District judge rebuffed, receives no phone call
Marfa
Marfa ISD School Board trustees declined to appoint State District Judge Genie Wright at Wednesday night’s special meeting. The motion to accept her appointment by Board Member Stela Fuentez was not seconded, and the motion failed.
Wright was the only Marfa resident who had submitted a letter of interest to be appointed to the seat held by Fuentez, who resigned from the board in January but still occupies the position until a replacement is found.
Board members Fuentez, Ruben Martinez, Jay Foster, Lori Flores, Teresa Nunez and Board President Philp Boyd were in attendance. Rene Gonzales was absent. The board went into closed session to discuss Wright’s interest, and she was invited in for a short part of the discussion, but when the board returned to the public session, there was no discussion on the appointment.
An agenda item to discuss a special election to fill vacancies on the board was also tabled for March’s regular meeting. That special election would allow for a new candidate filing window for the May 2 election, in which someone could file to run for Fuentez’s seat. It’s uncertain whether that would also include the only seat up from an expiring term, that of Place 2 Board Member Lori Flores. Flores did not return an immediate request for comment.
Wright left the meeting when the board was still in closed session before Fuentez’s failed motion. When reached for comment Thursday afternoon, Wright stated she had not yet heard of that decision from the board or Interim Superintendent Alferez. Boyd, and Alferez could not be reached for comment.
The brief letter Wright wrote the board—which had solicited the public for letters of interest for the appointment—was initially withheld from the public until Big Bend Sentinel filed an open records request on Friday, and the district released it on Tuesday with no comment on why it had made the letter unavailable to the public.Â