𝗕𝗜𝗦𝗗 𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗦, 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔 𝟭𝟴𝟬 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘, 𝗨𝗡𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗧𝗢 "𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗦" 𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔 𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

                                         

BISD Board of Trustees

By law, the Brownsville ISD Board of Trustees has only 180 days to replace the deceased Erasmo Castro on the Board of Trustees, either by appointment or calling an election for May 3.

Should they decide to call an election, Election Administrator Remi Garza testified that such a request has to be submitted by Tuesday, meaning the board would have to reconvene over the weekend to officially make that request.

Acting Board President Daniella Lopez Valdez opened Friday's board meeting with a plea that the board "try to find consensus," but that never became a reality.

During Public Comment, one of 25 who applied to fill the empty board spot, Attorney John Shergold, asked that his name be removed from that list.  Shergold said that, upon reflection, he felt the citizens of Brownsville deserved a democratically elected trustee, not someone simply appointed by the board.

                                     

Attorney John Shergold

Initially, Shergold's words seemed to have influenced the board to hold an election, to allow all candidates to essentially be vetted by the electorate, but as the Board of Trustees came to grips with the time constraints involved, the acting board president again called for an appointment.

The board attorney mentioned the existence of a "top three" among the candidates for the position, but gave no insight as to the criteria in naming that "top three" or who made the selections.  Was it the board itself?  That was not made clear.  Certainly, board members will be thinking in terms of creating a board majority when considering candidates to support, rather than simply qualifications.

Oddly, board member Denise Garza, quiet for most of the meeting, did try to make a motion by saying "I motion," rather than the customary "I move" called for in Robert's Rules of Order.  

So, folks, we have a Board of Trustees hopelessly deadlocked at 3-3 on many issues, that desperately needs another board member, but simply can't agree on selecting that person or even the methodology to make that selection.  

Yes, the board needs to "find consensus," but they don't seem to have the necessary skills or wherewithal to do that.