Vote November 2

Local public school districts have a huge impact on the apartment industry. Vote!

By ANDY TEAS, CAE, HAA Staff

Since the City of Houston transitioned to four-year terms for their elected officials, November elections in odd-numbered years between Houston elections have a lot less action.

Nevertheless, there is an election next month that involves you. Every Texas voter is eligible to participate in the constitutional amendment election (see Page 40). Depending on where you live, there may be other notable things on the ballot.

If you’re not already registered, the last day to register to vote in this election is Oct. 4. Early voting begins on Oct. 18 and Election Day is Nov. 2. Let’s look at some of the other elections in our area next month.

Houston Independent School District

No governmental entity has a greater impact on an apartment community than the local public school district. School taxes are roughly two-thirds of your property tax bill, and the quality of the schools to which your property is zoned has a lot to do with whether families want to lease there. Still, as HAA Legislative Chair Christy Rodriguez pointed out in her Legislative Update column last month, the business community doesn’t pay nearly enough attention to school board races.

This Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest school district in Texas, and the seventh largest in the United States, with nearly 200,000 students – 78.45% of whom qualify as economically disadvantaged. The board’s disfunction has been well documented and has led the district to the brink of being taken over by the Texas Education Agency.

Five of the nine school board positions are up for election next month. Let’s take a look at each race:

In District I, incumbent and former teacher Elizabeth Santos is running for reelection against two opponents. Janette Garza Lindner is an energy consultant with Veritas Total Solutions, with previous experience at BP. Matias Kopinsky is a petroleum engineer at Chevron.

In District V, incumbent Sue Deigaard is running for reelection against two opponents. Maria Benzon is an assistant principal at Discovery Middle School. Caroline Walter is a stay-at-home mom.

In District VI, incumbent and former teacher Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca is running against two opponents. Kendall Baker is a pastor. Gregory Degeyter is an attorney with a background in science who did lab work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In District VII, incumbent Anne Sung brings master’s degrees from Harvard in both physics and public policy. She has three opponents. Dwight Jefferson is a former state district court judge. Bridget Wade is a homemaker and school volunteer. Software services company owner Lee Macerlaen Walker is also running.

In District IX, incumbent Myrna Guidry, an attorney, has two opponents. Joshua Rosales is an attorney with Baker McKenzie. Gerry Monroe, who lists his occupation as “consultant,” has been banned from HISD property for threatening employees.

Houston Community College

Another governmental body that gets little attention from the business community (and voters) is the board of trustees of Houston Community College. HCC serves over 57,000 students – the largest of any Texas college, and a key provider of technical training in addition to its academic mission. Voters will elect trustees in five of the nine positions on the HCC board in November.

In District III, incumbent and former teacher Dr. Adriana Tamez will be opposed by attorney Brandon Cofield Sr.

In District IV, Dr. Reagan Denise Flowers is running for reelection unopposed.

In District IV, electrician and former trustee Dave Wilson is running unopposed, although former Houston Housing Department Director Jim Noteware has declared himself a write-in candidate.

In District VIII, incumbent and former teacher Eva Loredo has two opponents. Jharrett Bryantt is an assistant superintendent in HISD. Victor Gonzales is an insurance consultant.

Other Elections

The Nov. 2 elections will also feature school board races in Aldine ISD, Alief ISD, CypressFairbanks ISD, Klein ISD and Spring ISD. News coverage of school board races can be sparse. If you live in one of those districts, be sure to do your homework. Ballotpedia.org is a good place to start. Each school district has a webpage with information about its election.