Lake Highlands Advocate Reports on First Hispanic Trustee Elected in Richardson ISD After Brewer Storefront Voting Rights Case
On July 27, 2020, The Lake Highlands Advocate reported that Debbie Rentería was sworn in as the first ever Hispanic trustee on the Richardson Independent School District (RISD) Board of Trustees in May.
Rentería represents majority-minority District 3, which was created after a Brewer Storefront Voting Rights Act lawsuit was brought on behalf of plaintiff and former RISD board member David Tyson. The Storefront is the community service legal affiliate of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.
A settlement reached with RISD established a new election system including five single member districts, of which two districts are minority “opportunity” districts. Regina Harris, who is African American, was elected to the District 4 opportunity district in November 2019.
“When I saw that Debbie Rentería didn’t draw an opponent – and I don’t mean this to sound biblical – I said, ‘It is finished. My part is finished. We’ve achieved what we sought,” Tyson told the Advocate. “What we wanted was opportunity for people of color to feel comfortable running.”
Lake Highlands Advocate Profiles Pro Bono Work by William Brewer
The Lake Highlands Advocate published a profile on October 10, 2018, of Partner William Brewer and his pro bono work through the Brewer Storefront, the community service legal affiliate of the firm. The article noted that the Storefront has prevailed in many voting rights lawsuits.
Brewer also discussed the most recent voting rights lawsuit brought by the Storefront, challenging the at-large election system used to elected the Richardson Independent School District Board of Trustees in North Texas.
“Our track record is that we don’t bring cases just to harass,” Brewer told the Advocate. “We bring cases where we believe change is needed and because we’ve done legal factual research.”