LETTER MICHAEL KELLER CIRCULATED BEFORE MY RUN-OFF ELECTION WITH GARRY WEISS:

When I first ran for the Katy ISD school board in 1990, I ran against Garry Weiss.  I had helped get him elected when he had run in 1987,  but after watching him for three years on the Board when he only ever voted AGAINST one thing of all the things that were put in front of him, I decided I needed to run for the school board to try to stop what he was doing.

I believed that he was only there to get business for his trash and dirt hauling business and to sell his land to the school district for the purpose of having schools built on it--thus enhancing the value of the land around the school--in my opinion. Also, his former sister-in-law essentially told me that. My opinion was that in essence he was another "vendor pimp" as we call them.

My opinions were borne out when soon after I finally got elected to the Board the next year in 1991, someone in the middle of the night, dropped on my doorstep all the files from the school district regarding the manner in which Mr. Weiss was able to obtain contracts from the District for trash hauling.  It appeared in the documents, that the district would ask for three bids, two from the biggest trash companies in Houston, and Mr. Weiss.  Of course Mr. Weiss' bid would come in low. 

Morton Ranch High School and Morton Ranch Junior High, among others, are KISD schools built on former Weiss land.

In order to defeat me, Mr. Weiss' board friends came to his aid.  Since it looked like I might defeat Mr. Weiss in a run off, the president of the Board, Michael Keller, on KISD Board stationery, wrote a letter to all of the people in Fleetwood, Barker's Landing, Thornwood, and Memorial Thicket, and it was placed illegally (no stamp!) in mailboxes in all those subdivisions.

Here is a copy of the letter:

Of course, when this letter came out the day before the election, there was nothing I could do about it, and I lost by 110 votes!  The newspapers didn't like that he had done that to me, and after the Harris County District Attorney chimed in on the matter, he apologized--but not to me.  Lot of good that did! Mr. Keller overstepped his bounds by writing an opinion letter to Katy citizens on school board stationery--and read on to see how he got around what he did!

KELLER OFFERS APOLOGY FOR CAMPAIGN LETTER

By Trish Johnson   May 23, 1990

Outgoing school board president J. Michael Keller, who last week authored a controversial letter in support of board incumbent Garry Weiss' campaign for re-election, offered an apology Monday to board members and district employees [BUT NOTICE, PLEASE, THAT HE DIDN'T APOLOGIZE TO ME!!!! MM]

"If, by my actions last week, I compromised any board member or the board, either as a whole, or individually, or Dr. Hayes, I am truly sorry," Keller said during Monday's called meeting of the Katy Independent School District (KISD) Board of Trustees.

Keller told board members his intent in writing and distributing the letter had been "with the best interest of the district in mind."

In a letter reportedly distributed in the Barker's Landing area, Keller supported Weiss' candidacy against that of Position #4 contender Mary McGarr, saying he believed "...Mr. Weiss' opponent will be a divisive influence that will set our district back years."

The letter was written under KISD letterhead which includes the names of each board member as well as the district's superintendent, although it was signed only by Keller. 

Keller also apologized "If I offended any board members or district superintendents by my remarks."

Keller said he used his personal office equipment to copy the letterhead and wrote the letter on the copy, thereby not using any district materials [and if you believe that....MM]

However, board vice-president Stanley Thompson said board members unanimously agreed the use of the letterhead was inappropriate.

"As vice president of the board I have individually polled the members of the board, [which wasn't done in public!] and the board unanimously feels the use of the KISD letterhead was inappropriate," Thompson said.  "I'd like to state he (Keller) acted individually and we, as a board, don't condone it." [Of course using the letterhead for this purpose was also illegal at the time. MM]

Weiss won re-election to the board with 1,333 votes to McGarr's 1,223 votes."

[Of note was the fact that I had caught Mr. Keller and the superintendent at a board meeting in El Paso, Texas trying to sell their ability to "set up an org chart for that school district" and making money off the deal. (My sister, who ironically lived in El Paso, had attended that Board meeting and told me about it.)  Through an open records request, I got all the paperwork for that deal. The thing was, Superintendent Hayes couldn't even set up a very good organization scheme in Katy ISD, in my opinion, much less in El Paso ISD, and it didn't look very good to me for the superintendent and the president of the KISD Board to be moonlighting together on the other side of Texas when the superintendent was supposed to be in Katy running OUR school district!]

**************************************************************

From the Houston Chronicle was this:

KATY ISD BOARD TRUSTEES RECEIVE AN APOLOGY

J. Michael Keller, outgoing president of the Katy Independent School District, said he apologized last week to his fellow trustees and school administrators if his endorsement of a board candidate compromised them.

Trustee Stanley Thompson said the board members agreed Keller's action was inappropriate.

Both actions occurred at the board's May 21 meeting.

Keller said he wrote a letter endorsing incumbent Garry Weiss in his runoff for Position 4 against Mary McGarr.  He said he made a copy of district stationery upon which he made his comments.

Thompson said, "It was just definitely a problem.  We knew the board had to take a stand.  I polled the board members.  Everyone felt the same way, including Mike.  Using stationery with the board letterhead to make a statement--it was inappropriate.  It was the unanimous feeling of the board - unanimous also means Michael."

Keller said he is aware of the campaign laws.  He said he drafted the letter to his subdivision neighbors because a number of new people have moved in.  He said he made copies of the stationery to let people [sic] he was on the school board.

He said the statements are his, and he did not mean to imply they were shared by the school board trustees or Superintendent Hugh Hayes.

"I regret if what I did compromised them in any way.  It wasn't my intent," Keller said.  "I wrote because I was truly concerned about things being said.  I believe in saying what I think.  My only regret is I may have compromised the board in some way.

[It is interesting to me that it was OK for Mr. Keller to "say what he thinks," but he didn't feel like I should have had that same right and opportunity!!!

If Mr. Weiss thought I was saying things that were untrue, he should have corrected me.  He did not, because I was telling things that were only factual.  Time has borne out the fact that I ALWAYS base what I say on the truth and the facts. Obviously neither Mr. Keller nor Mr. Weiss can say the same.]

"I wrote in the first person all comments.  I signed my name without my title [and never mind that it was on the letterhead!] I always use my title on official correspondence."

Keller said he did not distribute the letter, which was said to have been left in or on mailboxes [a Federal offense].  If they were in mailboxes, he said, that was not his instruction. [He never said exactly WHAT his instructions in this regard actually were, but obviously there were some!] He said he was unsure how many copies were distributed because of the mechanical process involved in reproducing the letter." [Anyone know what THAT statement might mean?]

[My friend who lived in the area said that Mr. Keller's wife and teenaged daughter were seen placing the flyers on mailboxes in his neighborhood. MM]