,590 + 78,966 + 85,916 + 78,164] x 2 = $1,058,596] x 1.06 benefit rate).

Recommendation	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Reduce the number of college presidents from five to three and create a system of three geographic areas for HCCS campuses. (savings in millions)	$1.12	$1.12	$1.12	$1.12

FINDING

The role of the presidents in HCCS conflicts with the single-institution concept and do not clearly define the tasks for which the presidents should be accountable. The presidents' current job descriptions reflect the positions' responsibilities when the system was a group of regional colleges.

For example, the job description states that each president "develops operational policies and procedures." The staff at each college invests time in developing policies and procedures for their college when a single set of policies and procedures for the entire system would produce better results without inconsistencies. These inconsistencies can complicate operations as well as cause confusion for staff and students who travel among colleges.

The job description also states that each president "plans and initiates organizational, operational and academic functions." If each college conducts this planning, it creates functions inconsistent with the goals of the system and the other colleges within the system. Under the current single-institution model of HCCS, the system must coordinate functions among campuses to best use the system's resources and best serve the students and the community.

The Chicano Avenger asks Houston and Harris County taxpayers to get mad about the fraud, waste and corruption at HCC! Call up HCCS Chancellor Bruce Leslie and the HCCS Board of Trustees and ask them what is up with their refusal to save almost four and a half million dollars of taxpayer money!

Ask your politicians why they allow this blatant waste of taxpayer dollars. Question the local media on why they are not investigating this abuse of the taxpayer's trust. Get involved, after all it is YOUR taxpayer dollars we are talking about!

More Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on Lawyers

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 23:44:52 -0500

I found out today about a hearing tomorrow (June 10th at 10 am). Apparently HCC and their lawyers want to consolidate the two lawsuits. Who knows how many more taxpayer dollars will be immorally and unethically pissed away on expensive lawyers Bracewell and Patterson by HCC tomorrow...

An HCC survivor speaks out

Mon, 07 Jun 2004 03:30:00 -0500

I allow anonymous comments and thankfully no body has abused that privilege by flaming, trolling and/or crap-flooding HCC Sucks!. Well maybe the a-hole that denied that said the Jewish Holocaust did not occur in a comment. The comment below is by a former insider so it being promoted to a story to increase its visibility. It has been slightly formatted by the Chicano Avenger for better readilbilty... Apparently Retaliation is HCC's Specialty

Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, April 29 2004 @ 11:23 PM EDT

HCCS sucks and the administration is made up of LIARS!

At first, I believed all the little peons who ran HR were the enemy but I later found out they are nothing but puppets on Bruce Leslie's strings...

Dr. Leslie is the biggest liar. He pretends to be concerned about all the corruption going on at HCCS but it's an act-give that man an Oscar-he doesn't care about the employees.

Which makes you stop and ask, what does he care about then?? The MONEY! It's all about his money supply.

He knows everything going on. He is just along for the ride for as long as it goes, he is not losing sleep over any of the real issues at HCC. The only thing he cares about is the money.

I normally wouldn't talk about people like this but the employees of HCC need to know the truth.

Why? Because they need to know what kind of people they are dealing with.

The Chancellor's office doesn't care about the employees of HCCS, and the powers that be in HR definitely do not care about the employees of HCCS either.

David Cross' office, for the most part, they don't care about the employees with the exception of maybe 2 people who are usually reassigned to other campuses or duties once they start asking too many questions on the issues brought to them by HCC employees.

I know first hand because I am a former HCC victim, but now I consider myself a survivor. I got out before they destroyed me completely.

I had to make a choice, do I want to be a knowing participant in the corruption that takes place at HCC, work for an establishment which lies to the taxpayers (aka your brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, yourself, your kids when they are grown) by omitting certain facts about the practices at HCC??

When I asked myself that question, I said to myself NO! I won't work for an establishment I don't believe in. So, I got out and I am better for it.

I hope to see the truth come out regarding HCC and their corrupt practices. I encourage every employee who is being harrassed, humiliated, intimidated, abused, and lied to to file a grievance against the party who is doing this to you.

Seek legal counsel, don't let the powers that be try to intimidate you. Challenge the system, challenge the chancellor, challenge the board of directors, you have a right as a taxpayer and an employee.

Know your rights, read the HCC policy manual, learn it like the back of your hand and don't be afraid to hold your supervisors, etc. accountable for their misdeeds if they break the rules that are set up in the policy manual.

Get a copy of the manual in your hands. It's on the HCC webpage, print it out and keep it on your desk. Knowledge is power.

You probably will be retaliated against because that is the HCC way, but don' t be afraid. Fear paralyzes, immobilizes, and nothing will change.

There has to be a change in the practices at HCC or there will be more victims. Use wisdom, and don't be afraid to contact the media, your community representatives, etc.

I knew an entire department at HCC who was intimidated by their director, and these people who if they had been seen by a doctor, I would guarantee that they were all suffering from depression due to the conditions they were working in.

I know a lot of inside information about a lot of the "higher ups" at HCC, Dr. Leslie, the people in HR, (past and present), David Cross' office....

I got the inside scoop and if I had a chance I would write a tell all book. Why? Because I have nothing to lose anymore, they don't sign my paycheck. I am free!

Thank you Anonymous Hero

Tue, 11 May 2004 12:16:01 -0500

Some one gave the Chicano Avenger some great information from the Harris County Clerk's website in a comment. Check out the list of state district court cases against HCCS (follow the comment links at the bottom of the page). Thanks for the tip! Now to see if I can put online the lawsuits against HCCS in federal court! :->

The Texas Attorney General's Office Rocks!

Sun, 09 May 2004 03:11:26 -0500

The Chicano Avenger has made several Texas Public Information Act requests to HCC and they always drag their feet in replying to him. In several cases they have delayed the information by asking the Texas Attorney General's (AG's) Office to make unnecessary opinions on the requests he makes. At least one time they have sued the AG's Office to keep information away from him. On the other hand ask the AG for information and you get instant action and excellent service. I made a Public Information request to the Texas AG's Office on April 21, they generated the report that same day!

Wow, that is amazing for a governmental entity. They got the report mailed off the next day and I got it a day after that. Three days to get information all the way from Austin Texas.

The Texas AG's also graciously did not charge me for the copies they sent me. As an indigent Plaintiff that act of kindness is appreciated and I promise I will pay back the taxpayers of Texas after I win my Whistleblower Act lawsuit against HCCS.

AG's Report on Public Information Activity by HCC

Meanwhile compare that to HCC's General Counsel Miles Le Blanc's response to my last public information request. Miles comes up with some lame clarification request and then asks me to pay more $1,200 to look at legal billings paid for by the Texas taxpayers and which are public information. Also, Miles tells me that some of the billing records are supposedly mixed with privileged material! [Note to Miles: do the Texas taxpayers a favor and get a decent filing system.]

HCC's Miles Le Blanc's response to my last public information request

HCC Sucks! mobile vandalized on HCC property!

Fri, 07 May 2004 12:42:00 -0500

The Chicano Avenger was at the HCC Southeast Campus on May 6th working a film festival for Museo Guadalupe Aztlan. While he was there the HCC Sucks! mobile got vandalized by some HCC hoodlum. Pictures below. The HCC Sucks! mobile was parked in a supposedly secure lot. HCC has police and security personnel and they knew I was there but they did not move to protect the HCC Sucks! mobile while I was on their property.

The funny thing is that the idiot that wrote this got the punctuation wrong. I believe it should be "*censored* YOU, ASSHOLE!!!". This tells you a lot about the educational accomplishments at HCC Southeast College, doesn't it?

I have filed a police report with the Houston Police Department but I doubt they will ever find out which HCC coward defaced my truck.

The signs are works of art and thus valuable to me, therefore I will be sending HCC a $1,500 bill for the damage. They better pay for the damage caused on their property or I will take them to small claims court in order to get justice.

Update: 6/7/2004: I have decided not to waste the Houston Police Department's time with this minor matter or to try to collect from HCC for the damage to my property on their property. I refuse to stoop to their level and pervert the legal system for evil purposes! Besides the graffiti has faded due to the hot Texas sun so the rude slogan is no longer visible and offending the moral and decent members of our society, including me!

Liars Part 1 -- "Professor" Beverly Hixon

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 06:13:26 -0500

[ NOTE: The Chicano Avenger keeps saying that HCC is full of liars and that there is a conspiracy of criminals orchestrating what has happened to him. Today is D-Day -- this is his Normandy beach. The Chicano Avenger knows that it will be a long, hard series of battles but that with Truth on his side he will ultimately triumph! ]

Community colleges don't have Professors. Some HCC instructors with no Ph.D. are fradulently calling themselves Professor when according to Dr. Charles M. Cook's lackey Mark Tengler they are not supposed to be doing so.

The department head of the Southeast College English Studies department is pawning herself of as a Professor. Want proof? Listen to this --> Beverly Hixon's voicemail message

What are your qualifications, Beverly? You say you are a Professor, show us your Ph.D. If you don't have one, why are you calling yourself Professor? Are you even qualified to be head of the English Studies department?

Beverly, are you a fake, a phony, and fraud? If Hispanos get caught puffing up their resume they get crucified. With your lack of qualifications how in the world did you get promoted to the Department Chair?

How are you being able to get away with this? Who at HCCS is protecting you? Is it liars Bruce Leslie , Charles Cook, Sue Cox and Zachary Hodges? And which Hispanos know about this fraud? Untalented hacks like Diana Castillo and Laura Arzola?

As far as the big picture goes, why is an unqualified person allowed to be Department Chair in a prodominately Hispanic college? That would never be allowed in mainly White and Asian Northwest and Southwest Colleges.

It is a blantant case of illegal deceptive trade practices by Houston Community College. It is nothing but a con, a bait and switch, where HCC takes our money and gives Hispanos a Yugo after promising us a Cadillac!

Beverly, in my heart I don't want to believe this is true but the voicemail says otherwise. To be fair I will give you a chance to respond to my allegations.

Please inform me of the facts of this situation as you see it and I will put your response on the HCC Sucks! website for the world to see.

The Chicano Avenger

P.S. To Alan Ainsworth of HCC Central College, who is in charge of the English programs at HCC: please explain to me and the Houston Hispanic community why underqualified people are allowed steal our Hispanic kids' precious future? Why are Houston Hispanic kids getting a third world education from HCC especially after paying HCC first-world tuition and fees?

P.P.S. To the HCC peanut gallery: isn't it bad enough that Diana Castillo, the interim predient of Southeat college, is an unqualified hack? Why is Hispanic-dominated Southeast College the only HCC College which does NOT have a Ph.D. as president? Who is only president because of nepotism because her husband works for Dr. Charles M. Cook? And when a qualified HCC Hispano with at Ph.D., Dr. Carlos Garcia, a has to move to CORPUS CHRISTI to become president of Del Mar College because he is not given a chance to become an HCC president by the clowns running HCC?

P.P.P.S. How can you HCC employees live with yourselves after immorally and unethically screwing Hispanos by saddling our kids with an substandard education? Don't Hispanos in Southeast College deserve the same education as those White and Asian people who attend the ornate palaces spread out all over Northwest and Southwest Colleges? HCC needs to learn that being Hispanic is a culture, not a life sentence. As long as HCC Southeast College remains the dumping ground for HCC's incompentent misfits then Hispanic kids are going to get shortchanged. Now it makes sense to me why the Distance Education program was under Southeast College when I got there!

HCC Stormtroopers and HPD Disrupt Peaceful Protest by Houston Hispanics

Fri, 23 Apr 2004 04:06:05 -0500

In late February, there was a peaceful protest by Houston area Hispanos protesting HCC's mistreatment of Hispano employees. The Chicano Avenger has some pictures documenting the HCC Stormtroopers and Houston Police Department disrupting the protest below.

NOTE: The images are a little soft because they are captures from video.

Local 100 of the Service Employees International Union
participated in the protest. Way to go guys!
As a Yellow Dog Democrat the Chicano Avenger is *PRO-UNION*

Lorenzo Cano, Assistant Director of the
University of Houston Mexican American Studies Program
and a fellow protester exercise their First Amendment rights.

Lorenzo Cano and another fellow protester
continue marching for justice for Hispanos from HCC.