District 5 contender receives contributions at meet and greet

Ramiro Nava’s campaign for District 5 trustee raised $1,116 at a meet-and-greet event Tuesday at the Hilton Hill Country Hotel and Spa at 9800 Westover Hill Blvd.

Nava, principal at Neil Armstrong Elementary and former Edgewood ISD trustee, is challenging incumbent District 5 trustee Roberto Zárate.

George Garnica, treasurer for Nava’s campaign, said Tuesday that since the April 12 financial disclosure reporting deadline, the campaign had received $1,716.41 in contributions.

That figure grew to $2,832.41 in contributions.

New donations to Nava included $349 from this college’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which is officially endorsing Nava’s campaign.

“We can’t donate on Red McCombs’ level, but we can donate on Rindfuss’ level,” Mariano Aguilar, AAUP vice president and English instructor, said at the meet and greet.

The Ranger reported April 23 that the incumbent’s campaign received $5,700 in campaign contributions: $3,000 from B.J. “Red” McCombs, former owner of the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Vikings and founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group; $2,500 from real estate developer Charles Martin Wender; and $200 from District 9 trustee James Rindfuss.

At that time, Nava reported no contributions.

District 3 trustee Anna Bustamante said she attended the event at the encouragement of her supporters and said she wanted to meet Nava.

“You never know in elections,” Bustamante said, noting that she did not know if she supported Nava’s candidacy.

Bustamante was first appointed to the board in 2008. She was elected in 2010, and her term expires in May 2016.

Joseph Fonseca, political science adjunct at Palo Alto College and political science professor at St. Mary’s University, said he asked Nava to speak to his GOVT 2306, Texas Government, course Monday and was impressed with Nava’s ability to answer students’ questions instead of dodging them.

“Most politicians don’t answer questions like that,” he said.

Fonseca said he agreed with Nava’s opposition to building a sixth college any time soon.

In April 2005, the board unanimously voted to purchase 145.5 acres west of Interstate 10 and north of Loop 1604 near the Kendall County line and Camp Bullis with the intention of building a sixth college.

In a candidate forum April 10 at Northwest Vista College, Zárate said there are no plans to build a sixth college.

During the forum, Nava said the district should focus on making sure all colleges in the district are accredited before constructing a new one.

In December 2009, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools denied Northeast Lakeview College its accreditation because it did not have an audit separate from the other colleges.

Northeast Lakeview resubmitted its accreditation application to SACS Feb. 15 after the board approved the college’s financial report for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11 at its January meeting.

The college opened in fall 2007 and operates under this college’s accreditation, which allows students dependent on financial aid to be recognized as students of this college.

At the meet and greet, Lucio Vasquez said he has two sons who attend Northwest Vista College and Texas A&M University at San Antonio.

Vasquez said he did not support the district’s efforts to raise tuition and hopes Nava would discourage the board from enacting such a measure.

The Alamo Colleges board of trustees at its regular meeting April 17 unanimously tabled a 3 percent tuition increase until the board’s budget retreat Saturday.

At the Audit, Budget and Finance Committee meeting April 10, Diane Snyder, vice chancellor for finance and administration, said the increase is expected to produce an additional $4 million in revenue to support a projected 5 percent increase in enrollment for 2012-13.

Vasquez said, “That puts things out of reach for middle income families.”

Vasquez said he supported Nava during his tenure on the Edgewood board as a trustee 2000-2002 and board president 2002-2008.

“I’m behind him 100 percent,” Vasquez said.

District 5 extends from downtown along U.S. Highway 90 and state Highway 151 to Loop 1604.

To view the boundaries of each representative district, visit www.alamo.edu/district/board/ and click on Which board member represents me?

Early voting in the May 12 election:

• 8 a.m.-6 p.m. through Friday

• 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday

• noon-6 p.m. Sunday

• and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

Early voting locations can be found at elections.bexar.org/ under Early Voting Locations and Hours of Operation.

Voting is conducted 7 a.m.-7 p.m. May 12.

To find your voting precinct, visit elections.bexar.org/ and click on Precinct Finder.