School board races are unlikely to be heavily contested
An especially spirited contest for the two City Council seats now held by Ken Ryan and Keri Wilson is likely to overshadow the selection of six trustees for the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District and the North Orange County Community College District.
The council and school trustee positions will appear on the Nov. 7 election ballot if the incumbents draw challengers during the July 17 through Aug. 11 filing period. If only incumbents file, the current office-holders automatically will be appointed to new terms.
In the school board races, the lack of controversial issues and the difficulty of financing a challenge to incumbents in districts that include a large number of voters in several cities usually result in low profile or cancelled contests.
Current board president Karin Freeman and vice president Jan Wagner are expected to file in the 45-square mile Placentia-Yorba Linda district, home to about 27,000 students.
Freeman will be seeking a fifth four-year term. She was a member of the old Yorba Linda elementary school board, who was appointed a unified trustee when the districts merged in 1989. She’s won election four times since, usually by wide margins.
Wagner will seek a third term. A former leader of the district’s educational foundation, she lost her first run for office in 1996, but won two years later and again in 2002.
At last count, the kindergarten through 12th grade district had 86,145 voters in five cities, including 40,323 who reside in Yorba Linda. If Freeman and Wagner attract opponents, the teachers union, the Association of Placentia-Linda Educators, probably will endorse them and perhaps provide financial support for their campaigns.
An even tougher nut for challengers to crack is the community college board, which oversees 20,000 students at Fullerton College, 13,000 at Cypress College and 35,000 in the School of Continuing Education. The district’s nearly 400,000 voters are spread throughout 18 cities entirely or partly within the district’s 155-square-mile service area.
Usually, trustees are first appointed to their positions by the other board members and then run in the next election as incumbents. Three of the four trustees scheduled for the November ballot took this route, including Yorba Lindans Jeff Brown and Mike Matsuda.
Brown and Matsuda represent Area 3, which includes Brea and Placentia-Yorba Linda unified school districts and La Habra City and Lowell Joint elementary school districts. Also up for election are Barbara Dunsheath, appointed August 2005, and Donna Miller.
The college trustees must reside in the area they represent, but they are elected by voters district-wide. A well-financed challenger did beat an appointed incumbent back in 1990.
Brown was appointed in March 2002, won election in November 2002 and could face voters a second time this November, while Matsuda was appointed in August 2005 and would face voters the first time in November--if opponents file to run against them.
A FINAL NOTE
Council candidates file at Yorba Linda City Hall and school and Yorba Linda Water District contenders at the county Registrar of Voters, 1300 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana.
Aspirants shouldn’t wait until the last minute, since there’s some paperwork, including signature gathering for council positions. The Aug. 11 deadline is extended to Aug. 16 for challengers if an incumbent does not file.
The council and school trustee positions will appear on the Nov. 7 election ballot if the incumbents draw challengers during the July 17 through Aug. 11 filing period. If only incumbents file, the current office-holders automatically will be appointed to new terms.
In the school board races, the lack of controversial issues and the difficulty of financing a challenge to incumbents in districts that include a large number of voters in several cities usually result in low profile or cancelled contests.
Current board president Karin Freeman and vice president Jan Wagner are expected to file in the 45-square mile Placentia-Yorba Linda district, home to about 27,000 students.
Freeman will be seeking a fifth four-year term. She was a member of the old Yorba Linda elementary school board, who was appointed a unified trustee when the districts merged in 1989. She’s won election four times since, usually by wide margins.
Wagner will seek a third term. A former leader of the district’s educational foundation, she lost her first run for office in 1996, but won two years later and again in 2002.
At last count, the kindergarten through 12th grade district had 86,145 voters in five cities, including 40,323 who reside in Yorba Linda. If Freeman and Wagner attract opponents, the teachers union, the Association of Placentia-Linda Educators, probably will endorse them and perhaps provide financial support for their campaigns.
An even tougher nut for challengers to crack is the community college board, which oversees 20,000 students at Fullerton College, 13,000 at Cypress College and 35,000 in the School of Continuing Education. The district’s nearly 400,000 voters are spread throughout 18 cities entirely or partly within the district’s 155-square-mile service area.
Usually, trustees are first appointed to their positions by the other board members and then run in the next election as incumbents. Three of the four trustees scheduled for the November ballot took this route, including Yorba Lindans Jeff Brown and Mike Matsuda.
Brown and Matsuda represent Area 3, which includes Brea and Placentia-Yorba Linda unified school districts and La Habra City and Lowell Joint elementary school districts. Also up for election are Barbara Dunsheath, appointed August 2005, and Donna Miller.
The college trustees must reside in the area they represent, but they are elected by voters district-wide. A well-financed challenger did beat an appointed incumbent back in 1990.
Brown was appointed in March 2002, won election in November 2002 and could face voters a second time this November, while Matsuda was appointed in August 2005 and would face voters the first time in November--if opponents file to run against them.
A FINAL NOTE
Council candidates file at Yorba Linda City Hall and school and Yorba Linda Water District contenders at the county Registrar of Voters, 1300 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana.
Aspirants shouldn’t wait until the last minute, since there’s some paperwork, including signature gathering for council positions. The Aug. 11 deadline is extended to Aug. 16 for challengers if an incumbent does not file.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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