Rep. Hopeful Trent Ashby Guest Speaker At Lions Club

GRAPELAND - Candidate for State Representative Trent Ashby was the guest speaker at the Grapeland Noon Lions Club meeting held on Thursday, Feb. 16.

After President Ben Childress opened the meeting and recognized the guests who were present, Mr. Ashby addressed those in attendance.

“It’s good to be amongst fellow Lions,” said Ashby, a member of the Lufkin Host Lions Club. “When I look back over the last nine years since my family and I moved to Lufkin, and some of my fondest memories are of times spent with those wearing the yellow vest, my fellow Lions Club members.”

Ashby thanked the Lions for having him as a guest speaker and explained why he was running for the state Representative’s office.

“I think that it is important that we as a rural, East Texas citizenry understand that our rural way of life, to some degree, is under attack in Austin and certainly in Washington. I think we need more people in Austin that understand and represent the values and ethics of hard work, going to church, and the friendliness and neighborliness (of East Texas). It is no secret that what has happened with this latest round of re-districting, is that rural Texas is losing representation in Austin. What that tells me is that it is more important than ever that the people we send to Austin need to be strong, energetic voices for the causes we hold dear as East Texans. I am running to be a strong, conservative, energetic voice for the causes we hold near and dear as East Texans,” Ashby said.

After explaining the most recent updates to the re-districting process, Ashby outlined the areas he saw as concerns in the East Texas area. He listed these as property rights, water issues and border security. Another area that was addressed involved education.

“I am a local elected official in Lufkin. I proudly serve as the president of the school board there. I have been on the school board for nearly six years,” he said. “How many of you have heard a politician talk about local control? How many of those legislators in Austin, when they get there, actually follow that. Well I would say to you probably not a lot. I am sick and tired of hearing politicians talking about the best decisions are made at the local level - at our commissioners’ courts, at our city councils, at our school boards. Those people rub elbows everyday with those people , they know best. You know what? They’re right. They do know best.

“I just wish Austin and Washington would listen to that. I’m tired of the doublespeak. Let’s let our local officials operate and get out of their business. As a school board member, I have been very dissatisfied with the historic number of unfunded mandates that are constantly being thrust upon our local governments. What does this mean at the local level. It means we as taxpayers have to foot the bill. It’s a shell game. I think we can do better than that. I think that we need people in Austin that actually say what they believe and believe what they say. When it comes to local control, that is an issue where we have got to hold our elected officials accountable.

“I am here to tell you that teaching to a test is not the solution,” he continued. “Teachers, superintendents and school board members will tell you that is not a solution. Sure, there definitely needs to be accountability, but one test given on one day of the school year is not the sole indicator of how well equipped a kid is to handle the real world. The pressure we’re putting on these kids, starting at the third grade level with TAKS testing and now the STAAR test is - talking about STAAR, it’s almost comical. The legislature passed it and now the chairman of the House Education Committee sent a note, yesterday, to the Commissioner of Education saying we need to delay it. I think it is high time we sent people to Austin that are serious about tackling the issue of public education. We need leadership in Austin. We need people that are willing to stand up and have the courage to do the right thing. We shouldn’t be funding school districts based on zip codes and that is our current formula.

“There is no reason that kids in Grapeland, Texas, should be funded less than $4,000 per student than that kid over in Eanes ISD, just west of Austin,” he said. “That’s not the highest funded school district, that’s just one that people recognize. It’s not right, it’s not fair and it’s not ethical. We can do better. We need to hold our elected officials accountable for this issue. If we fail our kids, we have just cut our seed stock. What have we done for our future? When we talk about being the number one state in the country, in terms of job growth and economic vitality, that’s great for today. But if we’re not training our future workforce to meet the standards of the future here in Texas, do you think we’ll retain that standing? Of course not. We’re going to fail and folks this is an area we can’t afford to fail in.”

After Ashby’s presentation, the Lions Club members held a discussion on upcoming events.

The coordinator for the golf tournament, Frank Chapman said, “Everything is right on schedule. I’m just checking on a few minor things.”

After being kidded about lining up sponsors, Lions Club President Childress told the club his goal for the year was to have 100 sponsors for this year’s tournament and challenged the club to bring in at least one or two new sponsors to help grow the event. The tournament will be held the weekend of May 19.

In other club business:

• one of the newer Lions Club members, State Rep. Marva Beck, presented the Lions with a state of Texas flag. She jokingly offered to help the club learn the Texas pledge of allegiance, saying that she had received plenty of practice during her tenure in the last legislative session;

• in the prior February meeting, discussion was held regarding the establishment of a scholarship fund to aid local students. It was determined that the club would move forward with this and decided to limit it to the students in the Grapeland school system;

• Wayne and Linda Langham were voted in as new members;

• the club tabled discussion about contributing to a fund to help provide padding for the backstop at the Grapeland softball facility; and

• it was determined the club would provide $300 to assist in the cost of paint for the Grapeland Senior Citizens Center.