CCISD Trustee Michelle Davis drops out of the race

February 24, 2023

According the the CCISD Elections website Trustee Michelle Davis has dropped out of the race.

We should thank her for her service to the community. I personally didn’t think her heart was in the race and she was hoping another “Conservative” was going to run. Scott Bowen, a current CCISD Trustee, was busy recruiting candidates to run with the support of his party which didn’t include Michelle. I have been told he wasn’t having much luck so Michelle was going to stay in the race.

That changed today. So we are left with Jamieson Mackay and Glencora Rodgers both who are not aligned with any political party and both have good education experience that would be a benefit to the community and CCISD.

So, thank you Trustee Davis for serving.


Last day to drop out of the CCISD Trustee election. Who will? Who should?

February 24, 2023

Today is the last day to drop out of the CCISD Trustee election. 5 individuals have applied, 3 for District 2 and 2 for District 3.

If Michelle Davis would drop out, the race will be between 2 very good candidates, Glencora Rodgers and Jamison Mackay. I have heard really good things about both of them and the debates would be interesting and very competitive. After one term on the Board Davis has made her mark of following the antics of Scott Bowen. She nominated Bowen for all positions on the board, losing all of them. But something is happening. Bowen has been fishing around looking to back one of the other candidates enticing them with his with his party’s support and unlimited money. So far he has been turned down like a sophomore at a Jr/Sr prom.

If either Glencora or Jamieson drops the race will be a race about contrast between doing what is best for the students, parents, and teachers and what is best for partisan politics.

In District 3 Peter Lauzon really should consider dropping out of the race. He is Scott Bowen’s hand picked candidate who will be flush with outside partisan money. They will spend whatever it will take to get Lauzon on the Board and give the gavel of the President to the Khaos Kid. Lauzon has no business being on the board. He is a highly partisan party candidate and will be nothing more than a Bowen vote. He has shown absolutely no interest in education. He has absolutely no experience in education. He is a UFO, Unfit For Office, and should drop out, and move on supporting his political party.

Running a campaign is tough especially when your heart is not in it for the right reasons. It is stressful on you and your family even more so when partisan politics gets involved in a non-partisan school board race.


How to campaign for CCISD Trustee without breaking the law

February 22, 2023

It’s really not that hard.

Pictured to the left is Eric Dick, former Harris County Department of Education Trustee. Dick violated the laws governing campaign finance reporting. After a 2 year investigation he was fined $30,000 and referred to the Texas Bar. If you are running for CCISD Trustee, or are a Treasurer for a candidate, don’t be a Dick. (you can read about Dick here)

In the last election two candidates spent a very large sum of money in their race for Trustee. Scott Bowen spent $20,000, 5 times more than his opponent and did not receive over 50% of the vote. Misty Dawson spent $8000 and lost. These totals do not included the money spent by Harris County Republican Party, which is believed to be $14,000.

Reporting campaign donations and expenditures should be easy especially in a school board race. Unfortunately with the unlimited special interest money coming from the extreme right wing of the Republican Party it can become complicated and ripe for an ethics complaint. Here are some tips to help you avoid having an ethics violation filed against you and your treasurer.

  • Report donations and expenditures correctly. It really is easy. Follow the instructions of the Ethics Committee. Include the amount, the name of the donor/recipient, address. Don’t hide donations. Don’t hide expenditures. You will get caught.
  • Don’t use your donations for personal items. When caught you may have to pay a fine as well as return the money to your campaign. Your donors money is for your campaign not for lunch or your trip to Heartbreakers. (Local State Representative John Davis spent $1500 of his donors money on a pair of cowboy boots. He eventually was fined and had to return the money to his campaign.)
  • Don’t lie. (I know this is hard for some of you) Do not falsify your campaign finance report. Do not lie about the origins of donations. You will be caught. When a complaint is filed against you, don’t lie to the Commission.
  • In all literature include the “Political Ad paid for by …….”. This is required in all literature. Simply tell who paid for the mailer or door hanger or who paid for your paid block walkers.
  • Be careful of using kids in your literature. If you are going to pose with kids you might want to get their parents permission. That may not be a violation of campaign finance laws but it might end up in a civil court or a well deserved butt kicking.

The Texas Ethics Commission has a number of guides to help you file your reports, run your campaign legally, and keep your and your treasurer from paying fines. Remember, don’t be a Dick.


The League City Karen invites an anti-gay speaker to read to kids

February 19, 2023

League City has released the Karen!

League City City Councilman, Justin Hicks, posing with a flag is is about to burn, is a Veteran of the United States Air Force and has led the effort to limit the 1st Amendment of the Constitution by banning books in the public library that he thinks are obscene. The book ban is code name for “LGBTQ ban”. It has nothing to do with “family values”. If that was the case he would be banning books by adulterers, liars, single parents, and fornicators! FORNICATORS!!! But that isn’t what he and his white wing buddies are doing.

Using the power of the public records request citizens obtained a copy of an email from Hicks, using his official city account, to a known anti-LGBTQ author inviting him to read one of his “Christian” books to kids at the library. I don’t believe Karen has the authority to decide who can read to kids. I would think the librarians would have that authority.

In his email Karen highlights his legislation to ban books, even though he didn’t pass any “legislation”, it was only a resolution. Karen claims that wholesome, family values, books are disappearing from the shelves (they aren’t). The entire email can be read below.

Make no mistake about this book banning crap. It has nothing to do with family values. It is an attack on members of our community, our family members, our friends, and our neighbors. Next up for Justin, he will be asking to speak to the manager.


CCISD elections are set. 5 Candidates, 2 positions to be filled in May.

February 18, 2023

The opportunity for candidates to file for the CCISD Board closed yesterday. The field is set with two incumbents and 3 challengers.

District 2
Michelle Davis. Incumbent. Michelle is considered a vote for Scott Bowen, the Chaos Trustee. She nominated Bowen for President, Vice President, and Secretary. He lost all of them. She ran as a “conservative” pushing her politics into a nonpartisan race. We can do better.

Jameison Mackay. Speaking of doing better. Mackay has long ties to the Chamber of Commerce, has experience in education issues. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Jameison. I’m looking forward to his announcement.

Glencora Rodgers. Not much available about Glencora, but as with Jameison, people have good words for her. I have heard she has classroom and administration experience and would make a good addition to the Board. Unfortunately both Jameison and Glencora will be up against the Republican Party money.

District 3
Arturo Sanchez. Incumbent. Sanchez has served honorably. He is the current Vice President of the Board. He was a good choice in 2020 and he is a great choice for 2023.

Peter Lauzon. Peter is Scott Bowen’s hand picked candidate. He is an extreme right wing Trump “conservative”. He was a former member of the Texas Republican Party Executive Committee and called for the party to officially endorse Bowen in his reelection. As far as I can tell he has no kids in school, no experience in education, and is an engineer. Lauzon is not the type of person we need on the school board. He will put partisan politics over the interests of school kids.

The election is in May.


CCISD Trustee, Scott Bowen, recruits a candidate to run for the board

February 13, 2023

We knew Scott Bowen was going to recruit an extreme far right member of the Republican Party to run for the CCISD Board and he has.

Peter Lauzon is just that candidate. Lauzon has no educational experience that I could find. He was a member of the Senate Republican Executive Committee (SREC) after being appointed to the position when David Apley (a COVID denier) died of COVID. He was then voted off in the next election. As an SREC member Lauzon motioned for the Party to endorse Scott Bowen. (Video is here) He bragged about Bowen’s attack on the nonexistent CRT, his mask ban, and his recruitment efforts to get extreme right wing candidates to run for school boards across the county.

He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Clear Lake Water Authority being soundly defeated by a near 3-1 margin. If elected Lauzon will be the vote Bowen needs to take over the Board and send the district into chaos. Lauzon, like most republicans, is an election denier and will probably file suit like Misty Dawson did if he loses. This is who they are. This is who he is.

Lauzon is running against Arturo Sanchez who has served the district well and was elected to the position of Vice-President. Expect to see tens of thousands of dollars to be spent supporting this UFO (Unfit For Office) candidate by the Republican Party and Senator Money Mayes Middleton.


Jamieson Mackay enters the race for CCISD Trustee

February 8, 2023

There isn’t a lot of information on the candidate but he has filed all the paperwork and is formally a candidate for CCISD Trustee. He is challenging incumbent Michelle Davis in District 2. The district map is below.


Who is running for CCISD Trustee in 2023?

January 23, 2023

You can check who is running for CCISD Trustee by visiting the Elections page on the CCISD website. This site includes campaign finance reports and other required documentation.

In 2023 two seats are up for election, District 2 held by Trustee Michelle Davis, and District 3 held by Trustee Arturo Sanchez. Both have filed for reelection.

I do not know much about Michelle Davis except for the fact that she nominated Scott Bowen for President, Vice President, and Secretary after the election of 2021. He lost all three. I think that speaks volumes. Arturo Sanchez is one of those elected officials who does the work of the district for the parents, teachers, and students without a lot of fanfare. He is a good choice.

I am waiting for the Qanon candidate to surface. This person will be heavily financed by the Republican Party with tens of thousands of dollars in advertisements, signs, and mailers. Look for the title of “Conservative” in their literature. That is a telltale sign of being part of the Scot Bowen Klan. I expect our State Senator Money Mayes Middleton to put some of his own money into this race. Over the last few elections we had two unqualified candidates run for CCISD, Christine Parizo who lost by 25 points, and Misty Dawson who lost by just 40 votes. That race required a recount which she lost and then sued the winner in a frivolous lawsuit that was eventually withdrawn.

Until then check the CCISD website to see who is running!


Secret speaker list in favor of the book banning resolution at League City Council Meeting

December 12, 2022

This is some great gum shoe-ing! (I can’t take credit for it)

Last weeks League City City Council meeting spent almost 2 hours taking comments from 53 individuals against their book banning resolution. These individuals were required to sign in prior to the meeting and the video of the lobby shows them signing in.

There were 11 individuals who spoke in favor of the resolution but none of them are on the list to speak. None of them are in the video of the lobby prior to the meeting starting. So….how did Mayor Nick Long know who to call if their names were not on the list? Also the first to voice her oppositions knew beforehand what the others were going to say. It was clearly a coordinated event.

I would bet one of the Council members, after getting hammered by those who were against the resolution, sent a text to someone (Possibly Scott Bowen?) to round up the troops and voice some support of what they were doing. An Open Records request has been made for the list of the missing names yet League City has yet to respond. It’s easy to find the names since they were announced on the video of the meeting. That secret list was probably provided to the Mayor by Justin Hicks who sponsored the resolution. It really didn’t matter. Council was going to pass the resolution regardless of the outcry. It passed only by 4-3.

The list contains some extreme far right individuals including Scott Bowen, CCISD Trustee, Jeff Foxworth who leads the “I hate CCISD” group (or something like that). Also included at the end is Council Member Justin Hick’s wife. Was this illegal? Against City rules? Who knows. The missing 11 are below. I’m surprised that Christine Parizo didn’t shown up!

Demree Jennings
Joshua Foxworth
Rhonda Dohr
Rachel Judd
Justin Russell
Chuck McWirther
Richard Lewis
TC Judd
Tiffany Chapa
Scott Bowen
Sherrie Russell
Deborah Hicks

Some content on this page was disabled on February 16, 2023.

Inside Inside CCISD. Session 1.

September 30, 2022

I was invited to participate in a program called Inside CCISD and I attended the first session yesterday. OMG! I am already impressed and can’t wait for the next sessions that will continue monthly through May. According to CCISD’s website:

For more than 10 years, INSIDE CCISD has provided a unique opportunity for parents and community members to learn about the Clear Creek Independent School District. Through lunch and learn meetings, participants meet District leadership, staff and students and go behind the scenes of CCISD’s infrastructure, programs and services, and exchange ideas about the challenges and opportunities for improvements.

ccisd.net/insideccisd

Our first session was an introduction to the program, our CCISD Board Members, and self introductions. In the class were realtors, members of the Chamber of Commerce, parents, retirees, and others who have an interest in education. Board members in attendance were Michelle Davis, Jay Cunningham, Johnathon Cottrell, Jeff Larson, and Jessica Cejka. We also were provided a “State of the District” presentation by the interim Superintendent Karen Engle. Some interesting facts about the district:

  • The district covers 103 sq miles
  • 2 Counties, Harris and Galveston
  • 13 Cities
  • 45 schools
  • 41,000+ students
  • 5,000+ employees
  • In 2020 CCISD lost 1400 students (3.5%), the first reduction since 1948!
  • Average salaries for teachers is $60,000
  • Their last budget included a 2-3% raise for teachers and support personnel
  • Tax rate was reduced due to property value increases
  • CCISD has 54 officers assigned to schools
  • 5 additional officers were added for 2022-2023
  • $35 Million added for security since the Santa Fe shooting

The next session will be focused on school safety with City, County, and State Leaders. Needless to say I am going to be very interested in this session. I doubt anyone will bring up the elephant in the classroom, easy access to weapons used in mass shootings like Uvalde, Santa Fe, El Pass, Sutherland Springs, and Odessa. Schools across Texas are spending millions of our tax dollars just to protect the rights of an 18 year old to buy military style weapons. But…..I digress….

Each month I will give a report on the session. I really appreciate being invited!