HISD Superintendant Abelardo Saavedra speaks to the Chron about the bumpy ride the bond referendum has had. I just want to highlight one piece of this, which to my mind explains why the ride has been bumpy better than anything else I’ve seen so far:
With just over two weeks left until the Nov. 6 election, Saavedra is sticking to his guns. He told the Houston Chronicle in an extended interview that he won’t bend to the political pressure by adding money to critics’ pet projects.
“I won’t identify people, but I have been told that, ‘Unless you do this or that, whether it be add more dollars to my project or leave this school alone or don’t consolidate this school, I will fight you to the very end. I will bring this bond issue down,’ ” he said.
[…]
Saavedra believes he has tackled the most serious concerns in the original bond proposal, leaving critics to latch onto the only major complaint left: the lack of public involvement in developing the plan.
While he readily admits he could have done a better job at that, he said 12 solid months wouldn’t have been enough to win over some of the loudest critics, who wanted him to sign off on their deals.
“People can throw the lack of community input out there as the issue, and we certainly can improve on that,” Saavedra said. “But the real issue is that we were trying to be fair with all schools, all communities, and not just listen to the people screaming the loudest.”
That may well be, but it misses the point. The reason why you go through the 12 month process is not to satisfy everyone – there ain’t no way to do that – but to marginalize the critics who will be implacable no matter what. With a longer process that allows for real input before the referendum is finalized, it’s easier for people to see who’s got a legitimate gripe and who’s just making noise. Instead of getting endorsements that echo the complaints of its critics, HISD could have gotten endorsements that defended it from them. It’s basic politics, and it’s a little distressing to see Saavedra not understand that. But at least now I understand better how we got here.