The Chron E-Board is putting out their HISD trustee runoff endorsements this week. Here is the one for Trustee District 1 from today:
Trustee Elizabeth Santos, 39, is asking voters in the Dec. 11 runoff election to keep her on the board representing Houston ISD District I. They shouldn’t.
Santos’ connection to the district is deep. She grew up attending its schools and taught English there. Her dedication to students shines through when she speaks. Those things speak in her favor, but they do not overcome her weaknesses as a board member.
An early strike against Santos came in late 2018, when she joined four other trustees to oust Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan in a surprise vote that came after the five had met with a former superintendent whom they then named to replace Lathan. The Texas Education Agency cited that apparent violation of the state’s open meetings law as partial grounds for replacing the whole board.
Santos defends her actions, and claimed in our meeting with her she hadn’t known in advance that Lathan would be fired. But the episode was deeply disruptive and showed poor judgment.
That was an early mistake, but unfortunately Santos has not provided the steady influence and smooth leadership that the school board, with all its recent acrimony, so badly needs. In interviews with us and other outlets recently, she has also struggled to share a cogent vision for how she’ll use a second term to steer the district to further success.
On the other hand, Janette Garza Lindner, 45, is a strong candidate. The mother of two HISD students, she grew up in Brownsville, bilingual in Spanish and English, as an adopted daughter of a widow who left school in the second grade and never learned to read. She graduated from the University of Texas and is an energy industry consultant and project manager. In 2019, she received training as a board fellow of Latinos for Education and serves on the leadership committee of Arts Connect Houston.
Her story lends itself well to representing District I, which stretches from the Near Northside to the northwest across much of the Heights.
“I know firsthand how much schools matter,” Garza Lindner told the editorial board.
Neither candidate secured enough votes in the Nov. 2 election to win the seat outright, and now they face each other in a two-way runoff. We continue to recommend Garza Lindner as the best choice.
Here is a part of a funny Royko take sent to me yesterday:
I have agreed that the audit is a waste of money. We don’t have a problem counting ballots.
The problem is the organized vote fraud. We have Democrats who routinely employ convicted forgers to work on submitting voter registrations.
We have RINO’s working with the Dems in the Legislature to roll back the felony penalties to misdemeanors, knowing it gives the Soros-backed Democrat DA’s the ability to ignore the Republican vote fraud complaints.
No one knows how many fraudulent registrations are entered each year, but the cheaters have plenty of “walk around” money to maintain massive boiler room operations where everyone is paid in cash.
Not a shred of evidence. Here is the real deal on Royko and a bunch of other GOPers. They want to do everything possible to keep us from voting. Period.
They want to make baseless and senseless accusations just for the purpose of casting doubts on our democratic processes.
They don’t believe in fair and square elections. That is who they are these days.
Disney’s latest animation flick is called “Encanto.” One of the stars is Stephanie Beatriz who was mostly raised in Webster just down I-45 South from H-Town. She credits the H-Down arts scene for a lot of her success. Here is from the Chron:
Beatriz’s performance as Rosa Diaz throughout eight seasons of the hugely popular sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” firmly established her as one of the funniest performers on television — but there’s much more to her acting skills than just comedy. Originally born in Neuquen, Argentina, to a Colombian father and Bolivian mother, Beatriz honed and perfected her acting skills in Webster, just outside of Houston, where she moved when she was just 2 years old.
Houston’s arts community is the first thing Beatriz mentions when asked for her thoughts on the city.
“One of the greatest gifts that my family gave me, my mother in particular, was she would seek out different exhibits and things related to the arts for my sister and I to engage in,” Beatriz recalls. “Places like the Museum of Fine Arts and the great theater in the city. When we were kids, that sparked my curiosity. It definitely sparked the idea of following and pursuing a career in the arts. I don’t know that I would have known that it was an avenue I could have gone down, otherwise.”
When discussing her youth in Webster and Houston, Beatriz also highlights the support that she received not just from the artistic community, but from the entire city and the surrounding area. She calls Houston one of the friendliest places in the world.
“Texans are known for their warmth. I grew up that way. I grew up saying hi to people that I didn’t know and trying to try to be warm, open and compassionate to everyone that I’ve come across. You only realize once you move away from places like Houston and Webster that not every place is as warm and welcoming.”
Now a resident of Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband Brad Hoss and their 3-month-old daughter Rosaline, Beatriz’s career is going strong. Rather than sticking to television or film roles, Beatriz is currently preparing to make her first theatrical performance in about 10 years in “2:22 – A Ghost Story on London’s West End.” The show marks another full circle moment for Beatriz.
“Some of the first theater I ever saw was in Houston. Whether it was at my high school or the touring shows that would come through. I also studied theater in college. I performed it at the very start of my career. So it’s crazy to think that in a few days I’ll be in rehearsals for a play that’s going to open on the West End. I’m so thrilled and excited.”
Here is the entire read: Disney’s new ‘Encanto’ stars Stephanie Beatriz, a Texas and Latina icon (chron.com).
Bill Virdon, a former Astros manager, is no longer with us. He was 90. He led us to our first playoff appearance in 1980. The first World Series I paid attention to was the 1960 Fall Classic between the Pirates and Yankees that the Pirates won with a walk-off dinger in Game 7. Virdon played with the Pirates and that is when I first knew of him. He was a good guy.
It will be six of us tomorrow for Thanksgiving Day Dinner. My Dad, my sister Sylvia, my nephew David and his son Jackson, my nephew Enrique and me. We are all fully vaccinated and not messing around.
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