Questionable procedure may lead to 

Appointment of people's anti-choice

Staff

-Eagle Pass

In an official posting of an agenda for a special meeting of the Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees, former EPISD Board Member Rex McBeath may be appointed to the board this Thursday afternoon.

According to an agenda posted on the EPISD website, McBeath will be the only name submitted to the board during this special meeting.

In previous appointments, such as the one most recently upon the sudden resignation of Claudio Heredia, the board unanimously appointed local businessman Bennie Rodriguez, an accounting major and A&M graduate.

He too was the lone finalist, if you will, in the procedure to replace Heredia.

In previous appointments, a procedure by which each board member would make a nomination and then the board took each into consideration before making an appointment when naming Mark Garcia, a local businessman when Alfonso Nevarez stepped down some years ago; when Glenna Purcell was appointed in place of the late Lynn Purcell; and when naming Beatriz Garza, a member of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, who have never had representation on the board when Lupita Fuentes resigned some time ago. After setting such a precedent in the selection of new board members this board has obviously taken it upon themselves to single out individuals within our community and hand select replacements to the board.

In a statement from the spokesman for the district, Jesus Costilla, Ana Santleben has tendered her letter of resignation which will be effective after being put to the vote on Thursday. 

In the same meeting the board will also take action on approving Rex McBeath, a move that has been considered by many local residents as a step backwards for the district as Mr. McBeath has already served on the board and subsequently had been beaten by Rodolfo Lopez by nearly 1,000 votes.   

"The Board of Trustees will have a special board meeting to accept the resignation of Ani G. Santleben on August 1, 2013 at 12:30," stated Costilla, "The reason for her resignation is that family members have applied for employment with the district."