While most of Harris County turned “left” in the 2018
November election, one countywide board actually took a sharp turn to the “right.”
HCDE, the only school board in Texas elected by political party, replaced its
two Democrat board members with two more Democrats as expected.
But one of the
RINOs, Louis Evans, was replaced by the STRONG conservative Republican, Josh
Flynn. That seemingly minor change made a HUGE difference during their first
board meeting on 1/16/19.
First, Josh Flynn was elected Board President, the first
pleasant surprise at HCDE for Harris County conservatives in decades.
Then, in total surprise for Harris County taxpayers, the
Board voted to cancel their $220,000 a year lobbying contract with HillCo.
The discussion on the lobbying contract went as expected.
The Superintendent argued that the lobbying contract was
necessary because he is too busy with his job at HCDE to pay attention to the
Legislature.
Maybe he should stop playing golf on school time with $1,500
of taxpayer money ...or stop taking other
HCDE administrators out to Perry’s Steakhouse with $741.92 of taxpayer money.
The Superintendent also argued that HCDE needs the “armor”
provided by lobbyists to protect HCDE from the Legislature.
Is he afraid the Legislature will find out that HCDE opened
and operated a high school last year with a FULL STAFF and ZERO students?
Or is he afraid the Legislature will find out that NONE of
the four alternative schools HCDE operates are ACCREDITED by the State of Texas?
The best quote from the Superintendent came when asked by
Trustee Danny Norris – one of the new Democrat Trustees - exactly what HillCo
does for HCDE. The Superintendent answered,
“I don’t like to share the playbook with the public because it defeats the purpose of the lobbyists.”
At least the Superintendent admitted in an open meeting that he has been
using HillCo to fight AGAINST the “public” – in other words – to fight against the
taxpayers who pay his salary and all his expensive travel and credit card
charges.
The lobbying contract discussion ended with a rant against Republicans
and even Senator Ted Cruz by the biggest phony Republican in Harris County –
Trustee Eric Dick. He made it clear that he does not understand the difference
between hiring lobbyists with private funds and hiring lobbyists with taxpayer
dollars. Guess they didn’t teach that in
law school.
If the first meeting of the new HCDE Board is any indication of what is to come, buckle your seat belts. This could be a great ride for Harris County taxpayers.
You can view the lobbying contact discussion: here
or view the full meeting: here
Colleen Vera
colleen@TexasTrashTalk.com
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