Commissioner Prestage Adds Voice In Call For Single Member Districts

Prestage Adds Voice In Call For Single Member Districts
Jul, 2007

Fort Bend Politics

Bob Dunn

Local educator Noel Pinnock stirred a still-simmering debate in these pages last month when he called on the Fort Bend Independent School District Board of Trustees to convert from its current at-large system to single-member districts.

Now Fort Bend County Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage has also strongly endorsed the idea, although he and Pinnock would take different approaches to achieving the same ends.

“I’ve been very vocal about this ever since the ’80s,” Prestage said recently. “I think it’s time for single-member districts. It has been for a long time.”

“History supports this case,” Pinnock said. “The argument is in terms of voter dilution and in terms of lack of representation.”

The crux of his argument is his contention the majority of schools in the district’s east end are “failing and are struggling to bridge/close achievement gaps and provide a formidable education experience for all students.”

“Hunters Bend, Mission Bend and all of these bands on the outskirts of the city need representation” on the FBISD Board, he said. His belief is that those neighborhoods are not able to obtain proper representation under the current at-large system.

Pinnock has written or spoken to the U.S. Justice Department, the American Civil Liberties Union, Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey, the NAACP and local members of Congress about the issue, and has suggested a lawsuit may be necessary to force a change. . .(follow this link for the full story http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/3086/prestage-adds-voice-in-call-for-fbisd-single-member-districts)