The Chron supports the incumbents for re-election to the HCC Board of Trustees.
Fortunately, HCC’s fundamentals appear to be on the mend. Enrollment has nearly bounced back to pre-Covid levels thanks to booming suburban campuses. The board of trustees still has its struggles, but it is functioning. They unanimously approved a budget in June that addresses deferred maintenance on facilities and boosts faculty pay using increased revenue from property taxes. Student outcomes are improving too. That’s great for students but also critical to HCC’s bottom-line. In 2023, the Texas Legislature tied funding to performance metrics such as the number of students who complete 15 credit hours, transfer to a four-year college or earn degrees that can land them jobs.
In light of the recent progress at HCC, we think it’s time for stability. Two trustee positions are on the ballot, both on the north side of Houston, and we urge voters to stick with the incumbents.
District I, Monica Flores Richart
First elected in 2019, Monica Flores Richart, 51, barely got started as a trustee when Covid hit. She told the editorial board that remote learning was especially difficult for HCC where much of the training is hands-on.
“How do you teach someone to be a paramedic online?”
She said that the board and HCC leadership used emergency federal funding wisely on one-time expenses, not hires. Now, even with the funding going away, she says HCC has managed to retire debt without raising taxes. She’s worried about the future, however. If jobs disappear in a shaky economy, she warns that HCC could see a surge in enrollment while also experiencing cuts to federal support. Richart voted to keep Cesar Maldonado as the chancellor in 2023 but says she’s focused on the future, not revisiting past battles. Her challenger, Milton “Miles” Sasser, said he would have voted differently on the chancellor’s contract, but he appreciated Richart’s positivity.
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District II, Renee Jefferson-Patterson
This seat has had five different trustees over seven years. At long last, voters should opt for stability and elect to keep Renee Jefferson Patterson, 46, on the board. Patterson was appointed this year to fill the vacancy left when the previous trustee, Charlene Ward Johnson, won a seat in the state Legislature. Johnson had served since 2022 after winning a special election to replace Rhonda Skillern-Jones, the trustee who took $17,000 in the Walmart parking lot while on the Houston ISD board.
During our screening, Patterson showed an understanding of a trustee’s role. Each should listen to their constituents, build consensus on the board and discuss plans with the administration, but ultimately they are only one voice among nine members whose job is to hire the chancellor, vote on the budget and shape overarching goals for the entire system. That’s what Patterson did in her advocacy for the expansion of the VAST program for people with intellectual and physical disabilities.
As noted before, District VII Trustee Dr. Cynthia Lenton-Gary is unopposed. Here are the interviews I’ve done for these races:
Monica Flores Richart
Renee Jefferson Patterson
Desmond Spencer
Spencer is running against Patterson in District II. I did not originally reach out to Miles Sasser, but he reached out to me a week or so ago; I replied to him but have not heard back. I interviewed Kathy Lynch Gunter, the other District II candidate, in 2022 when there was a special election there, you can listen to that interview here. The HCC Board has had its share of drama in recent years, as the beginning of this endorsement op-ed recounts, but it has been pretty stable and quiet since then. Listen to the interviews and see what you think.