List Of Potential School Board Candidates Set

Los Angeles CA

20 February, 2022

10:19 PM

Description

"Every election is determined by the people who show up." - Larry J. Sabato Prior to the 2020 election cycle, the pro-public education block of LAUSD School Board members held a four to three majority on the board. With all four of these seats the only ones that were before the voters, the pro-public school forces had to perform perfectly in the election. While the three incumbents all won, Tanya Ortiz-Franklin's win in the open Board District 7 election gave board members loyal to the California Charter School Association (CCSA) a majority. In this year's elections, the scenario is completely opposite. All three seats before the voters are held by pro-charter school board representatives. A loss of just one seat will change the balance of power on the board. Up until this week, we knew which potential candidates had registered with the Ethics Commission so that they could raise money for a campaign. When the filing window opened last Tuesday, anyone seeking to have their name on the ballot had to declare their intention with the Office of the City Clerk's Election Division. That window has now closed and we now know who will be gathering the required signatures so that they can officially enter the race: Board District 2: The boundaries of LAUSD Board District 2 are newly redrawn to accompany the heavily gerrymandered Board District 5. In fact, it is surrounded in three directions by its neighbor. It is also an open seat as Monica Garcia, who is the LAUSD's longest-serving current board member, is prevented by term limits from seeking reelection. The field of eight looking to replace her includes Jackie Goldberg's Education Policy Advisor, a former member of convicted felon Ref Rodriguez's staff, one of Garcia's opponents when she ran for city council, and a special education attorney making her second attempt at getting on the ballot. One of the candidates also had a direct role in drawing Board District 2's new boundaries. J. Benjamin Johnson Occupational Designation(1): Small Business OwnerEmail (2): [email protected] Site (3):?LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-benjamin-johnson-183b1a18b/ Maria Brenes Occupational Designation: Education Advocate/ParentEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.mariaforlaschools.com/LinkedIn:? Erica Vilardi-Espinosa Occupational Designation: Accountant / Community ActivistEmail: [email protected] Site: www.ericaforschoolboard.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/er... Miguel Angel Segura Occupational Designation: Public School TeacherEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.seguraforlausd.com...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mi... Rocio Rivas Occupational Designation: Education Policy AdvisorEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.drrivasforschoolbo...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ro... Miho Murai Occupational Designation: Educator/Activist/AttorneyEmail: [email protected]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihomurai/ Raquel Zamora Occupational Designation: Teacher/Counselor/MomEmail: [email protected] Site:?LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ra... Erika Viviana Ochoa Occupational Designation: MomEmail: [email protected] Site:?LinkedIn:? Board District 4: Instead of using the Santa Monica Mountains as a natural barrier or the 101 as an obvious reference point, this district extends from West Los Angeles into carefully drawn portions of the valley. After winning his seat in a dirty campaign against Steve Zimmer, Melvoin has ruled using methods that are sometimes ethically questionable. He has attracted three opponents, including a teacher who spoke out against vaccine mandates for teachers. Nick Melvoin Occupational Designation: Educator/School BoardmemberEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.nickmelvoin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ni... Gentille Barkhordarian Occupational Designation: Electrical Engineer/Mother Email: [email protected] Site:?LinkedIn:? Negar Nikgohar Nikgohar has withdrawn from the race. Tracey Schroeder Occupational Designation: LAUSD Teacher/ParentEmail: [email protected] Site:?LinkedIn:? Board District 6: With the exception of a boundary that crosses the 405 to include one high school, this board district almost makes sense. The constituents are represented by Kelly Gonez, who is currently the LAUSD Board President. Her first act as president was to ensure that the Parent Engagement and Special Education committees remained shut down. She also approved a contract for an organization for which she had a past affiliation. Her four opponents include a teacher and a Sergeant for the Los Angeles School Police Department. Kelly Gonez Occupational Designation: School Boardmember/EducatorEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.kellygonez.com/LinkedIn:? Marvin Rodriguez Occupational Designation: LAUSD Teacher/ParentEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.marvinrodriguez2022.com/ Benito B Bernal Occupational Designation: LAUSD Transportation SupervisorEmail: [email protected] Site:?LinkedIn:? Jess Arana Occupational Designation: Educator/Police SergeantEmail: [email protected] Site: https://www.jesus-arana.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/je... Jesie Balbuena Occupational Designation: Retired Businesswoman/MotherEmail: [email protected] Site:?LinkedIn:? The candidates listed above will have 25 days to collect 1,000 signatures (or 500 if they pay a $300 filing fee). If you live in one of the districts where an election will be held, please be nice to the signature gatherers. As a two-time former candidate, I found this to be the toughest part of the process. There is nothing wrong with refusing to sign for a candidate with whom you do not agree, but this can be done politely. Occupational Designations are written by the candidates and approved by the office of the City Attorney. Judging by some of the ones listed, they are not checked for accuracy. Email addresses are on file with the Ethics Commission and disclosed by the candidates. If a campaign website, LinkedIn address, or headshot was not available, an email was sent to the email address on file requesting this information. Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He is an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and serves as the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.