I have my favorites
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.
May the best women win!
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Political | Tagged: CCISD, Ethics | 
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Posted by johncoby
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.
Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: CCISD, Ethics, Racism | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
This might be a tough opponent for Bowen.
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.
1 Comment | Political | Tagged: CCISD | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
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.
1 Comment | Political | Tagged: CCISD | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
No.
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.
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Posted by johncoby
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).”
Damn Facebook.
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Posted by johncoby
It’s a good question that deserves an answer.
So far two incumbents, Jessica Cejka and Scott Bowen have filed for reelection to the CCISD School Board. Jessica has served one term. Bowen is running for his 3rd term.
Scott Bowen has recruited Seabrook Council Member Joe Machol to run against Jessica. Machol has not filed as of today but is expected to and has been seen hanging around at last night’s Board Meeting. One of the questions I have asked him, is why? Why run against a very well qualified and excellent sitting Trustee like Jessica Cejka? He originally wanted to share his “conservative values” with me in an email:
“I have picked up my packet to run for office against Jessica. Let’s talk so you can get my conservative platform.“
I don’t get it. If Machol was a true “conservative” he would challenge Scott Bowen. Scott’s idea of a conservative aligns more with being an extreme right wing political hack hell bent on injecting his perverted ideas of conservatism into the classroom. I could write a full post on why Bowen should be challenged. (and I will soon) Machol would do the district a great service if he ran against Bowen.
Like most of the Trustees Jessica has performed the job without fanfare, disruption, or bringing her partisan political views into the Board. She has an excellent background in education. She has served her district very well. She has engaged her constituents. She has also volunteered to return to the classroom to teach math. She is a successful realtor and brings valuable experience to the Board. Her heart is in the right place. She isn’t perfect, but then again no one is, but she is great for the district, parents, teachers, and students. And that is all that matters.
So Mr. Machol why are you running against Jessica? It’s a question that needs to be answered.
Comments anyone?
1 Comment | Political | Tagged: CCISD | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
Senate Bill 2 (SB 2), the Voucher Bill, sponsored by our own State Senator Mayes Middleton will be heard in the Education K-16 committee on Tuesday Jan 28 at 11:00. All 9 sponsors of the bill are on the committee so they will take testimony then vote the bill out of committee. This is common with the Republic Party in charge. The hearing on the open carry bill last all day and into the early hours of the next day. Hundreds testified against it include law enforcement. After the last person testified the Chair called for a vote and it passed.
The Texas Tribune has a great write up on the bill. So here are some highlights of the bill:
So buckle up, pull out your wallet, and prepare to donate to the wealthy. If you want you can call Senator Middleton to voice. your opinion about the Welfare for the Wealthy bill at (512) 463-0111.
Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: CCISD | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
Don’t let them take over your board!
If you haven’t kept up with the chaos in Keller ISD you might want to. Hundreds of parents attended the last board meeting in opposition to the Board considering splitting the district into two, one for the rich white kids and another for the others. That’s a bit of an exaggeration but when you look at the demographics and the available resources in each new district that is what it looks like. The meeting was so bad the Superintendant threatened to resign. The decision was tabled.
This is just the latest in a series of events which started with the takeover of the Board by extremists funded by an out of district PAC, which should sound familiar to CCISD residents. Patriot Mobile PAC donated $150,000 to three extremist candidates, $45,000 each, for an election that should have cost about $5000 each. They ran as a “coalition” of “conservatives” and won with the help of two wealthy donors to a PAC called Patriot Mobile. From a previous post:
Since January 2022 Patriot Mobile PAC spent $985,385. Of that $392,000 was spent on candidates in school district races and MUDs. Each KISD candidate Walker, Young and Shaw received $45,321 for their campaigns. As I said, this is A LOT for a school race that usually costs a couple of thousand dollars. All three were elected.
Shortly afterward one of the new board members, Sandi Walker, invited a Dutch evangelical film crew to one of the high schools without permission from the school, the board, or the parents. They filmed, they aired their, and Walker resigned. Trustee Young was also involved with hundreds of parents calling for his resignation. Lawsuits may have been filed, and should have been filed.
Keller ISD is smaller than CCISD by about 10,000 students. CCISD doesn’t need to split the district. Unlike CCISD Keller is mired in fiscal mismanagement. I would bet that is one of the reasons they want to split is to push the debt onto one of the new districts.
This kind of crap is what happens when we allow outside, rich, Political Action Committees to influence our school board elections. Trustee Scott Bowen has led the effort by recruiting unqualified candidates and financing them through extremist groups like Defend Texas Liberty, a PAC funded by two evangelical billionaires out of Dallas. Defend Texas Liberty was dissolved after being caught organizing with a known white supremacist. CCISD is considering changing the school board elections so that a “coalition” of candidates could run, be funded by an outside group with huge amounts of money, and change the composition of the board to be like Keller. And Katy. And Cypress. And Spring. Keller is issuing a warning to CCISD.
Heed the warning folks.
1 Comment | Political | Tagged: CCISD, Ethics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
It’s Bowen. Again.
Ever since 2008 I began reviewing campaign finance reports specifically, at first, I focused on what elected officials and candidates spent their donors money on and wow did I find some doozies! Former State Representative John Davis, representing the Bay Area, was caught spending his donors money on fancy, expensive, boots and gas for his roofing company. State Senator Jane Nelson, now the Secretary of State, was spending her donors money on a condo, then got caught giving her husband money to buy a condo. But today is a first with Bowen.
Recently League City Council Member Justin Hicks was caught conveniently hiding a loan to his campaign. In his amended report the loan came from his treasurer. His treasurer is his wife. There there is Sheriff Fullen who reported a $100,000 loan which mysteriously vanished on the next report. The Texas Ethics Commission is investigating both of these.
In his latest report Bowen is reporting a donation, from himself, for $20,000 to pay off a loan that he made to himself. WTF? When he made the loan to himself he was required to actually deposit the money into a separate account. So now he donates another $20,000 to himself, deposits that donation into his account then pays himself for the loan. None of that makes cents.
What Bowen is trying to do is turn his first loan into a donation therefore he does not have to report an outstanding loan balance in his future reports. That’s not the way this should be accomplished but for the Republic Party rules and laws are for suckers. Bowen starts his campaign with over $9200, mostly his own money.
He is up for reelection in May.
Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: CCISD, Ethics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby
Bay Area Houston 