𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗦𝗖 𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗜𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗩𝗔𝗥𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗕𝗬 𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

 

Juan Montoya/Jim Barton some years ago at a long-time downtown establishment

Rather than unravel some comments from Juan Montoya's June 7, 2024 posting on El Rrun Rrun, my preferred approach is to get at the crux of the current turmoil on the TSC Board of Trustees.

Board chair Adela Garza initiated the tumult by recruiting two replacement candidates for current trustees Eva Alejandro and J.J. De Leon.

A close and trusted friend suggested yesterday that I approach Edward Camarillo at a forum to see if he'd admit to being recruited by Adela, but there was no need for that as Garza had blatantly posted advertisements for both Norma Lopez-Harris and Camarillo on her Facebook page. (When have you ever observed such a heavyhanded move by a board chair?)

Consider that Adela Garza, in seeking candidates to run against De Leon, was openly opposing a six year veteran on the board and, in doing the same with respect to Eva Alejandro, was betraying a 40 year friendship, while seeking a replacement for a board member with 53 years in education. (How would replacing Alejandro with a pharmacist with no experience in education benefit the board? How would replacing De Leon with a man who, along with two siblings, oversaw the crumbling of Incarnate Word Academy, an institution that had survived for 140 years before being run by three Camarillo siblings, benefit the board?)

To put it bluntly and honestly, current board chair Adela Garza's surprising moves were not about bettering the TSC Board of Trustees, but about strengthening her grip and control of that board in the short term by replacing two veterans of education with two newbies that would willingly do her bidding.  Yes, it's that simple.

Before going further into this, let's define the role of board chair.  The board chair of almost any public board, including TSC, is not "the boss," not a CEO or overseer.

The role of the board chair is to, along with the president, create an agenda for meetings, incorporating agenda suggestions from individual board members.  

The board chair follows that agenda while conducting meetings, calling for votes, recognizing board members for comments or questions while moving the meeting along expeditiously.

Yet, in no way does the board chair have more authority than individual board members and, his or her vote counts the same as any other board member.

Also, by rule and protocol, the board chair position regularly rotates, typically annually.

The goal of any successful board should be a coming together, meeting of the minds by independent board members who coalesce for the common good.

In calling out Adela Garza's overtly unethical moves while board chair, this blogger was not endorsing or even "promoting" any candidates. (My last candidate endorsement occurred in 2010, not ending well, and I resolved to NEVER do that again.)

Montoya referred to me as "sanctimonious" for carefully pointing out the difference between his blog's method of operation and mine, but, actually, I was not positioning myself on higher moral ground, just explaining to readers why he and McHale write hit pieces describing opposition candidates as "overbearing," "stooges," "cockroaches," even "traitors," while I take a different approach, that of simply writing what I observe truthfully and honestly.

Something I've mentioned over the years is my appreciation at being corrected when I error factually as I'm actually eager to make that correction if needed.