First La Joya ISD board election under state control nets 7 applicants

Seven individuals filed this month to run for seats on the La Joya Independent School District Board of Trustees that are currently practically meaningless.

In February, the Texas Education Agency installed a board of managers and a new superintendent to oversee La Joya ISD after rampant corruption.

That installation left the district’s elected board essentially inert: powerless, purposeless and without any role in the new state-run regime.

Theoretically, state-appointed leadership could tap on the elected board for advice, though it hasn’t done so.

The district’s elected officials didn’t, however, disappear. They’ve continued to hold positions since February that are at best token posts.

Four elected officials didn’t by the filing deadline Monday decide to keep those posts.

Place 4 Trustee Alda Benavides, Place 5 Trustee Roberto Zamora, Place 6 Trustee Anthony Uresti and Place 7 Trustee Alex Cantu all decided against running to keep their seats.

Instead, Mission residents Aurora “Bodie” Garza, a retired educator, and Eden Ramirez, a lawyer, filed to run for Place 4.

Unopposed, Peñitas resident David “EZ” Ramirez, who works for the border patrol, filed for Place 6 while Judy Solis, an administrator with the Education Service Center from Palmview, filed for Place 5.

Place 7 drew three applicants: Jerry “Chief” Alaniz, a fire chief from Palmview, Fausto Salinas Jr., a Mission farmer and Adriana Villarreal, a retired educator from Sullivan City.

Most of those candidates have prior political experience, though some are new to the scene.

Whoever’s elected won’t have any official duties, responsibilities or powers as a trustee, though they’ll be held to political requirements other elected officials have, like campaign finance reporting.

It’s not clear how long a board of managers will remain in charge of La Joya ISD. Whenever the board of managers is phased out, La Joya ISD Chief of Staff Joe Niedziela said, the elected board will play a role.

“A lot has to do with the transitioning process,” Niedziela said. “The process happens on a rolling basis over a three-year period once the TEA decides to begin the transition back to local control. And it’s done with a third of the board members over a period of three years, so the whole of the board doesn’t come back at once.”

Why run for a seat without any power or responsibility?

“You’d have to ask the candidates,” Niedziela said.

The Progress Times asked the candidates, many of whom said they filed to run because of some hope to be better positioned to serve the district when — one day — TEA pulls out.

“I just figured I can help out and learn, and maybe find out what TEA is looking for and want,” EZ Ramirez said. “And maybe I can help out so that — eventually they are going to go back to elected officials — we don’t fall into the same spiral again.”

Solis echoed that sentiment.

“Elected trustees will play a vital role in the transition back to a fully elected board, as directed by the Texas Education Agency,” she said via text. “By taking proactive steps now, we can ensure that when the time comes, we are not just prepared but empowered to advocate effectively for our district’s needs, championing our students and our cherished community.”

Garza and Salinas both said they filed to run after hearing about staffing reductions at the district

“Getting rid of the wrong people and replacing them with people from out of town that don’t know our kids, that don’t have a hispanic background at all,” Garza said.

Salinas, a political newcomer, said candidly that he didn’t realize when he filed to run that the elected board was functionless.

 

 

Despite that, he was hoping some good would come of running and said filing had gotten a lot of attention. The community, Salinas said, is obviously interested in the district’s elected seats, even if they don’t mean much at present.

“I’m not a politician. I think I’m doing it for the right reasons, and I’ve kinda gotten overwhelmed with phone calls in the past day or so, pretty much all positive,” Salinas said. “So I don’t know, I might hightail it out of there pretty quick. Talk to me about cattle and cotton, corn and grain — but this is a new venture in my life.”

In contrast, Eden Ramirez said he realized elected officials won’t have a role under state control and said that’s why he filed.

“I’m running for the La Joya ISD Board of Trustees precisely because the seat lacks power,” Ramirez said via text. “Too often, public service is pursued for the authority it brings, but my candidacy is rooted in a different principle: readiness to serve. Whether or not the state reinstates the board’s authority, my commitment is to ensure our community is represented by individuals who are dedicated and prepared.”

Alaniz and Villarreal couldn’t be reached for comment.

Election day is Tuesday, November 5.