Four applicants apply for three positions on board

As of 5 p.m. today, four applicants had submitted applications for three races for the Alamo Colleges board of trustees election May 12.

Today was the last day to submit applications.

Board liaison Sandra Mora said she received an application today from Ramiro Nava, who filed in District 5. Nava will run against incumbent District 5 trustee Roberto Zárate.

District 6 trustee Gene Sprague was the only applicant to file in District 6.

Yvonne Katz, former Spring Branch ISD superintendent and president of Vision Into Action Associates, was the only applicant to file in District 7. District 7 trustee Blakely Fernandez did not seek re-election.

Mora said that because those races are uncontested, the district will seek advice from Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP on how to cancel those races.

Mora would not release the applications for the board as late as today nor would she divulge information on the applications. Fernandez told The Ranger today that there is nothing in the applications that is not public information.

Zárate was first appointed to the board in August 2003 to finish a term left vacant by Jesse Gonzales after Gonzales was convicted of accepting a $5,000 bribe from district–contracted architect Louis Cruz.

District policy requires that an appointed candidate stand for election in the first scheduled election following appointment if they wish to remain on the board.

Zárate was elected in May 2004 for the remaining two years of Gonzales' term and re-elected in 2006.

In a phone interview today, Sprague said he is running for re-election because he wants to ensure the district remains a high quality education system for students.

"I would like to remain a part of that," he said.

Sprague said many students who attend colleges in the district are the first in their families to attend college and that he believes community colleges are the main opportunity for those students to enter higher education.

Mora said today that she received Sprague's ballot application, but she did not know if she could release the date the application was submitted.

Sprague joined the board in May 1994 and won re-election in May 2000 and May 2006.

He is a radiology and pharmacology professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Yvonne Katz, former Spring Branch ISD superintendent and president of Vision Into Action Associates, was the only applicant to file in District 7.

District 7 trustee Blakely Fernandez told The Ranger Feb. 23 that she would not seek re-election.

She joined the board in 2009 to fill a seat vacated by Charles Conner when he resigned. Fernandez was elected in June 2010 for the remaining two years of Conner's term.

In a phone interview, Fernandez said her family and Tuggey Fernandez LLP, the law practice she established in May, prevent her from dedicating the time necessary to serve on the board.

Fernandez said she supports Katz to fill the District 7 seat.

Katz also served as Harlandale ISD superintendent from July 1, 1985, to Nov. 16, 1992.