LISD, KMUD candidates gather for forum

Board candidates for the Llano school district and Kingsland Utility Municipal District talked about the issues and connected with voters during an April 12 forum hosted by the League of Women Voters Hill Country chapter at the Kingsland Library.

Election Day is May 4. Early voting is April 22-30.

“We are trying to do our best to take care of democracy and to help you make informed decisions,” said chapter President Janice Zitelman at the outset of the forum.

The League of Women Voters is an unbiased voting advocacy group founded over 100 years ago. The Hill Country chapter covers Llano, Gillespie, Blanco, Kerr, Kendall, and Bandera counties.

All candidates were given three minutes to introduce themselves and three minutes for closing remarks. Each had one minute to answer questions, all of which came from the audience.

LLANO ISD BOARD

Llano Independent School District trustees serve staggered three-year terms on a seven-place board. Places 1 and 5 are up for election on May 4. Trustees vote on LISD policies and budgets.

PLACE 1

Incumbent Rob Wilson and challenger Pamela Huston are running for Place 1. Huston was not present for the forum and did not provide responses to questions from the league.

Wilson is an attorney who has lived in Llano County for 22 years. He has three children attending Llano High School and has spent nine years on the LISD board. He also has over 20 years of experience representing foster children and Child Protective Services in the legal system.

“What I want to do is build on the success that we’ve got and find new and innovative ways to give the children and the students the future that they deserve,” he said.

PLACE 5

Incumbent Dean Campbell and challengers Reed Norman and Penny Wimberly are running for Place 5. Campbell responded to questions from the league but was not present at the forum. Norman and Wimberly attended and took questions from the audience.

Norman graduated from Llano High School, served on the Marble Falls City Council for over 13 years, and describes himself as an entrepreneur with a mind for numbers. He coached student golfers and establish golfing programs at schools across the Highland Lakes.

“I failed the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth (grades), I was failing the sixth grade, and then I came to Llano and the teachers believed in me,” he said. “It still haunts me at 66 years old that I can’t spell and my grammar is bad, but I thank the Lord that I went to Llano Junior High and high school and I had teachers that pulled me out.”

Wimberly has lived in Llano County for over nine years, has taken in over 30 children through the foster care system, and is a court-appointed special advocate for CASA of the Highland Lakes Area. Her children went to Packsaddle Elementary School in Kingsland. She also served as a substitute teacher at Llano Junior High School and Llano High School.

“I will advocate to strengthen programs and resources for struggling students to help them reach their full potential,” she said. “I was that at-risk student and was blessed to be surrounded by a supporting community. Together, we can make a positive difference in the lives of our students.”

The LISD trustee candidates were asked 11 questions from the audience. DailyTrib.com staff chose to feature just four of the questions and the candidates’ responses in this story.

QUESTION 1

What do you think is the most serious or urgent issue facing Llano ISD in the next 10 years?

WIMBERLY: “I think growth is something that we’re really going to need to think about.”

Growth is coming, she said, especially in Kingsland. She mentioned that more planning and foresight would be required to prepare the district for a future Class 4A designation. Llano is currently in Class 3A.

WILSON: “It’s hard to predict 10 years out, but sustaining our success is what’s really on my mind.”

Wilson also named growth in the district, especially in Kingsland, as LISD’s greatest challenge. He noted that he and the other trustees have been addressing that growth through a $37 million bond passed in 2023, $15 million of which will go to improving Packsaddle Elementary.

NORMAN: “We need to stop paying the hierarchy and give that money to the teachers.”

Norman wants to make sure teachers can afford to work for LISD. He also said that the growing Hispanic population of Llano County would require bilingual teachers, and the district will have to plan for that.

QUESTION 2

What are your ideas for attracting new teachers to Llano ISD?

WILSON: “We are staffed up. We have had our superintendent for, I think, seven years now. Mason down the road is on their fourth superintendent in three or four years, but we’re stable. We take care of our teachers. We give them a raise every single year.”

Wilson believes the district is doing a good job of retaining teachers and attracting new ones. He also noted it has worked to place teachers in affordable housing and give them more days off.

Norman admitted it was difficult to give a strong answer to this question without seeing the numbers, but he did say providing teachers with district-owned housing was dangerous and could open a Pandora’s box of other public servants wanting the same accommodations.

He suggested tax incentives be used to attract new teachers, but that the district would have to be mindful of “pay compression,” which is when new hires are paid equal to or more than experienced employees.

Wimberly said, in her research, she saw that LISD teachers with five years of experience only made $1,000 per year more than teachers with one year of experience. She also said more bilingual teachers would be needed and that teachers living within the district should work in it and not travel to outside districts for employment.

QUESTION 3

What programs and actions will you push to address the needs of at-risk students?

WILSON: “LISD as a whole has around 65 percent of its students as what we call ‘economically disadvantaged.’ We’re well aware of those kids, and we take care of them every day.”

Norman said “at-risk” students were treated differently in the Marble Falls Independent School District and he would advocate for LISD’s at-risk students in similar situations.

Wimberly saw herself as an at-risk student while in school and said the teachers who believed in her made a big difference.

“I had teachers and staff at the school that took an interest in me and gave me grace and helped me through,” she said. “Our teachers need training that’s specific for these at-risk populations.”

QUESTION 4

Texas House Bill 900 requires sexually explicit materials be removed from school libraries. What policies and procedures can be enacted locally to ensure compliance?

Wilson said the district is already working to put policies in place by the measure’s January 2025 deadline. He noted that, to his knowledge, LISD school libraries did not have any material that falls under the “sexually explicit” description in the bill.

NORMAN: “If elected, I will go in there and find (any sexually explicit books) myself, and if they’re in there and if they’re not, I’m going to let Llano know.”

Norman said it was difficult to judge the situation without seeing for himself firsthand if LISD libraries contain sexually explicit books, but they should be removed if present.

WIMBERLY: “Our school board policy states that each work has to be reviewed in its entirety. We can streamline the process.”

Wimberly suggested removing books not routinely checked out by students that fit the description in HB 900. She also said the district could form a library book purchasing review committee that includes parents to ensure explicit books don’t end up in the libraries in the first place.

KMUD BOARD

Kingsland Municipal Utility District directors serve staggered four-year terms on a five-member board. Places 1 and 2 are up for election on May 4. Directors manage the policies and budgets of the district, which provides wastewater and other community services to a large portion of Kingsland.

Incumbent David Travers and challengers Lewis Young and Joshua Caropepe are running for Place 1. Place 2 incumbent Dianne Wolfington is running unopposed.

The KMUD candidates were asked nine questions from the audience. DailyTrib.com chose to profile the candidates by combining their introductions and their responses.

PLACE 1

Travers is a 25-year resident of Kingsland and has served on the KMUD board for nearly two years. He has a background in corporate leadership and worked for USAA for decades. He spent seven years as the chief operating officer of Farmers Insurance. 

“I have a strong background in finance, project management, strategic planning, and operations and have managed teams large and small throughout my professional career,” he said. “I feel good about where (KMUD) is going. I’m asking you to consider me to continue serving on this board, not because of who I am as an individual but because of the contribution I make to the team that is driving KMUD right now.”

He said KMUD’s greatest strength is its stable finances.

“I can assure you that (KMUD) is well capitalized, it has no debt, and it is efficiently run,” Travers said. “The growth that we’re facing is going to demand that we’re going to have to make significant investments to keep pace.”

Young has over 40 years of experience in utility infrastructure with an emphasis on the transportation and distribution of wastewater. He said his extensive knowledge of project management and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality guidelines make him uniquely qualified to sit on the KMUD board.

A large part of Young’s platform is promising that KMUD employees are well taken care of and the district’s customers are treated with respect.

He talked about how the Kingsland community came together after the 2018 flood that washed away the RM 2900 bridge. He was working for KMUD at the time and this event inspired him to run for the board.

Caropepe is a lifelong Kingsland resident who has worked in insurance and owns a boat rental company. He is married to Packsaddle Elementary School Principal Jennifer Caropepe, and their children attend the school. He said his experience managing his business and interacting with customers as well as his long-term relationships within the community make him an ideal candidate.

“I aim to leverage my leadership skills to guide strategic decisions, foster accountability, and preserve Kingsland’s traditions while ensuring its continued prosperity,” he said.

dakota@thepicayune.com