Questions to ask candidates for CCISD Trustee

March 16, 2024

Difficult questions should be asked.

CCISD will hold an election for District 4 on May 4, 2024. You can find all election information at their Elections Webpage. Candidates are being asked questions about why they are running. Community Impact posted the District 4 candidates, Jeff Larson and Albert Wittliff responses to their generic questions. I believe we need to ask a few more pointed questions. If you have other questions that need to be asked please contact me.

Fundraising. In the past few years significant money has been spent by out of district PACs and a particular political party trying to influence the vote. What is your opinion of accepting funds or in-kind contributions from these PACs and organizations?

Politics in Schools. Over the past few years CCISD has had major disruptions by board members bringing in divisive topics such as CRT, which has never been taught, is not taught, and will never be taught in CCISD schools. What are your thoughts about divisive topics being pushed by political parties?

Book bans. What are your thoughts about our public school libaries and the push to ban books?

Vouchers. School vouchers, or what some call school “choice” is very unpopular within the district and will drain much needing funding from the district. Would you support a resolution by the Board in support or against school vouchers?

Funding.
School funding in Texas has become an incredible mess. How can you on the board influence our elected officials to adequately fund our schools?

LGBTQ Issues
Our gay community has been under attack by anti-gay organizations some right here in the CCISD area. What are your thoughts about our gay community within CCISD including our teachers, parents, and students? Do you support the attacks by these organizations? Do you support attacks on any marginalized members of our community?

Safety
The district has spent millions of dollars fortifying schools yet the playgrounds, practice fields, and busses are still not safe from an individual with a military style weapon. Is there anything else the district can do?

Chaplains in School
The district can vote to have religious chaplains replace professional counselors at schools. Do you support this. If so do you support people of all religions serving as counselors? Do you have any exceptions such as a ban on Buddists, Muslims, or Nuwaubians?

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Posted by johncoby

School Board Trustee resigns. (and for good reasons)

February 20, 2024

Relax. It’s not CCISD.

But it is a warning to all school districts. Keller Independent School District Trustee Sandi Walker resigned after serving just under two years. KISD is located just west of Fort Worth. What happened at an elementary school in KISD could happen elsewhere if the parents in the situation do not take strong, decisive action. BTW CCISD School Board and parents are more concerned about educating our kids than getting involved in this kind of crap.

So what happened? Sandi Walker invited a foreign film crew into an elementary school to film kids without the parents permission. From NBC:

After researching, Laney Hawes discovered the crew was with EO, a Dutch evangelical television network that has produced prior documentaries on US politics, one titled God Jesus, Trump!

Teachers who are keeping their job told NBCDFW they concerned about the safety protocols that these board members may have breached. 

“We’re waiting for the second trustee who was involved to resign,” Hawes said. “And we really are trying to get to the bottom of whether or not the other trustees are involved.”

Not only was this a HUGE breach in security, and illegal filming of children without parents permission, it was for religious purposes. Parents have rightfully called for the resignation of all who were involved. Walker is the first to resign. More should be coming. The parents need to demand to know who gave the crew badges, who at the school had prior knowledge of the event, and who on the Board was responsible. They all should resign. Every single one of them.

And the film crew should be sued.

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Posted by johncoby

CCISD Elections are set. 2 Seats unopposed.

February 17, 2024

Congrats to CCISD Board Members Jay Cunningham and Jonathan Cottrell! They are not opposed in the upcoming election. Welcome back.

Jeff Larson for District 4 drew an opponent, Albert Wittliff. He seems to be an interesting candidate. He was a former Special Agent at Department of Homeland Security. He doesn’t have a campaign page set up yet. Larson is running for reelection and has served on the Board for 3 years. I was not thrilled that Larson followed Scott Bowen’s lead on various issues. He even voted for Bowen for President, VP, and Secretary. Bowen lost all three votes. But, as I have said in the past, I have been told the Board is performing well and that is good for us, our teachers, and our kids.

It is great to see Jay and Jonathan returning. More information about the race in District 4 will be posted.

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Posted by johncoby

Who is running for CCISD Board?

January 25, 2024

I’ll give you three guesses.

Three seats on the CCISD Board are open for the May 2024 election. Applications for Trustee Positions 4, 5 and At-Large A are now being accepted and must be received by 5:00 PM Feb 16, 2024.

The incumbents Jay Cunningham, Jonathon Cottrell, and Jeff Larson are seeking reelection. Based upon the success of the Board and the state of CCISD I am hoping no one will challenge the incumbents. From my discussions with former Board members it seems like the current Board is running well.

In the last election the extremist group Defend Texas Liberty, funded by 2 billionaires out of the Dallas area, attempted to influence the last election. They failed. You can read more about them and their association with known white supremacists here. Take a few minutes. It truly is shocking. The Texas Tribune broke the story about their association. It is also a very disturbing read.

The election will be May 4, 2024. Election central is on the CCISD website.

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Posted by johncoby

The year in review. 2023

January 1, 2024

What a year. The only way for 2024 to be a good year is if the real conservatives of the Republican Party takes back their party. Here is what happened in 2023:

  • OMG. CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen was found to have a relationship with known white supremacists.
  • Trustee Scott Bowen was cleared on a grievance filed because he testified agains public education at a hearing in Austin.
  • Scott Bowen’s buddy, Pete Lauzon, funded by Defend Texas Liberty, loses his election for CCISD Trustee.
  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was allowed to continue his reign of corruption in Texas.
  • Local State Representatives vote against impeaching Ken Paxton even after overwhelming evidence. (Paul, Wilson, Middleton)
  • Republican Bryan Slater was removed from office after giving his underaged staffer alcohol and having sex with her all night long.
  • Republican Congressman George Santos was removed from office.
  • Tony Buzbee lost. Again.
  • Harris County Board of Education filled a vacant slot with Dick. (Eric Dick)
  • Harris County Board of Education Trustee Dick was fined another $10,000 by the Texas Ethics Commission
  • A former Chair of the Harris County Republican Party and a Republican Judge and pastor settled a sex abuse lawsuit concerning young men.
  • League City continues The Purge after firing their attorney, the librarian, and continuing their selective book ban,
  • OMG The Chair of the PAC funded by a couple of billionaires, Defend Texas Liberty, was caught meeting with a known white supremacist. This is the PAC that tried to tip the CCISD elections.
  • Mattress MAGAt Mac is behind the multiple lawsuits against Democratic Judges that won in 2022.
  • The lawsuits against multiple Democratic Judges have been dropped, including the one against Judge Hidalgo.
  • Texas Republicans continue to send useless thoughts and prayers after mass shootings.
  • Local State Representative Dennis Paul continues to ignore gun violence even after one of his own is killed due to senseless gun violence,
  • City Councilman Michael Kubosh was caught using his donor’s money for personal use. He was running for City Controller. (was)

What a year. Here’s hoping that the true conservatives of America will keep that rotten son of a bitch out of the White House and start to rebuild their party.

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Posted by johncoby

Local Elected Officials vote in support of vouchers for rich kids

November 20, 2023

They are voting against the wishes of the community.

State Representatives Dennis Paul of Clear Lake, Terry Wilson of Galveston, and Little Baby Briscoe Cain of Deer Park joined a handful of State Representatives and voted against an amendment to strip vouchers out of an education bill. Paul and Wilson also voted to not impeach Texas Attorney General Paxton. At least Baby Briscoe had enough common sense to be sensible. Only 23 House Representative voted to give Paxton a pass.

The amendment to remove vouchers from the bill was supported by 63 Democrats and 21 Republicans. Vouchers would give parents $10,000 of your tax dollars to send rich kids to a private school. It’s not a popular idea especially in the rural areas where schools are significantly underfunded. In Clear Lake the district is against vouchers. The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce is against vouchers as is the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

For me I can’t see how this is even constitutional. If someone is paying $2000 in school taxes, why should we give them $8000 more from our taxes just so their kids can attend a private school? Why should they get more than they put in? If vouchers were going to pass they should get no more than they put in. You put in $2000? You get $2000 and nothing more.

Private schools are not cost efficient and most parents can not afford the tuition or the transportation even with the voucher. Vouchers have nothing to do with school “choice”. It is nothing more than give away to rich kids.

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Posted by johncoby

Texas, Bored of Education, opposes depiction of climate change

November 16, 2023

LOL. Scott Bowen again.

The Texas State Board of Education including Julie Pickren, from Pearland, has a problem with the depiction of climate change and evolution in science books. Pickren’s claim to fame was being at the Jan 6 insurrection. As I said in a previous post:

Pickren is being funded mainly by two Republican Oligarchs, State Representative Money Mayes Middleton and failed congressional candidate Kathaleen Wall. According to Pickren’s latest campaign finance report she raised $36,000 with $20,000 coming from Wall and $5000 from Money Mayes. Pickren also has some far right extremist PACs supporting her run for school board.

Pictured above is Captain Snowflake, Justin Hicks, League City Mayor Nick Long, CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen, and Congressman Randy Weber. She is only endorsed by the best people. According to the Houston Chronicle:

The Republican-led State Board of Education preliminarily rejected several new science textbooks on Tuesday over their presentation of climate change and evolution, a sign the books may be watered down before a final vote later this week.

Publishers were allowed until Wednesday to make changes that address criticism from board members, such as altering the depiction of the oil and gas industry. 

Pickren and her buddies are there to protect the oil and gas industry’s profit margins, even after posting record breaking profits. They also want creationist theories (ie the Bible) to be taught as an alternative to evolution and let the students decide which is more scientifically correct. Maybe they should consider teaching family values by Bryan Slaton.

Pickren since raised $115,000 for her race. $85,000 came from just 6 individuals including $40,000 from Richard Weekley, $20,000 from Kathaleen Wall, and $5000 from local Senator Money Mayes Middleton. Here are her top donors:

Weekley ,Richard25,000.00
Kathaleen ,Wall15,000.00
Schumacher ,Amanda10,000.00
Weekley ,Richard10,000.00
Bryan ,JP5,000.00
McMahon ,Linda5,000.00
Middleton ,Mayes5,000.00
Richard ,Weekley5,000.00
Wall ,Kathaleen5,000.00

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Posted by johncoby

Martina Lemond Dixon for Houston City Council

October 28, 2023

Great endorsement!!!

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FFS! It gets worse for CCISD Trustee

October 26, 2023

“It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it? It just keeps getting worse and worse.” –The Color of Money

FFS! Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. Yesterday I posted about the relationship between CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen, Defend Texas Liberty, Chris Russo and Cary Cheshire. I said:

Russo, Cheshire, and Bowen graduated from Texas A&M. All three were on the Student Senate together. Russo was the President of the Senate the year right after Bowen. Cheshire co-authored a bill concerning the Gay Community at Texas A&M on religious freedom grounds. Russo and Cheshire are directors for Texans for Strong Borders, an anti-immigrant PAC primarily funded by Defend Texas Liberty. Russo is listed as the Treasurer with an address in El Lago.

And it gets worse.
The Texas Tribune has dug deeper into Chris Russo and the known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes. It’s not pretty. From The Texas Tribune:
Since at least 2019, Texans For Strong Borders founder and president Chris Russo has operated in Fuentes’ racist movement on various social media platforms under the username “Optics Respecter.” Without sharing his real identity, Russo used the accounts to rail against immigration, feminists, the LGBTQ+ community and Black people, as well as share posts by other Fuentes followers that contain racial and homophobic slurs.

Bowen needs to publicly distance himself from these individuals and Defend Texas Liberty. He needs to return their donations. He needs to come clean with the community.

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Posted by johncoby

Yet more troubling details about Defend Texas Liberty PAC and CCISD

October 25, 2023

This is truly troubling. Seriously screwed up and it implicates one of our own CCISD Trustees. Bear with me.

Quick Background.
I’ve written about the extreme right wing PAC, Defend Texas Liberty (DTL) meddling in CCISD’s local election before. (they failed) DTL is funded by 2 billionaires featured by CNN. They financed the campaign for a CCISD candidate for Trustee. They donated $2000 to Scott Bowen in his re-election bid. They donated $5000 to a CCISD candidate who refused the donation. They made donations to only 1 out of over 1000 school districts for Trustee races, that being CCISD and Scott is responsible for that.

It gets worse.
The Texas Tribune had a breakthrough investigation concerning the leader of DTL, former State Representative Jonathan Stickland, meeting with a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes……for 7 hours. Fuentes is documented by the ADL including “On a livestream episode, Fuentes “jokingly” denied the Holocaust and compared Jews burnt in concentration camps to cookies in an oven.” Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan has since called on republicans to return their donations from DTL and Johnathon Stickland has been removed as the leader of DTL.

But…it gets even worser. 🙂
The Tribune has documented a long, troubling list of white supremacists affiliations with DTL including some local individuals. According to The Texas Tribune the following individuals has interfaced with DTL:

  • Chris Russo. (More on Chris below) Director of Texans for Strong Borders. Was seen chauffeuring Fuentes to and from the meeting at Pale Horse Strategies this month. Multiple people, who asked not to be named to avoid drawing the attention of white nationalists, told the Tribune that Russo has ties to Fuentes’ so-called “groyper” movement. 
  • Cary Cheshire. (More on Cary below) The executive director of Texans For Strong Borders and a longtime employee of Defend Texas Liberty-linked groups, was also at the Pale Horse offices while Fuentes was on-site.
  • Kyle Rittenhouse. The kid that crossed state lines and shot and killed two protestors. Was on site during the meeting with Fuentes.
  • Julie McCarty. Founder of True Texas Project an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government “extremist” group. The local chapter was banned from holding meetings at the Webster Presbyterian Church after the elders learned of their background.
  • There are many more individuals with ties to Fuentes as documented by the Tribune. Visit the story and view the graphic identifying these individuals and their associations with Qanon, white supremacists, white genocide, antisemitism, European American Community, and more.

Back to Chris Russo, Cary Cheshire, and CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen
This is truly strange coincidence. Russo, Cheshire, and Bowen graduated from Texas A&M. All three were on the Student Senate together. Russo was the President of the Senate the year right after Bowen. Cheshire co-authored a bill concerning the Gay Community at Texas A&M on religious freedom grounds. Russo and Cheshire are directors for Texans for Strong Borders, an anti-immigrant PAC primarily funded by Defend Texas Liberty. Russo is listed as the Treasurer with an address in El Lago.

This is the company Scott Bowen is keeping. It’s clear Defend Texas Liberty was invited by Bowen to meddle in our local elections. And now it is clear exactly who they are. If you have read this far, take a few minutes to read The Texas Tribune article.

From The Texas Tribune

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Posted by johncoby

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