Texas Republican’s bill bans “FURRIES” in rural school districts

March 14, 2025

This is NOT satire. Seriously.

Texas State Representative Stan Gerdes, a republican with the full backing of Governor Abbott, has filed a House Bill 4814 banning animal role playing by kids in schools. (This is NOT satire) Gerdes claims this bill was a result of a complaint confirmed by the Superintendent of Smithville Independent School District. SISD has 5 schools, including 1 high school. They have a total of 1770 students and 122 teachers. The SISD is what we call “rural” like in farmers and lots of white people in Bastrop County. Many would consider this district to be in “Bum f*** Egypt”.

The bill will prohibit dress up by kids in animal costumes, role playing, and even having cat litter available. Seriously. According to his press release “I filed HB 4814, the FURRIES Act (Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Educational Spaces) to ensure that public schools are not accommodating or allowing disruptive “furry” roleplaying behavior.” His press release is below. His bill, HB4814, can be found here. It has no co-sponsors or chance for a hearing.

According to the Houston Chronicle this stupidity was debunked in early 2024 but not after it caused considerable chaos including bomb threats and threats against school districts. Even the farmers in the area were taken back by this bill. “What I do in the privacy of my barn is none of your g**damn business.” said one farmer who wanted to remain anonymous. (Ok. That sentence was satire)

The bill has the full support of CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen.

(Ok. That was satire too.)

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Posted by johncoby

Fullen’s Transparency Claims Under Fire Amid Ethics Investigation

March 13, 2025

LOL. Mr. Transparency my ass.

Last year the Texas Ethics Commission began an investigation into Jimmy Fullen, candidate for Sheriff. Fullen padded his campaign account with a fake $100,000 loan. In an amended report he simply removed it from his reports prior to the TEC completing their investigation.

Today that investigation has been completed but Fullen petitioned the TEC to make it “confidential” and the investigation results, fines, or any other disciplinary action will be hidden from the public. Seems odd since Fullen ran on being Mr Transparency. Based upon other ethics fines I would bet he was hit fairly hard for basically padding his bottom line with a fake loan. As I said before:

As noted previously Fullen has removed his $100,000 loan from this campaign reports as if it never happened, probably because it really never happened. He padded his account making it look like he raised a shit load of money. He actually didn’t. In his latest report he has a loan balance of only $24,052 which came from Mark Henry. The $100,000 loan he claimed to have given himself magically disappeared.

Go fuckin figure.

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Posted by johncoby

CCISD Candidates: What Would You Ask at Forums

March 13, 2025

Over the next couple of months there will be a series of forums where candidates for CCISD school board will be able to express their plans and concerns if elected. Unfortunately I believe the questions are just too nice, such as questions about school vouchers and how they intend to adjust to the cuts in funding. Moderators rarely will ask follow up questions. I’m also wondering why the educational community has not arranged a forum. Why do we have to depend on the Chamber or the Southbelt news paper to organize an event. Both are having forums soon.

In the past I emailed questions to candidates Wittliff and Trustee Larson. Larson refused to answer. You can read those the Q&As here: “Tough Questions (with answers) for CCISD candidates.“.

So I am curious. What questions would you ask of the candidates?

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Posted by johncoby

Babin’s Silence on Key Topics Raises Constituent Concerns

March 13, 2025

A group of constituents met with local Congressman Brian Babin’s staff to discuss a range of topics including the tariffs, Ukraine, attacks on Veterans, Elon Musk, education, and the stock market. The meeting was cordial, the staff was nice, but the results were just so-so.

Refusing to meet with constituents.
One of the issues brought to his attention was the complete lack of communication by Babin. They claimed Babin has had a town hall meeting 10 years ago. One. In ten years. None of us could remember it. They said we could listen to him on a “tele town hall” which is nothing more than a recorded message with answers to hand picked questions. It is a one way conversation.

Ukraine.
The staff claims Babin has broken away from Trump concerning his claim that Ukraine started the war by attacking Russia. We have not heard that and he could not produce anything that proves this. We questioned whether Babin approved of what Trump and Vance did to attack Zelensky. He had no response. We questioned what his position was on Ukraine. Again no answer.

NASA.
We talked about the chaos at NASA and our federal employees. We reminded him that there has been reductions in force at NASA but they were coordinated and followed a process. There was an orderly exit for employees with none being fired by an email.

Elon Musk.
We didn’t hold back on Elon Musk and wanted to know if Babin supported Musk and DOGE. Again no answer. We asked specifically if Babin supported Musk attack on war veteran Mark Kelly. Again nothing specific. The staff member was good at deflecting.

Education.
We discussed the cuts to the Department of Education, something Babin has supported in the past. Again no concrete answers.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for a town hall meeting. The only way you will be able to actually see him face to face is to attend an event by the Chamber of Commerce. It usually costs $35.

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Posted by johncoby

CCISD Candidate Joe Machol’s Campaign: Fumbling the kick off.

March 12, 2025

Community Impact is a pretty good local publication. Yesterday they posted Q&A for Rebecca Lilley and Trustee Scott Bowen. Today they published answers by Trustee Cejka and Joe Machol to some generic questions. My thoughts below.

Trustee Cejka
As I have said before I just don’t understand why Trustee Bowen recruited a candidate to run against Trustee Cejka. With major funding issues about to hit our district we need stability, experience, and level heads. Unlike other School Districts who have elected chaotic Trustees such as Keller, Katy, and Cypress, CCISD has been able to excel despite Scott Bowen’s political chaos. Cejka’s commitment to the tax payers, parents, teachers, and students has contributed to CCISD being selected as finalists for the HEB Excellence in Education Award. Cejka’s responses to the questions are what we expect from our Trustees.

Council Member Joe Machol
As posted yesterday, Seabrook Council Member Joe Machol has a long resume of football referee experience including with the NFL. In his first remarks to the public, as a candidate for CCISD Trustee, Machol fumbled the kick off. The questions by CI are as simple as putting the ball on the half yard line with 1st and goal. CI asked the candidates to keep answers to 50 words or less. Machol took full advantage of this requirement answering with short, generic, unresponsive responses. For example responding to the question:

“Should the district address declining enrollment? If so, how?“ he answered
“Declining enrollment could be offset with recruitment.”.

And/Or Duh. I thought Machol would have taken a few minutes to confer with Trustee Bowen and answer the questions with thoughtful responses. He didn’t. Instead he took a knee. Take a few minutes to read the article and bookmark Community Impact for future articles.

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Posted by johncoby

Local State Representative hides voucher opposition by constituents

March 11, 2025

This was unexpected.

Yesterday I called our State Representative Dennis Paul and asked how many calls they have received on HB 3, the school voucher bill. I was told this information is “privileged” and could not be shared. Needless to say I called bullshit and was abruptly referred to his Chief of Staff, Greg Bentch. I have been in contact with Greg for a number of months concerning home insurance and even met with him last week. He also claimed this information is protected from being released. I don’t believe this. He claimed that they have received calls on “both” sides of the argument but refused to say just how opposed to vouchers Paul’s constituents are.

I’ve called other State Representatives and they did not agree with Paul’s position. Poll after poll show nearly 70% of Texans are against vouchers including Democrats and Republics. If his office is taking statistics on this topic it is public information. Period. Even a simple spreadsheet or hand written tally is public record. All emails concerning HB 3 are public information. All of it is.

Paul co-sponsored the voucher bill even though his constituents are widely opposed to it. Even members of his own party are against vouchers. The business community in the Bay Area are against it. A resolution in support of vouchers was spearheaded by CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen and it was NOT a unanimous vote. Vouchers are just not popular. Yet Paul will support it nevertheless.

Maybe you will have better luck contacting Paul’s office at (512) 463-0734 or via email at Dennis.paul@house.texas.gov. Voice your opposition and ask for statistics.

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Posted by johncoby

CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen on vouchers and partisan politics in the classroom

March 11, 2025

Two down. Bowen to go.

Community Impact asked Trustee Bowen and his opponent, Rebecca Lilley, a couple of generic questions concerning their positions on education. The article avoided the kind of questions I would ask like “Do you support vouchers?” or “Will you accept money from outside the district PACs?” or “Will you bring partisan politics into the classroom?”. If you read between the lines Bowen answers some of these questions. Here is an analysis of the interview, Get to know the candidates running for Clear Creek ISD’s board of trustees At-Large Position B.

Vouchers
Bowen’s opponent voiced her opposition to vouchers. Bowen didn’t even mention it even though he has been the champion of school vouchers for the Republic Party and he was caught on video doing it. Bowen sponsored a resolution in the Party urging passage of the voucher program. It passed, although NOT unanimously. You can watch the video here.

Bringing partisan politics into the classroom
Bowen is real proud of stopping “CRT” being taught at CCISD schools even though CRT was never taught and would never be taught since it is a specialized, advanced, graduate course taught in just a few colleges across the country. (Personally I don’t even know WTF CRT is.)

Bowen in his response to the Community Impact repeat the catch phrases being used by his Republic Party, including ” prioritizing traditional education (including phonics), reducing device dependence.” These are the current hot topics his party is pushing. They sound common sense but his party has been in control for 25 years and yet this is an issue now? His comments on property taxes are, again, out of his Party’s playbook. CCISD property taxes were cut two years ago, almost in half. School districts are struggling and vouchers will NOT help. For a party that has been in power for 25 years it is amazing how difficult they have made it for public education.

This article just touches the surface of the important issues. I wish someone would ask the tough questions like “Do you have any association with white supremacists?”. To read about Bowen’s record you might want to read the article “Scott Bowen: A Threat to CCISD Education“.

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Posted by johncoby

Take Action TODAY: Submit your comments on School Vouchers

March 10, 2025

The Public Education Committee in the Texas House has scheduled a hearing on School Vouchers Tuesday March 11. You can, and should, submit comments to the bill on the House Comment Webpage. Submit your name, address, the bill you are commenting on (HB 3 by Buckley) You are limited to 3000 characters.

My personal issue with this bill besides cutting funding to Public Schools, is that this bill will give parents 10 times more money than what they contribute to public education. If you pay $1000 in school taxes the State will give you $9000 more, all paid for with your tax dollars. This is nothing more than Welfare for the Wealthy.

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Posted by johncoby

Joe Machol: High School Referee Lawsuit and CCISD Board Bid

March 10, 2025

Why is Seabrook City Councilman running for CCISD Trustee? It’s a valid question and has not been answered.

Joe Machol is a Seabrook City Council Member. Seabrook has been having an internal conflict with the extreme right wing, led by Jackie Rasco, attempting to take over City Council. It seems that Machol is in the middle of this chaos. Yesterday I posted a video of Jackie Rasco, candidate for Mayor, at a CCISD meeting complaining about rainbows in the classroom. It should come as no surprise that CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen endorses both of these individuals.

I have asked CM Machol about why he is running especially against a very good Trustee, Jessica Cejka. Cejka has been a great addition to the Board and has served her community very well. Machol, who was recruited by Trustee Bowen, has no real answer except for one response that was shared with me “I’ve lived in Seabrook for decades [sic]”. He has no website or Facebook page but he has been asked on various social media sites many times. Still no answer.

Unlike the other candidates Machol does not have a treasurer on file, as of last Friday, which means he cannot raise or spend money. That is a big no-no with the Texas Ethics Commission. You must have a treasurer on file with CCISD before spending any money, including your own, on campaign related items such as signs and buttons. It is a pretty easy rule to follow.

High School Football
Machol brings a long resume of football referee experience including with the NFL but that seems to have been abruptly ended with the filing of a lawsuit by Machol against the Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO). (Case #201873227- 7 filed in Harris County)

This suit was filed in 10/2018 and was dismissed (settled?) on 2/2020. The TASO removed him as a high school referee and as President of TASO for some kind of ethics violations. Machol sued for about $1,000,000. According to documents filed with the County, TASO investigated allegations made by Machol against other members of the board and dismissed all of his complaints. Why he was specifically removed as a referee is not clear. You can read the original petition here and the results of the TASO investigation here. All the documents can be found with the County Clerk. The Houston Chronicle also covered this story in 2019.

According to the documents Machol was pulled from refereeing 14 high school games. It is not known if he was reinstated after the suit was settled. CCISD has been through a lot of unnecessary chaos created by Scott Bowen. What we do not need is more chaos such as the chaos with Seabrook and TASO. It would be great if Machol would consider staying on City Council.

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Posted by johncoby

Jackie Rasco’s Attack on Scott Bowen at CCISD Meetings

March 9, 2025

I said it in the past about CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen in “Scott Bowen. A threat to CCISD Education:

And Jackie Rasco, candidate for Seabrook Mayor did just that. She seemed to enjoy bashing the gay community and rallying against rainbows in the classroom. It’s all on video. Watch it below. Maybe she should have consulted with Scott before attacking the gay community since Bowen’s family members are gay. It must have been a very uncomfortable 3 minutes for Scott or maybe he actually enjoyed it. Who knows?

I think Bowen is endorsing her based upon the photo above with failed CCISD candidate Misty Dawson, who Bowen recruited, standing next to a Scott Bowen cutout. You can watch Rosco’s 3 minutes of fame below.

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Posted by johncoby

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