The Public Education Committee in the Texas House has scheduled a hearing on School Vouchers Tuesday March 11. You can, and should, submit comments to the bill on the House Comment Webpage. Submit your name, address, the bill you are commenting on (HB 3 by Buckley) You are limited to 3000 characters.
My personal issue with this bill besides cutting funding to Public Schools, is that this bill will give parents 10 times more money than what they contribute to public education. If you pay $1000 in school taxes the State will give you $9000 more, all paid for with your tax dollars. This is nothing more than Welfare for the Wealthy.
Why is Seabrook City Councilman running for CCISD Trustee? It’s a valid question and has not been answered.
Joe Machol is a Seabrook City Council Member. Seabrook has been having an internal conflict with the extreme right wing, led by Jackie Rasco, attempting to take over City Council. It seems that Machol is in the middle of this chaos. Yesterday I posted a video of Jackie Rasco, candidate for Mayor, at a CCISD meeting complaining about rainbows in the classroom. It should come as no surprise that CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen endorses both of these individuals.
I have asked CM Machol about why he is running especially against a very good Trustee, Jessica Cejka. Cejka has been a great addition to the Board and has served her community very well. Machol, who was recruited by Trustee Bowen, has no real answer except for one response that was shared with me “I’ve lived in Seabrook for decades [sic]”. He has no website or Facebook page but he has been asked on various social media sites many times. Still no answer.
Unlike the other candidates Machol does not have a treasurer on file, as of last Friday, which means he cannot raise or spend money. That is a big no-no with the Texas Ethics Commission. You must have a treasurer on file with CCISD before spending any money, including your own, on campaign related items such as signs and buttons. It is a pretty easy rule to follow.
High School Football Machol brings a long resume of football referee experience including with the NFL but that seems to have been abruptly ended with the filing of a lawsuit by Machol against the Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO). (Case #201873227- 7 filed in Harris County)
This suit was filed in 10/2018 and was dismissed (settled?) on 2/2020. The TASO removed him as a high school referee and as President of TASO for some kind of ethics violations. Machol sued for about $1,000,000. According to documents filed with the County, TASO investigated allegations made by Machol against other members of the board and dismissed all of his complaints. Why he was specifically removed as a referee is not clear. You can read the original petition here and the results of the TASO investigation here. All the documents can be found with the County Clerk. The Houston Chronicle also covered this story in 2019.
According to the documents Machol was pulled from refereeing 14 high school games. It is not known if he was reinstated after the suit was settled. CCISD has been through a lot of unnecessary chaos created by Scott Bowen. What we do not need is more chaos such as the chaos with Seabrook and TASO. It would be great if Machol would consider staying on City Council.
Charles Pond with the Association of Former CCISD Trustees wrote a great article about voting for a CCISD Trustee. Two seats are open this year with the election in May. I have my favorites, Trustee Cejka and Candidate Lilley. Both would enhance our Board. You can read the entire article here. My favorite lines of the article:
They are relationship builders. They build positive relationships with all constituents, not just the ones who are like them. A school board member should be a role model for students and the community.
Scott Bowen has brought chaos, division, and stupidity to the CCISD School Board. Taxpayers, parents, teachers, and students deserve better. Prior to Bowen’s election the Board was populated with members of the community whose interests were solely educational. They had a background in education, kids in CCISD, or a skill needed by the district. Bowen had/has none of these. The Trustees put the district’s well being ahead of their political views. Bowen brought his political bullshit into the classroom.
It’s time to take Bowen out. Here is a list of good reasons to end Bowen’s time on the Board. Keep in mind while reading this Bowen always campaigns on “Keeping politics out of CCISD”.
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.
CRT, DEI, Vouchers and more.
Bowen spearheaded the worthless effort calling for the end of “CRT” in the classroom. CRT or “Critical Race Theory” was never taught in CCISD and was never planned to be taught. It’s a graduate course taught in a few colleges, not k-12. It was a huge waste of effort, time, and money.
He spearheaded the book ban targeting the Gay community including parents, teachers, and students. (his family members are gay)
He was caught on camera advocating for school vouchers by sponsoring a resolution for the Texas Republic Party. It passed but not unanimously.
Recruiting candidates to run against sitting Board Members
Katy ISD Trustee
Since being elected he has recruited 5 candidates to run for the board to advance his political agenda. Two won. One is currently sitting on the Board. (Larson)
He ran for President, Vice President, and Secretary but received just 3 votes on each, and was rejected by the Board. He continues to look for the 4th vote.
He solicited money from extremist PACs with one goal of taking over School Boards.
CCISD Voters have resisted the takeover of School Boards by extremist PACs unlike voters in Keller ISD, Katy ISD. They are in turmoil.
He recruited Christine Parizo to run against the sitting President. She lost by 25 points, called for a recount, claimed voter fraud, called for an investigation by the Texas Attorney General. She lost all claims.
He recruited Misty Dawson the most unqualified candidate to run for the School Board. She lost, called for a recount, then sued. Eventually she dropped her suit.
Bowen, as a sitting Trustee, meddled in the lawsuit Dawson brought against her winning opponent.
He has a disturbing relationship with Steven Hotze who has been indicted on 3 felonies including aggravated assault and organized crime concerning voter fraud.
He won his reelection by less than 50% with his two opponents taking a combined 52%.
It’s time to end Bowen’s career at CCISD and let him start running for State Representative or Congress. These districts are so gerrymandered he will win no matter how much money he takes from white supremacists.
Both CCISD Trustees Jessica Cejka and Scott Bowen have drawn opponents. Seabrook City Councilman Joe Machol will challenge Jessica Cejka and the Chairman of the Board of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, Rebecca Lilley, will challenge Scott Bowen. You can find filing information about the candidates including financial reports at the CCISD Election site.
This is very disturbing and CCISD parents and voters should be concerned.
The True Texas Project is an extremist, anti-government, christian nationalist group partially funded by the two West Texas billionaires featured on a CNN special. (Deep in the Pockets of Texas.) According to the Houston Chronicle Buzz Aldrins church, the Webster Presbyterian Church, banned the far white group from holding their meetings in their facilities and removed the group’s events from its calendar.
Upon learning about the group’s fringe political positions, clergy took action to ban the group from meeting at Webster. Church authorities confirmed that TTP was off the schedule, and “no longer meeting at Webster Presbyterian Church.”
TTP moved their meetings to the Webster Community Center for a few months. Then again moved to the Holiday Inn on Bay Area Blvd. But there is more. In June of 2024 their 15 year anniversary event was cancelled by Fort Worth. If that wasn’t bad enough a number of far white speakers withdrew because of their plans to amplify white nationalist figures and rhetoric. According to The Texas Tribune:
Billed as the 15th anniversary celebration for True Texas Project, the conference agenda claims that there is a “war on white America,” and urges attendees to embrace once-fringe ideologies such as Christian nationalism or the Great Replacement Theory, which claims that there is an intentional, often Jewish-driven, effort to destroy white people through immigration, interracial marriage or the LGBTQ+ community.
This event was so extreme even some of the far white extremists refused to participate. The event“lineup features figures with ties to antisemites and extremists, including Paul Gottfried, a far-right author who mentored neo-Nazi Richard Spencer.”
Sitting Trustee Scott Bowen is a member of this organization and has been a speaker at one of their events. Now the wife of Seabrook City Council Member and CCISD Trustee candidate Joe Machol has been tied to the local group. I’ve asked CM Machol about her and his affiliation with the group and have not received a response. I hope she would consider distancing herself from this group.
I’m looking at their fundraising numbers and will report.
If you have been a reader of my pathetic blog you know I do not like what Scott Bowen has done to our school district. I will have more to say, in detail, about that soon. (Like next Monday morning) Bowen has drawn an opponent one that will hopefully bring civility back to that particular chair.
Rebecca Lilley has filed to run against Bowen. I know very little about her but from what others have been telling me she is a great candidate and would be an excellent Trustee. As one person put it “Classy and Brilliant”. She is listed as the Chairman of the Board on the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce website. She was the former League City Regional Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board. She is the Director of Community and Physician Engagement at Memorial Hospital.
Quite a great start! The filing deadline is Feb 14, this Friday.
I have no idea why Seabrook City Council Member Joe Machol wants to challenge a very good Trustee on the CCISD Board.
And believe me I have asked. Machol and I were to talk after my week in Cancun but he has ghosted me ever since. It is a valid question. What happened to make you wake up one morning and say “I have to run for CCISD Trustee?”. I’ve asked this question to many candidates including Machol with varying responses. CM Machol said he wanted to share his “conservative values” with me:
“I have picked up my packet to run for office against Jessica Let’s talk so you can get my conservative platform. “
He hasn’t returned my calls. CM Machol was recruited by Trustee Scott Bowen to run against Trustee Jessica Cejka. Bowen sits next to her on the Board. This recruitment makes for a great working relationship. Bowen is also up for reelection. I expect Bowen and CM Machol to run as a “coalition” much like what has happened in other districts like Keller ISD which is now in a state of turmoil. I also expect both of their campaigns to be funded by out of district money including from Bowen’s Billionaire Buddies.
Seabrook is in a state of turmoil with recalls abound wasting tax dollars and a Board that can’t seem to get along. It’s not pretty. CCISD doesn’t need any of this. We have enough turmoil with Bowen and Larson on board. We do not need a third agitator especially when the district is going to face some extraordinary challenges in 2025.
CM Machol resume on Seabrook City Council is impressive but lacks any indication of a background in education unlike Cejka who has a background in education as well as time in the classroom and owner of a small business. There is really only one reason why Machol is running and it doesn’t seem to be the welfare of our parents, teachers, or students.
During the election process hopefully Machol will detail why he is running.
If you are concerned about the safety of your kids at school you might want to do a drive by and look at the glaring holes in security. For instance notice the drop off line, the recess area, the track, football practice area, and the parking lot used for band practice. They are wide open. Also notice the gym especially after hours. Yesterday there was a shooting at a band event in a gym. Even with police posted at the door anyone could (and someone did) walk in with a concealed weapon.
This isn’t the fault of the school district. There isn’t enough money to erect brick walls, barbed wire, or bullet proof school buses in public or private schools. There isn’t enough money to post police at every event and metal detectors at every door. After the Santa Fe shooting the Lt Governor claimed he was going to do just that, put metal detectors at over 8000 public schools. (He didn’t.) I think the questions at that time are applicable today:
Beside the $126M initial price tag [for metal detectors], this isn’t a solution to the problem. How will metal detectors protect the Band kids as they practice in the parking lot? Or the football players on the field? Or those gathering in front of the school waiting for it to open?
And even if we could make every campus look like a prison how will that protect your kids at church, Walmart, parades, concerts, clubs, or any public event? It won’t. Look to our elected officials to put more money into school safety this legislation session and to make a big deal about it to look like they are doing something.
Don’t fall for it. Again. We have a problem with the wrong people having easy access to fire arms.
It was a line I have always remembered from Apocalypse Now by Marlon Brandon. You can watch it here.
But, back to Justin. Facebook can be a bitch. Back in 2022 Hicks was meddling in the CCISD elections. His buddy, Scott Bowen, candidate for CCISD, Misty Dawson, had lost the election by a very slim margin unlike Scott Bowen’s other candidate, Stephanie Parizo. She lost by 25 points, not votes, points. Bowen really needed Dawson to win to swing the Board and make him the President.
Dawson brought a suit against her opponent, not CCISD. So Justin posted the following on Facebook claiming that CCISD providing legal assistance to the winner was illegal, a violation of Texas Penal Code Chapter 39.02. What is Texas Penal Code Chapter 39.02? Glad you asked:
The Board consulted with the legal community and was unanimous in supporting funding. That vote including an AYE from Bowen leaving Hicks with egg on his Facebook. Fast forward to this week’s chaos. Hicks seems to have intent to obtain a benefit from city resources, specifically the City Attorney, for his own personal domestic dispute.
So using Hick’s own words “What I need you to do: Email the entire board and tell them to NOT use taxpayer funds to defend a personal civil suit (felony).”
Posted by johncoby 
Bay Area Houston 