SAN BENITO — The San Benito school district’s newest board member has become the first trustee to announce his candidacy for the May 2023 election, when four seats go up for grabs.
Frutoso Gomez, Cameron County’s former longtime chief appraiser, said he will run for a three-year term in the May 6 election as he takes the board’s Place 7 seat, for which he took the oath of office earlier this week.
Gomez, who vowed to work to “unify” the split board, replaces Janie Lopez, who served as a leader of the board’s four-member majority before resigning a month after winning the new District 37 state House of Representatives seat.
First hat in ring
During an interview, Gomez said he will work to “unite the board” as he announced plans to run in what is expected to become a hotly contested battle.
“I have family — my wife, my kids and grandkids — who have attended the San Benito school district and I want to assist our kids in San Benito to provide the best education for them for the future,” Gomez, a 1973 San Benito High School graduate, said. “I want to listen to whatever is on the agenda and make the best possible decision I can for the kids and the employees.”
Vowing to ‘work together’
During a ceremony Tuesday, Gomez took the oath of office before Justice of the Peace David Garza.
“First, I would like to thank our God for placing me where he believes I will be able to serve our students and our employees,” Gomez said before an audience including his wife Isabel, his high school sweetheart. “To our students, you deserve the very best — the best education we can provide in order for you to be successful in your careers in the future.”
Turning to trustees who unanimously appointed him last week, Gomez vowed to “work together” with board members.
“To the San Benito school board, I am sincerely grateful for giving me this opportunity to serve and I’m going to do my very best. I won’t let you down,” he told board members. “I ask God for all his wisdom so we can work together. I am hopeful that together we can continue moving this school district forward. I know you guys have done a great job and I want to be there to be part of that great job. I’m here to serve.”
Public sector experience
After the swearing-in ceremony, board President Ramiro Moreno said Gomez’s experience, including 35 years with the Cameron County Appraisal District, where he served as chief appraiser from 2003 to 2015, will help fuel the board.
“On behalf of the board and myself, I’d like to welcome Mr. Frutoso Gomez,” he told the audience. “Mr. Gomez, with your years of experience working with our community in the public sector, I know you’re going to do a tremendous job on the board.”
Board reorganization
During the meeting, trustees reorganized the board, with Gomez joining Moreno and Trustees Oscar Medrano and Mario Silva to reappoint Moreno to the president’s position while naming Silva vice president and reappointing Medrano to the secretary’s post
Lopez makes history
Last week, Lopez resigned after two years on the board, making history in becoming the first Republican Hispanic woman to win a House seat in South Texas.
In the Nov. 8 general election, Lopez won 14,451 votes to defeat Harlingen businessman Luis Villarreal, who drew 13,685 votes.
Seats up for grabs
With Gomez’s announcement to run for the board’s Place 7 seat in the May 6 election, San Benito’s rival factions are gearing up for what is expected to become a battle for the board’s control.
The ballot will include the Place 4 position, currently held by Orlando Lopez, the Place 5 position held by Ruby Corona and Moreno’s Place 6 seat.
