Marfa
Marfa ISD is refusing to release the name of the lone applicant seeking to be appointed to Board Member Stela Fuentez’s seat—after she resigned in January—even though experts on the Public Information Act say the documents should be available to the public.
The district acknowledged that it had received only one letter of interest for the appointment and that the letter would be opened in closed session when the board meets on Wednesday night. The board could then take action on the appointment in open session. The board intended to discuss an appointment on February 16, but the meeting was canceled due to a lack of quorum. It is legal for a board to discuss appointments in closed session.
The district sought letters of interest for an appointment—and posted the qualifications needed for candidates—in a February 5 ad in Big Bend Sentinel, which also published a story on the district’s solicitation a day before the deadline for letters on February 12. As of the Sentinel press deadline for that edition on February 10, the district had not received any letters.
It’s unclear if the board ultimately received any applications to run for one open seat in the May 2 election, since the district is not responding with comment on this story. The Sentinel submitted an official open records request for the information on Friday. The only board place up for a vote on May 2 is held by Lori Flores.
A call for a “special election” is on Wednesday’s board agenda, which would allow for the district to fill Fuentez’s seat—something required by law if the board ends up appointing someone to her position. That would also open up a new deadline for candidate filing. Under state law, if the district calls a special election less than 70 days before the uniform election date, then the candidate filing date is 40 days before the election on March 23.
An attorney with the Freedom of Information Foundation Texas, who advises reporters on open records issues, said the letter of interest is public and that it doesn’t matter if it’s been opened or read; it only matters if an entity is in possession of this type of information, at which point they have to promptly make it public.
It is not Board President Philip Boyd’s responsibility to handle open records requests. That ultimately falls on Interim Superintendent Arturo Alferez, who acknowledged receipt of Sentinel’s official request for the letter of interest and any new information on election candidates, but he did not respond with any comments.
“Hopefully going forward, we have a process in place,” Boyd said. “I am obviously new to this position, not just as president, but as a trustee … Almost every meeting, there’s something that is new that comes up that I have not gone through before.”
“So, it’s a learning process,” he said. “But we’re committed to doing it the right way, and with whatever transparency we’re allowed by the law. I take that part seriously.”
