MERCEDES — School trustee Eddie Howell resigned this month due to health complications after serving five years on the Mercedes Independent School District board of trustees.
Trustees held a special meeting Thursday and unanimously named Fernando Dominguez to fill the Place 1 vacancy.
“First of all, we want to thank Mr. Eddie Howell for serving our staff, our students and our district,” MISD Superintendent Daniel Treviño said.
Howell, who has been experiencing a “little decline” in his overall health, said he will spend more time with his family, including his grandchildren.
“I guess it made me kind of just look at my years left,” he said. “I’m 69.”
Howell will attend the Oct. 2 board meeting where he will be honored for his commitment to the community.
“As an MISD trustee, his service is greatly appreciated,” Treviño said. “He continues to be a good citizen and a good steward of policy, and he will be greatly missed as a board member.”
Howell relished having a hand in the construction of Tiger Stadium and the naming of district campuses after veterans, educators and community members.
He served on the board from 1991 until 2001 and was elected again in 2014 for a four-year term.
Trustee Oscar Riojas, who only served on the board with Howell for nearly a year, said it was a pleasure to have served alongside him.
“He was very respectable, and just always had the right frame of mind as a board member, and that was always a plus for me,” Riojas said.
Once sworn-in on Monday, Dominguez will serve until the end of the term in November 2018.
Dominguez most recently served as a board member for the Development Corporation of Mercedes.
“We’re excited about him joining the team, and we’re looking forward to working with him,” Riojas said.
