What’s Next for CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen?

May 8, 2025

The darling of the Texas Republic Party needs an elected position.

After his crushing defeat in the CCISD election Scott Bowen will be looking for another office to run for. Hopefully this time he will run for a partisan position, one that allows him to run as a Republican because that is what he is, a MAGAt Republican. He has a couple of options and I expect him to continue his political career that started at Texas A&M where he served on the Senate along with a couple of extreme right wingers. You can read about them here. From a previous post:

  • He has personal relationships (Served on the Texas A&M Senate) with the Director of Texans for Strong Borders who was seen chauffeuring [Nick] Fuentes
  • He has personal relationship with Cary Cheshire, (Served on the Texas A&M Senate) the executive director of Texans For Strong Borders and a longtime employee of Defend Texas Liberty

Defend Texas Liberty was eventually disbanded after The Texas Tribune caught their leadership meeting with a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes. But I digress. Bowen needs a position. Here are his possibilities. According to his voter registration he has some options:

For Congress
This might be a good place for him. Congressional District 36 is one of the most gerrymandered district in the United States. A republican can win this seat by 40 points just by putting their name on the ballot. A republican could be caught with a goat in the back of a 57 Chevy and still win. Our current congressman, Brian Babin, has been missing in action for the last 10 years. He has never communicated with his constituents because he doesn’t need to. Babin is old, frail, is worthless to the community, and should resign. Bowen would be free to run for his seat if he does.

For State Senate
Our Senator Money Mayes Middleton is running for Texas Attorney General. Bowen can’t run for that office because he does not live in his district but he could run in Senate District 6 and get his ass handed to him by Senator Carol Alvarado. This is a no go for Scott.

For State Representative
Rumor has it State Representative Dennis Paul is going to retire after 10 years with little, if any, accomplishments to his name. Paul will leave with a $25,000 pension and state provided healthcare for him and his wife for the rest of his life. This would be a good step for Bowen since the district is gerrymandered enough to give any goat loving republican an easy win but unlike Congress it pays little.

For Commissioner
He could challenge Commissioner Adrian Garcia but like Alvarado he would get his ass kicked. Again. The Precinct respects Garcia. He has performed well and other challengers have been unsuccessful in ousting him.

If Brian Babin steps down look to Scott to follow in his footsteps and continue kissing Donald Trump’s big ass.


Extremist PAC Pulls Endorsement of Local CCISD Trustee

May 8, 2025

This happened just days after a crushing defeat of two highly partisan candidates for the CCISD School Board, Trustee Bowen and Joe Machol.

According to the Houston Chronicle article “Far-right school board candidates rejected right-wing school board candidates” the far-right extremist 1776 PAC from New York got it’s ass kicked in last weeks elections. It’s a good read and maybe shows that parents, teachers, and tax payers have had enough of partisan politicians infecting our schools. According to the article:

Major political action committees, including the 1776 PAC, True Texas, Patriot Mobile and Mom’s for Liberty, saw their preferred candidates lose even in conservative areas of Texas. 

I’ve written about the 1776 PAC back in 2024 when they endorsed CCISD Trustee Jeff Larson. This is an extreme far right organization supported by Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. CCISD Trustee Jeff Larson is/was on their list of endorsements. The PAC has since removed any mention of their endorsement of Larson on their website. In 2024 many received texts paid for by the PAC proudly endorsing Larson. They posted their endorsement on their Facebook page. He won. How much they spent helping Larson win is hard to determine but you can peruse the data at Open Secrets. Most of their funding came from areas outside CCISD.

This PAC did not meddle in the 2025 CCISD election, in fact, besides the Harris County Republic Party no outside partisan organizations tried to sway voters in our last election. Besides Trustee Bowen spending $20,000 of his own money in his losing effort it was a pretty clean election.

As it should be.


Response from Congressman Babin on NASA Cuts

May 7, 2025

Crickets.

If you call your local Congressman, Brian Babin, and ask “Has the Congressman made a statement on the massive cuts to NASA?” you will get the response “I haven’t talked with the Congressman on the issue but will pass your comments on to him”. That’s the canned answer to every question on every subject on every day. I’ve called daily asking for a response and they still haven’t talked with the Congressman. Go ahead and try it. I’ll wait. Phone: (202) 225-1555

The proposed cuts to NASA and the shift of money to Elon Musk and SpaceX has the administration considering renaming NASA to the National Administration for Zodiology Investments. (NAZI). But seriously, I am almost being serious. Trump is proposing to gut the Space Agency with a massive 24% cut including cancelling major programs at JSC. Gateway, the space station around the Moon, has had its first module delivered to NASA. It’s being cancelled. The vehicles that will send astronauts to the Moon and Mars are being cancelled. Both the Orion vehicle and the heavy lift rocket (SLS) have already been built and flown. They are both gone along with the jobs.

These programs are serious cuts to the local economy and yet Senator Cornyn, Cruz, Congressmen Weber and Babin (all republicans by the way) have been unable to take their lips off Trumps ass to make a statement. All of them are happy to have proposed moving a Shuttle from Washington DC to Space Center Houston. That might give the engineers losing their jobs an opportunity to become tour guides.

At least Elon Musk is happy. The cuts to NASA are going straight to SpaceX, the guys who like to blow up vehicles.


The Silence on CCISD Elections: How Our Local Media Failed Us

May 7, 2025

In the words of Hank Hill: “Where you at?”

BTW. I have contact with a number of journalists and greatly appreciate what they do but their outlet needs to do better. The CCISD area has a couple of local media outlets including Community Impact, The Houston Chronicle, The Galveston Daily News, and the The Southbelt Leader. None of these media outlets have ever dug deep into the candidates for CCISD trustees. I can give a pass to Community Impact because that isn’t what they do although maybe they should reconsider. The 2025 election was a great example of our local media being missing in action.

No media outlet dug deep into the candidates past, abilities, or fundraising for the position. Trustee Scott Bowen has a history (documented by videos) of supporting school vouchers and advocating against public schools in Austin. He has a history of associating with extreme organizations and people. There is enough background on him to fill up a post titled “A Threat to CCISD Education” and yet no local media reported on it. Joe Machol, Bowen’s recruit, was probably the worst candidate in CCISD history to run for the Board and yet the media was silent. He had no money, no background in education, no campaign, and no business running for Trustee.

These positions are important to the community especially parents of school kids. The information about these candidates should be researched and provided to the community so they can make informed decisions. They should know their past, their qualifications, and their source of funding no matter how disturbing it may be. Over the last few years school districts across the country have been infested with extremists funded by white wing organizations like Patriot Mobile and Defend Texas Liberty and yet there was little if any coverage of this.

It’s disappointing that my small blog, Bay Area Houston, has to do the heavy lifting. All the information is public or available via a google search but I don’t have the coverage of the media in the Bay Area. I don’t have the audience to make an impact. I’m not an educated journalist. I’m just a loud mouth blogger. The community needs this information. They need our media outlets.

Do better. We need you.


Texas Insurance Legislation: A Disappointment for Bay Area Property Owners

May 6, 2025

We are on our own until November 2026.

Side Sour Note: 
Since my visit to Austin I have been overly busy and have neglected to keep you informed of the progress of any bills that may help us with the rising cost of insurance. I left Austin extremely disappointed in the lack of attention to our situation. Let me be blunt about where we stand. No one is coming to help us. The bills being debated are nothing but minor changes that will NOT help reduce our premiums. There are some Legislators who understand our situation and are trying but they are overwhelmed by the opposition in Austin. Where do we go from here? I do not know.

Bills being debated:
Megan Kimble of the Houston Chronicle just wrote an excellent article, “Texas plan to rein in home insurers doesn’t go far enough”  concerning a number of bills making their way through Austin. Take some time to read it to understand where we stand.

Our State Representative and Senator
HB2067/SB1006. State Representative Dennis Paul and Senator Mayes Middleton filed HB2067 and SB1006 which are “companion” bills. Companions make it easier to fast track. Both are on their way to passing but will have no effect on our situation. The bills require an insurance company to write a letter when they cancel or deny service to you. That’s all it does. Expect them to boast about this accomplishment soon after the session is over.

Senator Mayes is stepping away from his seat to run for Texas Attorney General and Dennis Paul is rumored to be retiring. Maybe we can find two candidates who will champion our cause in 2026.

HB2741 will prohibit the use of credit scoring in setting premiums. It was left pending in the Insurance Committee in early April. SB1644 Will require an insurance company to write a letter if your credit score negatively affects your premiums. It seems ready to pass. Once again pretty useless.

SB1643 will require insurance companies to justify an increase in a rate over 10%. It passed the Senate. This bill does NOT apply to increases in premiums. It is for rate increases. Your rate may not change but your premium might double. This bill does absolutely nothing for us. 

HB1576/SB2924 will create a “Fortify” program similar to Alabama. In Alabama the state helps you fortify your home from weather events in exchange for lower premiums. The Texas bill does not guarantee lower premiums. Why anyone would go through the expense of fortifying a home without an incentive is beyond me. The House bill has passed the house. The Senate bill is coming up for a hearing.

No bills were filed to address the cost of repairs or price gouging after a weather event.


Voters Reject Partisan Politics in Texas Schools including CCISD

May 5, 2025

If I woke up with my head sewn to the carpet I would not be more surprised.

CCISD voters made a huge statement last Saturday and rejected partisan politics in our schools by soundly beating Trustee Scott Bowen and his recruit, Joe Machol. They beat back Bowen’s Billionaire Buddies. I bet the voucher bill signed on elected day contributed to these defeats. Bowen authored the Voucher Bill resolution for the Texas Republic Party. CCISD was not alone in taking a stand against extremists.

Mansfield ISD defeated 3 MAGA incumbents including the President and Secretary by large margins. In Katy ISD James Cross crushed the sitting MAGA President Victor Perez. “Perez, an outspoken conservative, has led the charge for banning books since taking office.” (Houston Chronicle) In Keller ISD (see background here) MAGA Trustee Micah Young decided not to run and for good reason. He would have been crushed. He was funded by the right wing Patriot Mobile PAC with $50,000. MAGA incumbent, Tammy Nakamura, funded by Patriot Mobile was defeated in Grapevine Colleyville ISD. Patriot Mobile spent $70,000 on her race.

Patriot Mobile has spent an outrageous amount of money on their candidates. Two lost. One resigned. Maybe parents, teachers, and taxpayers have had enough of dark money in school boards.

Maybe.


Local Candidates Face Election Upset in Seabrook

May 5, 2025

With all the noise coming out of Seabrook I didn’t expect this.

The candidates of the Save Seabrook (SS) Squad were enjoying spicy crawfish at The Barge on election night, at least for a little while. In the end all but one lost. Angela Cervantes is the only SS candidate that won her seat on City Council. Jackie Rasco lost. J.P. Byers lost. Kyra Burton lost. Chris Hues lost. I really didn’t see this coming and I bet they didn’t appreciate the guy in the corner playing WOMP WOMP on his trombone.

As a side note former Seabrook City Councilman and former NFL referee, Joe Machol, was ejected from the game with a crushing defeat for CCISD school board. That was a win-win for both Seabrook and CCISD.

Mayoral candidate, Jim Sweeney, beat Rasco by only 13 votes out of a total of 1539. There will be a recount and possibly legal action by Rasco with wild claims of voter fraud, ballot harvesting, and other unsubstantiated claims that have never been proven across the county and country. If Harris County had handled this election there would be a paper trail that can be recounted and verified. I’m not sure what type of voting machines Seabrook uses so it might not be an easy recount and candidates could claim the machine switched votes. We shall see.

Otherwise Seabrook has elected an incredibly talented Mayor and great members of City Council. You might want to review Sweeneys resume here. Maybe the citizens were not ready to be the center of attention for local media and nosy bloggers. Congratulations to Jim Sweeney, Jared Sessum, Summer Sanford, Tyler Kubena, and Angela Cervantes.


CCISD Voters Reject Billionaire Influence in School Board Election

May 4, 2025

Last night the Conservatives, Democrats, and Independents of the district found common ground and returned Trustee Jessica Cejka to the school board and elected Rebecca Lilley. People said loudly “PARTISAN POLITICS DO NOT BELONG IN OUR SCHOOLS!”.

CCISD voters have bucked the billionaires from Dallas, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. These two have spent millions financing candidates for school boards across the state including CCISD. Scott Bowen took their money as did his recruit Peter Lauzon. Both have lost. Lauzon was primarily funded by Wilks PAC, Defend Texas Liberty with $5000. DTL also gave $5000 to another candidate. She returned it.

Bowen spent almost $20,000 of his own money in his losing effort while others spent a couple of thousand. Joe Machol who challenged Jessica Cejka didn’t have much of a campaign and spent little if any. He did get a bit of help from the Harris County Republic Party with some texting.

Thanks to the voters CCISD will be a shining example across the state. We stood up to the billionaires. We put kids, parents, teachers, and tax payers over political parties. It doesn’t matter what party you align with just as long as you run for the right reasons. Congratulations to Jessica and Rebecca and to the voters of the district!


Justin Hicks II might return to League City Council

May 3, 2025

JFK! WTF is wrong with you people?

Wasn’t Justin Hicks enough for League City? Aren’t you tired of chaos, corruption, and cruelty? Aren’t you tired of the veiled threats by the extreme MAGAts of the Republic Party? Aren’t you starving for civility and elected leaders just doing their damn jobs? If so why in the living heck would you put Scott Higginbotham on Council?

His latest Hicks move is a recent mailer he sent with his opponents home address. That is unnecessary. The opponent he attacked has responded. Voters should respond to.


Houston, We Have a Problem. Again.

May 3, 2025

NASA’s problem is Elon’s profit.

Remember when President Obama cancelled the Constellation Program in 2009? I do. The Tea Party People (pre-MAGAts) at NASA threw a fit! Constellation was a massive, underfunded, program designed to continue the Space Station, return to the Moon and go to Mars. The Obama Administration cancelled the Mars portion (for good reasons) and began investing in the private sector (Space X) for transportation to the Space Station leaving travel to the Moon to NASA.

The right wingers of NASA at JSC went absolutely ballistic. At least one manager was “promoted” to staff after sending an email calling for voting Obama out of office. Others were clearly not happy. Some quit in disgust. Before Elon Musk became a dick the idea of using SpaceX vehicles became cool and was accepted by the NASA community. But now? Massive cuts to NASA are coming in the 2026 budget released by Trump. Most of that money will now go to Musk and SpaceX. Here are the highlights from NASAWatch:

Orion, Gateway, and STEM will gut NASA/JSC. These are programs assigned to JSC. Gateway is a Space Station around the Moon and the first module was recently delivered. It’s dead. Orion is the vehicle that will send humans to the Moon and Mars. It’s gone after the 3rd flight. NASA has worked on that project for over a decade. STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is an educational program for aspiring young scientists and engineers. Space Launch System (SLS) is a heavy lift rocket designed to send Orion to the moon. It is being designed in Alabama and has had one flight.

$6 Billion out of a $24 Billion budget is massive. Management at JSC has encouraged those who voted for the felon, civil service and contractors alike, to stand up and volunteer to quit their jobs. Needless to say none will take that offer. (I’m kidding).

What will JSC have left? Operation of the Space Station serviced by Elon Musk up until 2030 when Trump wants it decommissioned. Then NASA/JSC will transition to Musk. Musk will provide private sector space travel using our tax dollars. LOL. Seriously. Trump is simply privatizing space travel using our money.

Maybe the NASA MAGAts will throw a fit before being thrown out the door.


Bay Area Houston

Hard hitting political commentary always full of wit in Houston Texas.

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