Geronimo Rodriguez Jr. named to fill vacant trustee spot
Austin school district trustees Monday night unanimously voted to appoint Seton Healthcare Family executive Geronimo Rodriguez Jr. to a vacant seat on the 9-member board.
Rodriguez was immediately sworn in and joined other board members within minutes of the vote.
“I’m ready to serve,” Rodriguez told the American-Statesman in an interview prior to the meeting. “My focus has always been how do we make sure we graduate every individual college- and career-ready.”
Rodriguez is Seton’s chief advocacy officer and former vice president of diversity and community outreach.
Rodriguez, 48, has extensive local and national reach, with a long list of service and policy roles on various boards. He is completing his term this month as a board member at the National Parent Teacher Association, has served on multiple Austin district bond advisory committees and has served as chairman of Leadership Austin and the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Rodriguez, a lawyer, also worked with the Clinton administration, was Texas director for the John Kerry presidential campaign and served as an assistant to former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales.
The District 6 seat, vacated by former Trustee Paul Saldaña, represents South Austin, including Akins, Crockett and Travis high schools.
Saldaña’s departure left the board without a Hispanic representative, in a district that is madeupofmostlylow-income, Latino students. Multiple community leaders and politicians petitioned the board to forgo an election to fill the seat, and instead make an appointment, with preference for a Latino representative.
Two other candidates sought the appointment to the seat: Foundation Communities project director Alejandro Delgado and computer specialist Glen Shield.
Some trustees said the decision was difficult because all three were “strong candidates” and encouraged them to remain involved in the district and to consider running for the seat during an election.
Trustee Jayme Mathias said during the last decade he has watched Rodriguez’s leadership and contributions to the Austin community, particularly in areas of diversity and equity.
“As trustees, we received such widespread support for the appointment of Mr. Rodriguez,” Mathias said. “It’s a beautiful thing to see how so many members of our Austin community, from those on grass-root levels, to various positions in the establishment of wide-range organizations, (are) supportive of our appointment.”
Records show Rodriguez previously had an IRS lien of $106,000 against him, for which he said he’s “taken full responsibility” and said the issues are behind him.