Bay Area Houston

Thanks to the Galveston Daily News for covering the CCISD Trustee election.

The GDN did a great job reporting on the outside PACs infiltrating our local elections in support of one candidate, Peter Lauzon. Lauzon is running in District 3, in Harris County. Although I appreciate the coverage I wish the Chronicle had reported on it since it is in their area.

The Chronicle has covered other districts like Katy and HISD but posted only one CCISD article allowing the candidates to introduce themselves. The Clear Lake area has become a media desert on issues such as the CCISD elections and local politics.

GCN’s article was brutally truthful. Lauzon is the only candidate being funded solely by outside extreme PACs. Here are a couple of tidbits:

The political action committee, which has donated the bulk of Lauzon’s total campaign dollars, has expended more than $10 million in donations toward conservative Republican organizations, home-school coalitions and Republican Party state representatives and senators.

When asked whether he would feel comfortable with other candidates accepting monetary donations from political action committees, Lauzon declined to comment.

This is actually a typical response from Lauzon. If he doesnt like your questions on his Campaign site, he blocks you. When he is caught lying on his website he limits comments. GCN reported on another CCISD candidate:

Glencora Rodgers, a candidate running for Position 2 on the board, was given $5,000 from the political action committee but returned the money, according to reports.

Rodgers, who said she doesn’t have a specific opinion on other candidates accepting PAC money, was a little skeptical after receiving a check in the mail for $5,000.

“I learned that the PAC doesn’t completely align with my values,” she said. “I want my race to be about school issues. I want people in the community to know that my only loyalty is to them.”

Kudos to Glencora. Three out of the four candidates running for the CCISD Board have run honorable campaigns, raising money from the district, with no allegiance to anyone but our parents, teachers, and students.

Maybe if CCISD voters vote against the billionaires who are funding Lauzon the Houston Chronicle would be interested.

Donald Trump taught the Republican Party how to lie and they do it. Every. Damn. Day.

Far right on queue Peter Lauzon sent out a mailer, paid for by the Republican Party, that attacked his opponent with lies and misinformation. Former Trustee Laura Dupont took the time to explain the facts and debunk Lauzon’s attack:

I am sickened by the misleading statements and absolute lies that are plastered on texts and flyers against Arturo Sanchez in the CCISD District 3 School Board race. Please reach out to a credible source and learn the facts before you cast your vote on Saturday.

Here are a few facts to start with:

* The CCISD Board of Trustees has not held a vote on changing or eliminating the homestead exemption in over 10 years. In fact, it has been a board assumption each year to maintain the exemption.

* The entire board has been unanimous in voting for a tax rate CUT every year since 2018.

* The amount of school taxes we pay has been increasing because of rising property values – this is not controlled by the school board. In fact, the state uses this to their own advantage such that the state contribution to school funding has decreased every year since 2019.

* Every action the board takes is based on a vote of 7 people. One trustee cannot raise – or lower – taxes on their own.

* Every school district in this state, including CCISD, is anticipating a funding crisis next year if our legislature continues down the path of not using a cash surplus to increase the basic allotment (which has not changed since 2019!) and adequately fund public education, at least correcting for inflation. Texas is currently ranked 48th in the country for per-student funding of public education.

The Republican Party has become nothing more than a pack of damn liars much like George Santos, Donald Trump, and Peter Lauzon. It is sad.

UPDATED: I’ve added the totals for the other candidates.

Peter Lauzon
Lauson has raised only $503 from inside CCISD. He has accepted $7070 from two candidates/PACs. Alexandra Mealer who lost her election in 2022 and has sued, like trump, claiming fraud (there was none) has donated $2070 for texting services. Another $5000 was donated by an extreme far right PAC from Dallas funded by two billionaires. He donated another $1000 of his own money to the campaign for a total of $3000. He has spent a total of $8100 with $6060 going towards mailers. He has $294 cash on hand.

It is sad that he has to depend on money from outside the district. He is in this race for the far right reasons.

The Clear Lake satellite of True Texas Project, the one that was thrown out of Buzz Aldrin’s church, has entered the CCISD elections by endorsing the far right candidate, Peter Lauzon. Lauzon’s campaign is being funded by another extreme far right PAC, Defend Texas Liberty. From the Houston Chronicle:

The far-right political activism organization True Texas Project planned to hold multiple events at Webster Presbyterian Church this summer. Church authorities canceled the events and removed TTP from its schedule upon learning more about the group.

The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled TTP as an extremist anti-government group last year. They have since moved to a government community center for their anti-government meetings. (LOL) Their largest donor to their PAC is, once again, Timothy Dunn who has funded Defend Texas Liberty and was featured on a CNN investigation. Dunn is a billionaire spending his money on extreme far right organizations such as TPP specifically to take over school boards.

Expect to see lots of money from these two extremists to flood the CCISD election in favor of Peter Lauzon.