EAST ALDINE DISTRICT: Lucio appointed new Board Member; Wiley retires

Luis Lucio, Lone Star College - East Aldine Dean, is congratulated on his appointment by Carlos Silva, vicechair of the East Aldine Management District board.
Luis Lucio, Lone Star College – East Aldine Dean, is congratulated on his appointment by Carlos Silva, vice-chair of the East Aldine Management District board.

By Gilbert Hoffman

At their monthly board meeting last Tuesday evening, the East Aldine District received the resignation of its chairman, Joyce Wiley, and also moved to fill one of the two open positions by appointing Luis Lucio to the board.

Lucio is a life-long member of the Aldine community, and serves as dean of the Lone Star College – East Aldine campus.

LSC-EA’s dean is Dr. Luis Alfredo Lucio. Himself a native of Aldine and a graduate of MacArthur High School, Lucio launched his career in education right out of high school, when he worked as a paraprofessional, or classroom assistant, at Aldine’s Gus A. Oleson Elementary School. After graduating from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor of arts in academic studies with concentrations in bilingual education and Spanish, Lucio went on to get his Master’s from the same school in education in educational leadership with a concentration in school administration. (Along the way Lucio also banged out some core credits at Lone Star College — North Harris County.) From there it was on to the University of Houston, where Lucio earned his doctorate in education in educational leadership.

Lucio’s professional CV includes stints as a senior recruiter for teacher recruitment and talent acquisition for HISD, a position he filled while simultaneously serving as an adjunct professor of bilingual-dual language education at the University of St. Thomas. Before that, Lucio was principal of Aldine’s Inez Carroll Elementary.

On announcing the appointment, Executive Director Richard Cantu welcomed Luis and said the board looked forward to his expertise and knowledge of Aldine.

Joyce Wiley, retires as Board Chair EAMD.

Joyce Wiley submitted a letter of resignation to the board at the meeting, citing health reasons. She has been elected to the board chairmanship last year, to fill the position held by Gerald Overturff. Joyce had been a board member since the inception of the District in 2001, and board vice-chair Carlos Silva expressed the District’s appreciation for her long service, and said she will be missed.

The East Aldine Management District board of directors elected community pioneer Joyce Wiley as its chairwoman on July 20, 2021, making her only the third top leader of the District since its creation in 2001. Wiley succeeded Gerald Overturff, who died in 2021. The original board president, and East Aldine District founder was Clyde Bailey.

I am so honored to have worked with you and be working with you to make progress in this community. It’s like a whole new world in East Aldine,” Wiley told the board at the time.

Wiley was a life-long resident of Aldine, and an early proponent of the business chamber. Later she worked with those who wanted a new management district, to improve the quality of life in the Aldine area.

Wiley worked for 18 years in community relations and outreach for Lone Star College-North Harris. She recalled working more than a decade ago on the federally funded Aldine Weed and Seed task force aimed at “weeding out” crime and “seeding” strong, healthy families with at-risk youth. She also worked for the Northeast News and North Forest News for 11 years.