How We Got Here: SaveSBISD, Brian Muecke, and the Fight for Honest Elections in Spring Branch ISD

Dear Spring Branch ISD community,

I am Matthew Cone, a parent, volunteer, and advocate committed to restoring integrity to our school district since my 2024 campaign for the SBISD Board of Trustees. I publish this record because governance failures, budget pressure, declining enrollment, and accountability gaps undermine the trust parents and taxpayers are owed.

The administration reports to the Board of Trustees. The Board represents you. When insiders intimidate or sideline trustees, they silence elected voices. When bond money moves without proper oversight, they bypass checks meant to protect public funds. When processes are used to tilt elections, they attack your right to a fair democratic process in our schools.

The beginning: an anonymous smear campaign

My decision to run for the Board in 2024 was driven by a desire to serve. I was not prepared for the tactics that followed. An anonymous website, SaveSBISD.org, published a vicious smear campaign against my candidacy — defamatory claims designed to intimidate and poison the information environment.

Investigation showed SaveSBISD had operated since June 2021 as an unregistered political committee: yard signs without required “Paid for by” disclosures, mass text messages to thousands of voters urging a “vote no,” and other activity that Texas campaign finance law requires to be reported. The conduct implicated Texas Election Code §§ 252.001, 253.031, and 255.001, among other provisions.

While political interference consumed oxygen in the community, TEA accountability declines and a district “C” rating formed part of the educational backdrop — including Memorial High School’s drop from an “A” to a “B” in published report cards. Political games distract from classrooms. That is the point of this record.

Unmasking the operator: Brian Muecke

In August 2024 I filed Matthew Cone v. John Doe, Cause No. 2024-52944, in the 189th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. After months of litigation, attorneys at Scheef & Stone, LLP used subpoenaed records to identify the operator: Brian Muecke — former Mayor of Hedwig Village and self-described “Director of the Villages Intelligence Agency.”

What made the identification especially serious is that Muecke was already known in district circles as co-chair of the SBISD School Finance Advocacy Team — a position of community trust — while simultaneously funding and running the SaveSBISD operation. Subpoenaed financial records showed he funded SaveSBISD activities from June 2021 to June 2024 with his personal credit card.

Separately, Network Solutions account records for the Save SBISD registrar account list Brian Muecke as the Primary user, organization Save SBISD, and email savesbisd@gmail.com, with payment methods in his name. Redacted public copies are posted on The Record — Primary sources.

He did not act alone. Publicly documented associations and records identify others involved in related smear and campaign activity, including David Slattery as a candidate and Jessica Colon, Ashley Zahn, and Emily Sperandio in supporting roles.

Broader governance: leaks, intimidation, and Open Meetings concerns

The problems extended beyond an anonymous website.

On October 26, 2023, a private text message from Trustee John Perez to Superintendent Jennifer Blaine was leaked. The same information was allegedly passed to Muecke and Sperandio and used in an effort to intimidate Trustee Perez. Board Trustee Courtney Anderson is alleged to have read the text aloud to parents later that afternoon in a private meeting convened to influence a vote. These actions raise serious questions under the Texas Open Meetings Act (Gov’t Code § 551.001 et seq.) and laws governing misuse of confidential district information, including protections that can apply to administrator evaluations under Educ. Code § 21.355.

Muecke and Sperandio have claimed the texts came through a Public Information Act request. The timeline contradicts a lawful pre-ruling release. Sperandio’s PIA request (ID# 23-097524 / GB ID SBISD/Sperandio 23-225) was received by the district around late October 2023 — at or after the October 26 incident. The district sought an Attorney General ruling on November 7, 2023. The AG’s decision, OR2024-003486 (January 31, 2024), partially allowed withholding under Gov’t Code §§ 552.101 (with Educ. Code § 21.355), 552.111, and 552.117(a)(1), and required release of remaining information. No responsive information could properly have been released before that ruling. That sequence is consistent with an insider leak, not a completed PIA process.

Bond Oversight and family ties

Brian Muecke’s wife, Jeannette Muecke, has served on the SBISD 2017 Bond Oversight Committee since its inception, overseeing expenditure of approximately $848.6 million from the 2017 bond and participating in 2022 bond oversight efforts — a combined total exceeding $1.3 billion in public funds.

Her failure to disclose that her husband was operating an unregistered political committee that actively influenced district elections and governance during her tenure raises significant conflict-of-interest and impartiality concerns, including under frameworks such as Texas Local Government Code Chapter 176 (disclosure of certain family relationships), ethics expectations for advisory volunteers, and district policies that demand recusal and transparency when public trust is at stake. Taxpayers funding bond programs deserve oversight free from the appearance of impropriety.

Audits and the Whitley Penn questions

Despite documented internal-control and governance red flags — including alleged leaks of confidential information and questions about bond spending authorization — Whitley Penn issued an unmodified (“clean”) audit opinion for SBISD’s fiscal year 2024. That presentation to the Board (November 17, 2025) claimed no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies of the kind the public would expect to see discussed alongside these risks.

I have submitted a formal complaint to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy regarding Whitley Penn’s work and separately wrote the firm seeking an explanation of how related-party, governance, and control risks were evaluated. Full texts: open letter to Whitley Penn and TSBPA complaint.

The TEC investigation

On June 2, 2025, a Texas Ethics Commission complaint was filed against Muecke and SaveSBISD: SC-32505243. The matter advanced to a preliminary review hearing under Government Code § 571.125, noticed for December 10, 2025, in Austin. Allegations under review include failure to appoint a campaign treasurer (§ 252.001), accepting contributions and making expenditures without a treasurer (§ 253.031), failure to file required campaign finance reports, and failure to include disclosure statements on political advertising (§ 255.001). Statutory frameworks provide for significant civil penalties and, in some circumstances, further referral.

Muecke was required to preserve records and respond within the TEC’s timelines. Attendance at board meetings and continued access to district finance advocacy platforms while that process was pending only sharpened community concern about influence and conflict.

What the Board should do

I have urged the SBISD Board of Trustees to:

• Issue a public statement addressing Muecke’s role with SaveSBISD and the documented pattern of intimidation.
• End any special access or co-chair role for Muecke on School Finance Advocacy Team activities beyond that of any parent.
• Protect trustees and community members from coercion.
• Support independent scrutiny of bond spending and internal controls where conflicts and unauthorized expenditures have been alleged.

Why this matters

Anonymous defamation is not accountability. Shadow PACs are not “community debate.” When a trusted finance insider funds illegal political activity while family members sit on bond oversight, and when confidential board communications appear outside lawful process, the harm falls on candidates, trustees, parents — and ultimately students.

This site exists so people searching my name, SaveSBISD, or these case numbers find documented facts — not anonymous garbage.

Full case summary and timeline: The Record.
Take action: Email the Board.

God bless America, and God bless Spring Branch.

In the fight for transparency and accountability,
Matthew Cone
November 20, 2025
Matt@MatthewTCone.com · matthewtcone.com