Movement Afoot To Force Special Election In Anaheim Union High School District

A grass-roots movement is afoot to force a special election to fill the seat the late Denise Mansfield-Reinking held on the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees.

Readers may ask themselves, "Didn't the trustees appoint Harald Martin to fill that vacancy?"

The answer is "yes" -- and hence the effort to force the Trustees to rescind that appointment and hold a special election instead. (it should be noted that Trustee Anna Peircy opposed Martin's appointment).

Organizers must obtain the signatures of 10% of AUHSD's registered voters -- about 2,500 signatures. It's my understanding veteran local consultant Dennis Desnoo is advising the organizers of this effort.

Good for them. The appointment of Harald Martin was travesty. AUHSD voters decisively rejected Martin 2002 (when he was the incumbent) and in 2006. They observed Martin as a trustee and clearly found him wanting. For the AHUSD trustee to ignore the clearly discernible will of the voters like that is astonishing and contemptuous of their constituents.

Not to mention Martin's biggest cheerleader is Trustee Thomas Holguin, whose judgment can't be judged as the best since he was asleep at the switch while tens of millions in school bond money was squandered.

I think Holguin and Co. have stepped in a hornet's nest and this special election will qualify. If the responsible parties on the AUHSD Board had any political smarts -- and that's assuming a lot -- they'd un-appoint Martin and vote to hold the special election themselves.

Comments

Jubal:

I spoke to Dennis DeSnoo about this earlier today and your post is exactly correct. This movement is just getting started, but with the sheer audacity of the action appointing Martin, I an, like you, confident the effort will succeed.

I'm told that the effort to force the special election will be quite broad-based. After all, whether your interest in AUHSD comes from the perspective of a fiscal watchdog, a Latino-activist, or concerned parent, you have plenty to be worried about with AUHSD. The bone-headed appoinment of Harald Martin just shows how out of touch most of the trustees (except Anna Pearcy) are.

Jeff

[redperegrine]

This is all very confusing. Can the Board "un-appoint" someone? If they can, how can the voters "force" the Board to rescind the appointment?

[Jeff Flint]

Dennis told me there is some provision in the code to allow this type of petition. I was not aware of it myself but I am sure Dennis did the homework before launching the effort. Perhaps it is simply a referendum of the appointment like any other referendum action?

[redperegrine]

Would a replacement election be held at the same time, as in recalls?

[Jeff Flint]

No, my understanding is that is is NOT a recall. The appointment of Harald Martin is rescinded and a special election is called.

[redperegrine]

I guess I understand, but it seems strange that gathering a mere 2500 signatures can force an elected body to rescind something.

Without commenting on Martin's qualifications it seems like too easy a veto. As we've heard lots of time on this Blog we are representative democracy - not a pure democracy. Isn't this the equivalent of ballot box zoning?

[rebecca]

My son goes to school in AUHSD. Where do I sign up? (And yes, I'd call that pretty "broad-based.")

[Bladerunner]

Sign me up for that "broad-based" effort....

[Hard Headed]

Wouldn't the petitions force an election to overturn the appointment and then potentially creating a subsequent special election.

I guess the goal is to qualify the referrendum "forcing" the board to un-appoint Harald before the referrendum goes through. But what if they don't, would there be two elections.

In that case, depending on the number of signatures required, it almost seems like a recall would make more sense.

[colony rabble]

Jordan Brandman talked me into trusting the public schools with my youngest, he starts high school in the fall. (the others had been privately educated) where do I sign up to help overturn that ridiculous decision? I've been getting lots of experience lately collecting signatures from residents angry about the decisions of their elected officials. Let's go!

[One Who Knows]

It definitely could not be a recall because an official must have held office for at least 90 days before anyone can subject him or her to a recall proceeding.

Rather than our all just guessing, can we simply ask Dennis to post something letting us all know what he's doing procedurally?

Dennis? It's your turn.

[Dennis DeSnoo]

As most of you know, I don't usually participate in these blog discussions, but this is a serious issue that forces me to break my rules. (Just this once.) Ok, here's my first and last post.

This process is unique to school boards and is part of the Education Code.

If the coalition submits approximate 2,500 valid signatures by mid August the appointment of Martin is canceled. He is off the board.

The board must then call an election to fill the vacancy created when the old board member, Denise Mansfield-Reiking, passed away. They can not appoint anyone else, they can only call the election.

FYI, the coalition petition will be available in the next 24 hours.

Look for someone else to post more information.

Dennis ( or your apointed spokesperson) When and where can we get started on this effort? I am more than happy to get in on this and call out all my volunteers to put our feet on the street to get the needed signatures.

Please fill us in on how we can get to work on this.
Paul

[colony rabble]

Same here. Many in the Anaheim Colony Historic District stand ready to support this.

The petitions will be available Friday, check back for a further post.
AUHSD Mom

[OCNative]

California Education Code 5091(c):
(c) (1) If a provisional appointment is made within the 60-day period, the registered voters of the district may, within 30 days from the date of the appointment, petition for the conduct of a special election to fill the vacancy. A petition shall be deemed to bear a sufficient number of signatures if signed by at least the number of registered voters of the district equal to 11/2 percent of the number of registered voters of the district at the time of the last regular election for governing board members, or 25 registered voters, whichever is greater. However, in districts with registered voters of less than 2,000 persons, a petition shall be deemed to bear a sufficient number of signatures if signed by at least 5 percent of the number of registered voters of the district at the time of the last regular election for governing board members.
(2) The petition shall be submitted to the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction who shall have 30 days to verify the signatures. If the petition is determined to be legally sufficient by the county superintendent of schools, the provisional appointment is terminated, and the county superintendent of schools shall order a special election to be conducted no later than the 130th day after the determination. However, if an established election date, as defined in Section 1000 of the Elections Code, occurs between the 130th day and the 150th day following the order of the election, the county superintendent of schools may order the special election to be conducted on the regular election date.