Bay Area Houston

He just can’t keep his f***ing mouth shut.

Well, actually in this case he did and for good reason. The Houston Chronicle posted an article concerning Cy Fair ISD. It’s detailed, long and a good read. Turns out the so called “Conservatives” running for reelection are fighting each other over the endorsement from the Harris County Republican Party. Who is more MAGAt? Who will bring Bowen’s chaos into the district? Who will attack the gay community, Hispanics, and non-christians while claiming to be a christian?

How does Bowen fit into this chaos? Bowen was referenced late in the article “The chair of the local government committee, Scott Bowen, did not respond to a request for comment.” Bowen not only was responsible for the chaos in CCISD he was responsible for recruiting candidates to run for school boards across the county. In CCISD he recruited some of the most unqualified candidates to ever run for the board. Misty Dawson, Christine Parizo, Pete Lauzon, and Joe Machol. All were gawd awful candidates and all lost. It will be interesting to see who funded the CFISD trustees.

Bowen not only recruited these horrible candidates he found campaign money for them from the two Texas Billionaires who funded Defend Texas Liberty. This group was dissolved after their meeting with a known white supremacist was uncovered by the Texas Tribune. Bowen still associates with these individuals.

Bowen is now running for State Representative so he can further the decline of public schools in Texas. Well at least his gdamn signs are being removed by the City of Houston.

Keller ISD is a perfect example of why we need campaign finance reform.

Background
A couple of years ago Patriot Mobile donated $50,000 each to three far right candidates for the Keller ISD Board. They ran as a “coalition of conservatives”, won and brought their far right politics and controversies with them.

The Movie
Shortly after being elected two board members invited a Dutch evangelist film crew into a high school without the permission of the parents, principal, or school board. Trustee Sandi Walker resigned and many called for the resignation of Trustee Micah Young. The Dutch eventually aired a Praise Jesus movie featuring the high school students. Parents were not happy and I would bet there is a lawsuit working it’s way through the courts.

The Split
Last year the Board considered a plan to split the district in two due to financial burdens. The split was met with fierce opposition calling it racially motivated. Keller ISD has about 34,000 students. For comparision, CCISD has about 45,000 students. Eventually the split failed but that didn’t end the controversy.

The Investigation
Board members are now being investigated for violation of State law concerning the Open Meetings Act, which is serious stuff. Trustee Micah Young, one of the $50,000 candidates, posted a long “I am the victim” post on his Facebook acct. He posted a text from Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Cody Copeland who was asking Micah for comments for a story about board members meeting in violation of the Open Meetings Act. He has since deleted his entire account or has blocked me. Or maybe his lawyer told him to delete it because he and other members of the Board are in some deep shit. Seriously deep shit. Parents are now petitioning for the removal of three Board members.

The Lawsuit
According to Cody Copeland of the Fort Worth Star a lawsuit has been filed to remove members of the board violated the Open Meetings Act:

Keller school board trustees who tried to split the district earlier this year began discussing the proposal as early as May 2024, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in a Tarrant County district court. They previously held that the earliest they discussed the split before it became public was Dec. 19.

Not only would they be removed from the Board they could also be held criminally responsible for their actions. Micah Young did not run for reelection. $50,000 down the drain.

Campaign Finance Reform
Keller ISD could be the poster child for campaign finance reform. Thank God for the voters of CCISD who improved our School Board at the last election!

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.