Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District revises public comment policy; Donald Trump's vote in district's five trustee areas

 

Trustees of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District have made several revisions to a 47-year-old bylaw regarding public comments at meetings, with one section focusing on an expectation that speakers will abide by the board's “civility policy,“ adopted in 1998.

First reading of the revised bylaw was approved on a 5-0 vote at an Oct. 11 meeting, and the second (final) reading is expected at a Nov. 15 session. The bylaw was adopted in 1975 and revised eight times, the latest in 2012.

The revision comes at a time when the number of speakers at the board's regularly scheduled meetings has ranged from 11 to 54 per session, up from a pre-pandemic average of four to six per meeting.

The largest number of speakers came at an April 5 meeting, when 53 individuals opined on a proposed ban on teaching critical race theory and one person spoke on Teacher Appreciation Week.

Recent speakers include 12 in October, 22 in September, 20 in August, 12 in July, 12 and 6 at June meetings, 11 in May, 32 in March and 46 in February. January meetings were adjourned early due to audience members violating state regulations regarding mask wearing.

The civility policy, according to the bylaw revision, “promotes mutual respect, civility and orderly conduct among district employees, parents and the public” and isn't “intended to deprive any person of his/her right to freedom of expression....”

A significant addition to the bylaw states: “While comments on non-agenda items are allowed, comments related to an agenda item will have priority if time does not permit all comments to be made.”

Another addition says: “The number of minutes allowed for each speaker shall be determined by the number of speakers who submit their names prior to the beginning of public comment.”

From one through 10 speakers will be allotted three minutes each, 11 through 15 speakers two minutes each, 16 through 30 speakers 1.5 minutes each and 31 or more speakers one minute each.

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Some 45,000 registered voters are eligible to select two Placentia-Yorba Linda school trustees in Nov. 8 balloting to take office Dec. 13. In Area 4, incumbent Karin Freeman is challenged by Todd Frazer and Steve Slawson, and in Area 5, incumbent Carrie Buck faces Richard Ingle.

High voter participation is expected in both contests, based on 2020's turnout. Area 4 saw 91% of 21,779 registered voters cast ballots, while the Area 5 turnout was 89.1% of 21,462 registered voters.

Interestingly, Donald Trump won Area 4 by 2,679 votes and Area 5 by 56 votes. Area 4 includes Esperanza and Yorba Linda high schools, and Area 5 includes El Camino and Valencia high schools.

Areas 1, 2 and 3 are slated for the 2024 ballot. In 2020, Trump won the district's northwest Area 1 (Shawn Youngblood's seat) by 268 votes and east Area 3 (Leandra Blades' seat) by 3,865 votes. Joe Biden won southwest Area 2 (Marilyn Anderson's seat) by 3,143 votes.

Deadlines for write-in candidates approach, how some write-ins succeed

 

Voters who've perused their sample ballots for the Nov. 8 election and are unhappy with the choices listed for the non-partisan races for City Council and school and water boards have an opportunity to expand the fields by registering as write-in candidates.

Deadline to file a Statement of Write-in Candidacy with the county Registrar of Voters, 1300 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana, is 5 p.m. Oct. 25. Requirements include being a registered voter age 18 or older, but no fees or petition signatures are needed to file a statement.

Write-in candidacies are not accepted for contests in which the top two candidates from the June primary advanced to next month's general election, leaving council member, school trustee, water director, county schools superintendent and a judicial slot open to write-ins.

The county only tabulates write-in votes for candidates who've filed a statement. But in 1967 six write-ins were counted in Yorba Linda's first council election for five seats: Frank Sinatra, Cacus (sic) Clay, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Billy Barty and Nellie Smith.

Of course, write-in candidates face long odds – if they hope to actually win. Most of the listed candidates have filed campaign statements that were mailed with sample ballots, and they've paid for signs, mailers and automated phone calls.

But there are other reasons to seek write-in status. Two write-in candidates ran in the newly redrawn 59^th Assembly District in the June primary because six-year incumbent Phillip Chen was the only candidate to file for the two-year position.

Under the state's “top two” legislation, one of the two write-ins advanced to the Nov. 8 ballot. Leon Sit, a 19-year-old North Tustin resident and UCLA engineering student, won 551 votes, besting Libertarian Party official David Naranjo, who tallied 58 votes.

Republican Chen's count was 75,555 or 99.2% of the vote in the district that now includes Brea, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, North Tustin, Chino Hills and portions of Fullerton, Anaheim, Orange and Chino.

Sit is taking his candidacy seriously: he's adopted a platform, built a website and paid some $1,000 to have his candidate statement mailed to voters with election materials. The district is 39.4% Republican, 32.7% Democratic and 27.9% others and no party preference.

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Residents who miss the Oct. 24 deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election can register as a conditional voter from Oct. 25 through Nov. 8 to cast a provisional ballot.

Conditional registrations are taken at the Santa Ana registrar's office or at any of the vote centers listed on the county ocvote.com website. Voters can also check the status of their registrations at the site.

New citizens also can register to vote from Oct. 25 through Nov. 8 by providing proof of citizenship and declaring California residency. New citizen ballots are processed at the same time as vote-by-mail ballots.