Gehrig Saldaña

To compound this drama, other DISD executive level staff may have resorted to using resident addresses of people who live inside the DISD boundary. Other staff actually may live outside the DISD boundary but try to give the impression they live in properties they own located inside the DISD boundary -- properties which are most likely rental properties these executive staffers own and rent for profit. This is all in an effort to appear to be in compliance of DISD residency policy. If verified, these actions add to an already serious breach of existing DISD residency policy.

The newly appointed DISD HR Director now has 6 months to either comply with the DISD residency policy or obtain a waiver so she may continue to live in Weatherford, TX. She was recently elected to the Weatherford ISD School Board. That doesn't sound like someone who's planning to become a legal employee by moving into the DISD boundaries. See CBS11 Sarah Dodd's report, DISD Could Hire Another Out Of District Exec and Robert Wilonsky's comments in If Nothing Else, DISD's New HR Director Has a Fascinating Story on DallasObserver.com's UnFair Park blog,

In February, 2007, Dr. Hinojosa told the press: "By July 1st of 07 even if they have dual mortgages, they need to be within the district".

Was Dr. Hinojosa lying then? Or, is he lying now? We hope he's not lying at all.

How fair is DISD Supt. Hinojosa with DISD employees who have obeyed the DISD residency policy? Those employees who obeyed DISD's residency policy might have liked to live somewhere else to be closer to family and friends but they obeyed the policy. They are legal.

How fair are the violators of the DISD residency policy to DISD taxpayers? These high paid executives get their salary from DISD taxpayers, but they don't pay their taxes here if they live outside DISD boundaries. They are illegal.

Isn't Dallas good enough to live in?

If DISD taxpayers are good enough to get a salary from them, why won't some DISD executives live inside DISD boundaries?

How does DISD Supt. Michael Hinojosa decide who gets a waiver and who does not? I'm sure Celso Martinez would like to hear a response to that question.

The DISD School Board needs to revisit their residency policy in order to assure DISD taxpayers there are no loopholes in play to prevent their policy from being enforced across the board. If not, individuals like Celso Martinez and other DISD executive staff already in compliance with current DISD residency policy may decide to consult with their personal attorneys to see if they have been selectively punished for complying with a DISD residency policy adopted by the DISD School Board.

There is an even issue of whether one school board member lives inside the DISD or even in the City of Dallas, rather than in the same town where his wife lives and his stepson attends school. That may sound like the perfect marriage, but the residency issue strains credibility.

DISD taxpayers may yet have to dole out more of their hard-earned school tax dollars to pay for more bad management decisions at DISD.