Bay Area Houston

Sponsored by the CCCC of PTAs. You can submit questions here. I’m not sure if you are required to be associated with a PTA in order to submit a question.

This is a very short recap of the CCISD Candidate forum hosted by the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce.

If I had to pick a clear winner in the forum it would be Trustee Arturo Sanchez. Unfortunately he was supporting the Artemis II launch and could not attend. (He still won). Community Impact has a recap available here. The 1 hour forum can be viewed at I45Now.

Jamieson Mackay is facing special education teacher Ernest Hallman. As I have said before if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Both of these candidates seem to have in depth knowledge of the education system and CCISD. Both focused on dropping attendance which affects funding of the district. A helpful follow up question would have been “Why is attendance dropping?”. I think that would have been a great question. Maybe those who are educated in education would have a preference between the two.

Gabriel Gonzales is challenging Trustee Sanchez. As I have said in the past I wonder why he is running. His performance at the forum was awkward and did not help his run for the Board. His main issue is transparency yet he has refused to answer questions by educators in the area and has blocked those who question his qualifications. He deflects when asked if he is a certified teacher or why he has had so many short teaching positions. His answers to many questions during the forum were on the 30,000 foot level with few indications of in depth knowledge of the subject matter. He says he is a teacher and the Board would benefit from his experience.

Voters in District 2 should watch the next forum between Mackay and Hallman and vote for the best. That forum is scheduled for Monday April 6. See below for details. For District 3 the clear winner is Trustee Sanchez.

NOTE: I am a supporter of Arturo Sanchez and have volunteered for his campaign in the past.

Two seats are up in May.

Who is Running:
We have two CCISD School Board Trustees up for re-election in May, Arturo Sanchez, Position 3 and Jamieson Mackay, Position 2. Both have served the community very well. As my dad used to say when he saw me under the hood of the family car “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Needless to say I have my opinion which is worth as much as a bad cup of coffee at Denny’s. (Seriously Denny’s doesn’t have the best coffee.) All the candidates information including financial reports can be found at the CCISD Elections website.

Mackay is being challenged by Ernest A. Hallman II, Position 2. He has an impressive resume but other than that, I know little about him. Those in the know about education and CCISD might be able to address their preference in this race. Both are capable of doing the job. This race will be like races in the past where either candidate will be an asset to the district. That is the way it should be. Mackay’s last election was between two very good candidates and was above board. I see this being similar. It will be a hard choice.

Arturo Sanchez has served the district very well. You simply can’t get anyone better. Besides being well qualified and proven Arturo is just a great guy. If someone with similar qualifications were running against him it would be tough choice but this isn’t a tough choice.

Who Shouldn’t be Running:
Sanchez is being challenged by Gabriel F. Gonzales II, Position 3. He is a buddy of former Trustee Scott Bowen and was recruited by Scott. I’ve tried to ask Gonzales hard questions like “Why are you running against a very well qualified and proven Trustee?”, and “Are you still a teacher at the Charter School?”. I have since been blocked from his Facebook page. Gonzales said he is running because he is a teacher although he was recently hired by a right wing radio station as an “education” consultant. So I don’t know if he is teaching any longer. He is deeply embedded with the Republican Party as an elected precinct chair, which by the way, he lost his seat just a few days ago being crushed by his opponent 4-1. He claims he will not raise or spend more than $1001 so he does not have to file financial reports which means some other, outside of the district, PAC will be campaigning for him. He doesn’t have much experience with the district. Much like Scott he is not married and has no kids in school.

So let’s keep Arturo and watch a good race between two well qualified candidates!

As my dad would say when I had the hood of the car propped open “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Our School Board is running well. There is no drama. There are no partisan conflicts. There is no Scott Bowen. This is good. Ever since Scott was removed from office the Board seems to be running on all cylinders, not perfect, but running well. Trustees Arturo Sanchez, Position 3 and Jamieson Mackay, Position 2 have filed for reelection. This is good for the community, the district, parents, teachers, and students.

Personally, as my dad would say, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. And don’t run against a Trustee that is doing the job under extreme conditions. For the last 30 years education funding has been cut and that continues to this day with candidates (Scott)calling for abolishing public education funding without providing an alternative solution. Our Trustees will have a huge challenge in the next few years with vouchers expected to be expanded further eroding funding for our schools. This is the time for solid, experienced, leadership on the Board. We just can’t afford to change. Literally.

Unfortunately former CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen won’t go away. He has recruited another highly partisan candidate to run against Arturo Sanchez. Gabriel Frank Gonzales II, a precinct chair in the Republican Party, has filed to run against Sanchez. There are many reasons not to vote for Mr. Gonzales including his relationship to Bowen, his work history, and his position at a Charter School. God bless Gonzales for running but we really don’t need a challenge to a highly respected Trustee.

This isn’t the first time Bowen has recruited candidates to run against sitting Trustees. He recruited four unqualified candidates and the voters rejected them all and for very good reasons. Then in 2025 they rejected Bowen, for very good reasons. So once again, we will have to go to the polls to protect our public schools.

More on this later.