Friday, June 15, 2018

TSC RUNOFF EARLY VOTING TURNOUT TRUDGING ALONG


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By Juan Montoya

The terms are for six years and as a member of a policy-making board, the winner of this years Place 6 seat on the Texas Southmost College board of trustees, your vote will impact crucial issues for the residents of the community college district.

Whether it's the type of courses that are offered, the development of the local workforce to prepare them (and our region) for the future, the collaboration with our neighbor to the south and its industry, the cost of tuition for its students, the quality of their education, and the future quality of life for everyone in South Texas, your vote will make a difference.

That's why it's so discouraging for some people to see see that in the first four days (Monday-Friday), only 664 voters had gone to the six early voting locations throughout the district to cast their votes (Click graphic to enlarge). If the trend continues, the remaining four days will yield another 650 votes to make the early votes cast total a little over 1,300. 

If statistics hold true, some 65 percent of the total vote (not including mail-in and election day) is cast in the early-voting period. A rough calculation indicates that at this rate, the total vote would come to a little over 2,000 (2,076).

That is, unless there is a surge of voting between now and June 23, election day.

Incumbent Dr. Rey Garcia is facing challenger J.D. De Leon. In the primary election vote May 5, there was only a 54-vote difference between Garcia and De Leon with Garcia getting 2,312 to 2,258 for De Leon. Percentage wise  Garcia got 35.3 to De Leon's 34.5 percent. The other candidate, Carlos Rios got 30.1 percent.

If ever a vote counted for an office important to this area, this vote may be it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, get to the voting polls! If you read carefully what must be on the agenda of the newly elected board member with the rest of bunch, you will be able to notice that only one person is actually qualified to handle this situation with experience and mature knowledge that is not manipulated by anyone else and pushed into voting a certain way. Without mentioning any names, there is only one candidate that qualifies. People who were lucky enough to be around when TSC was here for us should make a personal issue out of it and insist that the community college serves its major purpose. When PAU-B was initiated under Dr. Arnulfo Oliveira, a lot of us were able to complete our education without signing over our lives with student loans. We worked and went to school to pay for our education, because in those times, our counselors did not inform us about financial aid and few of us were even prevy of the scholarships available. This is what we need for the normal child that is not offered the million dollar scholarships or does not qualify for financial aid. Get our community college to work for
our community. Vote Dr. Rey Garcia! He will put on a stop to anyone who wishes to please his or her own agenda. That is why they don't want him on board.

Anonymous said...

I am glad somebody brought this up about counselors not helping students and not informing us of the availability of financial programs. I am not endorsing any candidate I am just simply making a comment about some of the counselors and this happened a long time ago. Some situations never change not even for the better, not even in college.

Anonymous said...

It is too late now, but Adela should have pressured her friend, Sylvia, to run for this position. She would have done a lot of people a big favor by having to drop out of the BISD board. In last night's speech to the Hanna graduates, I bet she bit her tongue several times with all the crap she fed those innocent children about how they should show love towards everyone and be kind to everyone. She doesn't know the meaning of those two words if not related to her interests. Hey, I heard from a lady in Rio Hondo that her contract has not been renewed. Is that so, Juan or DA Saenz or has she paid you all to seal the indictment or non-renewal. What goes around, Sylvia, comes around and your time has come.

rita