Kevin Sparks (Mission, Texas)
Kevin Sparks was a candidate for Place 1 representative on the Sharyland Independent School District school board in Texas. Sparks was defeated in the at-large general election on May 6, 2017.
Sparks ran for the board unsuccessfully in 2015. In his campaigning that year, Sparks stated the following: "I will be open minded and take into consideration as much as I can when making decisions that are in the best interest of the district."[1]
If he had won the election, Sparks would have joined the district in facing an ongoing state investigation of its spending in addition to welcoming a new superintendent for the district, its third in as many years.
Biography
Sparks works as a chiropractor and owns his own practice. He is a member of the Mission Lions Club and a volunteer coach at the Mission Boys and Girls Club. He earned his Doctor of Chiropractic and his bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He was born May 24, 1965, in Mission, Texas.[2][1]
Elections
2017
Two seats on the Sharyland Independent School District school board were up for general election on May 6, 2017. In Place 1, board incumbent Ricky Longoria filed for re-election and defeated former candidate Kevin Sparks. Place 2 incumbent Julio Cerda also filed for re-election and ran unopposed.[3][4]
Results
| Sharyland Independent School District, Place 1 General Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ricky Longoria Incumbent |
62.88% | 625 |
| Kevin Sparks | 37.12% | 369 |
| Total Votes | 994 | |
| Source: Hidalgo County Texas, "Sharyland I.S.D. - Trustee Election," accessed September 20, 2017 | ||
2015
Two of the seven seats Sharyland school board were up for election on May 9, 2015. Incumbents Fernando Ramirez and Eddie Montalvo's at-large terms ended in November 2015. Due to a change in the election procedure for the board, Ramirez and Motalvo had the option of running for the new Place 3 and 4 seats. However, neither incumbent filed to run in the 2015 election.[2]
Both of the open seats saw contested races. Melissa Martinez-Smith defeated Cesar Aguilar for the Place 3 seat. José García defeated fellow newcomer candidates Suzanne Peña, Robert Puente, and Kevin Sparks for the Place 4 seat.[2] However, Puente withdrew from the race on April 24, 2015, and endorsed García in the Place 4 race. Puente's name still appeared on the ballot.[5]
The seat numbers did not correlate to geographic districts or specific schools in the district. Rather, they served to separate the elections for each seat on the board into its own race. Candidates filed to run for a specific seat, but all voters in the school district were eligible to vote for both seats up for election. For more information about the election process, see the method of board member selection section of this election's overview.
Results
| Sharyland Independent School District, Place 4 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | José García |
40.2% | 759 | |
| Nonpartisan | Suzanne Peña | 38.7% | 730 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kevin Sparks | 20% | 377 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Puente | 1.2% | 22 | |
| Total Votes | 1,888 | |||
| Source: Hidalgo County Clerk, "Sharyland I.s.d.- May 9, 2015 Election: Official Results, May 20, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Sparks reported $450.00 in contributions and $2,974.55 in expenditures to the the district according to reports by The Monitor, which left his campaign with $2,524.55 in debt as of April 9, 2015.[6] The next filing deadline was May 1, 2015.
Endorsements
Sparks had received no official endorsements in this election as of April 7, 2015.
Campaign themes
2015
Sparks wrote the following letter which was published in the Sharyland Times on March 6, 2015:
| “ | My name is Kevin Sparks and I am running for Place 4 in the upcoming school board election for Sharyland ISD. Lots of people will often complain that somebody should do something about a particular issue but never take action themselves. With that in mind, I feel the need to take up the challenge of running for school board. I will explain further on why I am running, but first some brief history.
Some may not know that Jessie Jensen Elementary (one of Sharyland’s elementary schools) was named after my grandmother. The story behind that was that my father, the late Wayne Sparks, donated land to the Sharyland school district to help the district out financially. Too often people try to hold a school district hostage for top dollar because they know they need a sizeable chunk of land and often have few options. That is why my father gave the gift of land. He also donated his services to the building of one of the Ag buildings and the girls’ softball field at Sharyland High School. In that same spirit of giving back, I decided to run for school board. Unfortunately, we have some unresolved issues at the district. The new Pioneer High School was over budget, a TEA investigation is ongoing, and we have no permanent superintendent. This is not the Sharyland I have grown to know and love. I wonder what CK Koelle (who also a gifted land for the new Pioneer school) and my father would think today. I think they would be very disappointed in the way Sharyland ISD is now evolving. I am also bothered by this, and I am running for school board to hopefully provide some solutions. I do not believe in the “compadre” or buddy system that seems to have infected so much of our government here in the valley. I believe things should be evaluated objectively on their merits. So if you think that voting for me means that I owe you something, then please, don’t vote for me. I don’t want to disappoint you. If it is history you want, I am a 1983 Sharyland graduate and was born and raised here in Mission. I am married to Rene Allison Sparks (1984 SHS graduate), and we have three children: Mackenzie, Matthew and Madison. My youngest is an eight-grader at Shary North Junior High. If it is education you want, I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in finance and I am also a Doctor of Chiropractic. If it is community service you want, I have been an active member of the Mission Lions club for over 20 years. I have also been a volunteer coach at the Mission Boys and Girls club. If it is business sense you want, I own or have owned several businesses. I currently operate my own chiropractic practice and I manage both commercial and residential property. I also have knowledge of building and construction in the Mission area. If it is cost control you want, my family still owns a lot of property in the Sharyland district. It is in our interest and other tax payers to keep taxes as low as possible. If it is teacher support you want, I am married to one. My wife has been a teacher at Mims Elementary in Mission for over 25 years. I understand the needs of teachers. (I better if I know what is good for me!) If it is academics you want, my oldest two kids were valedictorian and salutatorian from Mission Veterans and my youngest is one of the top students at Shary North Junior High. Academics are important in our family. I will be the first to admit I don’t have all the answers. I can only pledge that I will be open minded and take into consideration as much as I can when making decisions that are in the best interest of the district. I consider myself independent with no specific agenda in mind. I welcome any community input. Vote Kevin Sparks for a new direction.[7] |
” |
| —Kevin Sparks (2015)[1] | ||
See also
- Sharyland Independent School District, Texas
- Sharyland Independent School District elections (2017)
- Sharyland Independent School District elections (2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sharyland Times, "Sparks aims to tackle SISD issues," March 6, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Lou Ann Sarachene, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Sharyland ISD," March 3, 2015
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email conversation with Rosa E. O'Donnell," February 22, 2017
- ↑ Hidalgo County Texas, "Hidalgo - Election Results," accessed May 6, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
- ↑ Facebook, "Sharyland Times: Wall Post," April 24, 2015
- ↑ The Monitor, "Initial finance reports in for Sharyland school board election," April 13, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Sharyland Independent School District elections in 2017 | |
| Hidalgo County, Texas | |
| Election date: | May 6, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Place 1: Incumbent, Ricky Longoria • Kevin Sparks Place 2: Incumbent, Julio Cerda |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
