Vasquez school board vote reverberates

Hispanic support suffering

Councilman Gabriel Vasquez, who has been called a sellout by most of Houston’s top Hispanic leaders, now has angered some of his limited Hispanic supporters by voting for Karla Cisneros to succeed him on the school board.

“It’s political stupidity on Gabe’s part,” said longtime activist Frumencio Reyes, who during the heated race to replace outgoing Councilman Felix Fraga was arguably Vasquez’s most credible Hispanic supporter.

“If he keeps going in that direction, it’s going to come to a point where we’re all going to work against whatever he tries to do and run for,” said Reyes, an attorney.

While still on the Houston Independent School District’s board, Vasquez last week joined five Anglo and black trustees in voting for Cisneros to fill the unexpired term created by Vasquez election to City Council. Vasquez’s two fellow Hispanics on the board voted against her.

Cisneros is a quarter Guatemalan married to a Mexican-American. But even veteran Councilman John Castillo, who remained carefully neutral during Vasquez’s divisive race, has joined Hispanics criticizing the choice and the process.

“Being 25 percent Guatemalan doesn’t make her a Latina,” Castillo said.

“The election of Gabe to the board of Houston Independent School District set a parity of three Hispanics, three blacks and three Anglos, and the board should have respected that parity until the next election. The fact that Gabriel was satisfied that the process had worked is highly disturbing.”

Vasquez, whose council District H spans some of the city’s northside Hispanic enclaves as well as the heavily white Heights, first drew fire from the Latino community when as a school trustee he joined Republican board member Jeff Shadwick to sponsor HISD’s controversial bilingual education policy.

Coupled with his lack of serviceable Spanish and brief residency in Houston, the policy inspired an “anybody but Gabe” campaign led by state Sen. Mario Gallegos, the county’s highest ranking elected Hispanic, attacking Vasquez’s ethnic credentials.

Thursday, a day after his first council meeting, Vasquez called the criticism of Cisneros “more of the same.”

“If they refuse to see her as an Hispanic even though she’s of Hispanic lineage, is raising Hispanic children and supports the Hispanic culture, then there’s nothing I can do about that,” Vasquez said. “They’re trying to place a litmus test on how Hispanic you have to be to hold public office.”

Vasquez also defended his final vote as an HISD board member as well as the process that led to it.

According to sources, the board in a closed session took straw polls in which Vasquez initially said he preferred Cisneros, Harvard-educated and former state Rep. Diana Davila, or attorney and former state Rep. Yolanda Navarro Flores.

When the preferences were narrowed to Cisneros and Davila, Vasquez sided with his fellow Hispanics in supporting Davila until it was clear Cisneros had the inflexible support of the three whites and two blacks present. Vasquez then jumped ship, joined the majority and the board emerged from closed session.

“At that point in time, I could have voted, I could have abstained,” Vasquez said. “I voted for the nomination because I was a board member, because I have received phone calls, faxes, and letters from people in the Heights and from people in the northside, and these were active PTO presidents and active civic club leaders in the northside, supporting Karla.

“The community was speaking with a singular voice, saying they supported Karla. The board was saying it supported Karla, and I supported and endorsed the person that the board and community supported. I tried to do the right thing, not the politically correct thing.”

Reyes, who has tried in vain to convince Vasquez to mend fences with Gallegos, said Vasquez’s explanation is too hard to swallow and he suspects more personal motives.

“You can’t vote yes just because the other guy is going to win anyway. That’s not what this thing is all about,” Reyes said. “You stick to your principles, you stick to your commitments, you stick to what you know is right.

“Gabe knows that appointment is not right. It’s not right the way it came down. It’s not in the best interest of our community. It was wrong, and he knows this. I think he’s thinking more of what he’s going to gain from this in the future in terms of accomplishing his personal political agenda.”

Vasquez owes his election to the critical support of upper-income whites in the Heights portion of district. Cisneros was the only top contender from the Heights portion.

It looks like payback, said Richard Cantu, another key Vasquez supporter for City Council and northside precinct judge who also vied for the board seat.

“I had one of his yard signs in my yard,” Cantu said. “I went to the first volunteer meeting after the general election. I remember walking in and saying, ‘Damn, where are all the Latinos at?’ It was kind of scary.”

Cantu said Vasquez blew a perfect opportunity to support a candidate from the struggling, historically Hispanic portions of the district.

“Cantu’s fellow contender for the HISD post, attorney Flores, endorsed Vasquez for council and is credited with delivering his only heavily Hispanic box in Lindale, where her son was a precinct judge.

“I feel betrayed,” Flores said. “If he had voted no, if he had abstained, if he had done something other than vote yes, I think it would have given him some credibility. But by voting yes, it certainly brings into question everything that he is and his loyalty to our community.”



Comments are closed.