EDINBURG — Three Edinburg school board members requested to vote on censure resolutions for trustees Luis Alamia and Dominga Vela Tuesday, but failed to pass them with a split 3-3 vote on both.
The three board members that requested the censure were trustees Miguel Farias, Letty Flores and Letty Garcia.
The censure against Alamia stemmed from an incident at an Edinburg football game on Sept. 6 involving Alex Rios, a candidate for the upcoming school board elections. Alamia didn’t follow proper procedures and received a sidelines pass which was given to Rios, who was detained and asked to leave the sidelines.
“At no point was I being rude or disrespectful as to why the humiliation, assault, intimidating tactics used by ECISD administration and employees to anyone who had been invited by one of your own,” Rios said during public comments at a special meeting held Sept. 11. “Now I question what the intent was in giving me this pass … We are asking this board to please make sure that this incident does not occur to any students, any staff and any community member of this community.”
The censure against Vela also stemmed from an alleged overstep when she asked an employee of the district at the last minute to do the coin toss at the beginning of a game to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a state final coached by her husband Robert Vela.
Prior to the discussion, the district’s legal counsel Ben Castillo reminded the public of the details of a censure resolution for board trustees and that Alamia and Vela requested the deliberation to be conducted in open session.
A censure is a public reprimand from the board expressing disapproval of a board member’s actions.
The board members of the subject cannot vote on their own censure but are entitled to defend themselves during discussion.
Farias, who decided not to run for re-election, referenced the football game on Sept. 6.
Farias said he was not present to witness the event but read the Edinburg CISD Police Department incident report to recall the actions of that night.
He read what the ECISD Chief of Police Ricardo Perez Jr. observed that night.
It states that the police chief observed a district employee handing Alamia a lanyard field pass which he then gave to Rios at the southwest gate of the stadium.
“I got a problem when board members go and take it upon themselves to give directives and to institute things that are clearly not correct,” Farias said. “Now, based on that, I believe Mr. Alamia used school district property, which is the field pass at a school district event, which is a football game, to try and promote a political candidate which I believe falls under electioneering violations, and gave directives to school employees to participate in which I believe is considered a violation of governance.”
Farias obtained a list of field passes issued that night which list pass number 9 and 20 being given to Alamia.
The Monitor’s article on the incident, which includes a photo of the field pass with the number 20 on it that was sent by Rios, was referenced during the discussion.
“We go to three hours of training for do’s and don’ts,” he said. “This is not new to us. We know the rules, we know the regulations … but in my opinion, these were some serious violations.”
Alamia, getting a chance to defend himself, started off by saying he wanted to apologize to the ECISD community for having to witness this agenda item instead of tackling issues.
“We are here having to go through this issue regarding a simple coin toss and a field pass, both of which in no way violate any school board policy or city, state laws respectively,” he said. “This is simply because of one unhappy board member who will no longer be here after November 5, 2024 and for his personal reasons.”
Flores then speaks again saying, “This is bullying, when you get text messages from a board member telling you that you’re not doing your job, and hear every single time every meeting … I get a text from a board member telling me, ‘Did you see how Mike voted?’ I didn’t see how Mike voted. I’m responsible for my hand.”
The censure of Alamia failed to pass with Farias, Flores and Garcia voting yes and Vela, board member Xavier Salinas and board President Carmen Gonzales voting no.
Moving on to the censure of Vela, Garcia chose to speak on her actions.
“What was told to the board members was that on Thursday, one of the principals received a call that Mr. Vela had requested to do the coin toss … The only thing is that protocol wasn’t followed … As board members, again, as we take this training, we’re not supposed to be calling any employee of the district, no administrator, no area directors … that’s not for us. That’s what the superintendent gets paid for to do that.”
Garcia mentioned how that night was dedicated to honoring children battling cancer and acknowledging children who have died of cancer. Due to the last minute request by Vela both things were commemorated.
“But the thing was, those children didn’t get the recognition they should have in my opinion,” she said. “I just feel that, you know, we as board members need to hold ourselves accountable to where we take these courses … all I’m trying to say is that we too should follow policy and procedures and hold ourselves accountable for our actions.”
Vela then shared a statement regarding the censure.
In her statement she focused on the failure of the resolution to identify any specific sections of noncompliance to have validity.
“After reviewing local board policy … and the training that we have received, I personally am convinced and know in my heart that I have not violated any ethical standards noted in this policy,” she said. “Reflecting on my service on this board and to this great ECISD district, I conclude that I have not knowingly violated any section of this policy.”
The censure of Vela also failed to pass with Farias, Flores and Garcia voting yes and Alamia, Salinas and Gonzales voting no.
One thing the board all agreed on was the passing of board operating procedures. The procedures include a board self evaluation, adoption of governance framework, visitation to campuses and departments and that members must remain in areas designated for the public or specifically for the board.
“The board operating procedures are intended to promote transparency, accountability and efficient governance,” Castillo said. “I adhere to these procedures, the board is in a better position to support the district’s goals and ensure positive impact on students, staff and their community.”
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