FEBRUARY 14 UPDATE:

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  We are past the 2/3 mark and going strong.  

Here is a link to the petition form that you can download and print out. Please follow the instructions back carefully!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w9xaKb7SOkZFyzq9Ao1V8zBJfPd3G_By/view?usp=sharing

 

FEBRUARY 5 UPDATE:

Great job everyone!  By last count, we are nearly halfway to our goal.

Please get the petition form into more hands and get out and collect  signatures. If you'd like to work together please contact me at CUSDSpecialElection2023@gmail.com

On January 19, 2023 the 4-member Claremont Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to appoint a Hilary LaConte to fill the vacancy for Area 4 Trustee resulting from the previous Trustee’s resignation for the term ending at the end of 2024.  In so doing, the Board exercised one of two options in had to fill the vacant seat, the other being by special election.
 
Voters have commented that the appointment process was cursory and lacked rigor, robustness and consensus.
 
The Education Code provides a way voters may demand a special election by petition following an appointment.  The petition must be signed by at least 1.5% of the registered voters (which in Trustee Area 4 amounts to 99 signatories.)  The petition must state the cost of the special election, presumably as calculated by the County Registrar-Recorder, which has been given by the same as $273,000 and the potential date of the election, which has been given as not later than 7/29/2023.
 
The leading cause of concern about the special election among voters is the exorbitant cost.  It was first indicated by CUSD Superintendent Elsasser, when the board chose an appointment process over an election process, and presumably one of the main reasons for their choice.
 
I received the current cost estimate from Allison Deegan (Deegan_Allison@lacoe.edu) who is the contact person in the LA County Office of Education (LACOE) designated by County Superintendent Debra Duardo’s (Duardo_Debra@lacoe.edu) office.  Ms. Deegan stated that the estimate came from the Registrar-Recorder’s office, but refused multiple requests to provide any further detail or contact information. I reached out to the Registrar to get additional information and have not yet received a response. There are indications the cost figure may be overstated. For example, the cost of a general election in our district is $43,000 according to the calculator on the Registrar’s website. Also, there is anecdotal evidence that elections in much larger districts are less costly.  I will continue to investigate the cost estimate and more generally the cost of holding elections and ask that the CUSD Board of Trustees and Superintendent’s Office do the same.
 
To grant citizens the right to an election, yet charge a prohibitive price for that election, is to not grant that right at all.   If the Registrar does indeed intend to charge the district $273,000 for the election, then that charge is likely illegal or unconstitutional.
 
All citizens 18 and over can participate in the collection of signatures.  If you are interested, I will send you a PDF of the petition template that you can print out.  As “circulator” you may collect signatures of voters registered in Trustee Area 4 and then sign the document with your own contact details, certifying that you have collected the signatures properly.  You will then return that physical sheet of paper to me. And I will add it to the stack of petitions that I will submit to LA County Superintendent Duardo on February 21.  Please email for more information:  cusdspecialelection2023@gmail.com
 
You may also sign my change.org petition (https://www.change.org/CUSDSpecialElection as a public show of support and a way for us to communicate.  As a signer, you will receive updates announcing time and place of signing opportunities.  To be clear, signing this petition DOES NOT mean you have signed the actual petition. 
 
Questions to the Registrar regarding the special election costs:
 
What is the actual cost of the election and how is that money is spent and how and to whom is it paid?
 
Is it simply transferred as a bulk payment to the Registrar’s office?
 
Does some portion of that money stay in the district in the form of salaries for temporary election workers?
 
Does holding the special election actually impact the amount of money that is available for educational services for our children?
 
The school board recently, elected to make an unexpected and presumably unbudgeted payment to an individual of approximately the same amount. Did that payment result in any reduction of services to our children?

 

The pertinent laws follow:

https://california.public.law/codes/ca_educ_code_section_5091

California Education Code

Sec. 5091

(a)(1)If a vacancy occurs, or if a resignation has been filed with the county superintendent of schools containing a deferred effective date, the school district or community college district governing board shall, within 60 days of the vacancy or the filing of the deferred resignation, either order an election or make a provisional appointment to fill the vacancy. A governing board member may not defer the effective date of his or her resignation for more than 60 days after he or she files the resignation with the county superintendent of schools.

(2)In the event that a governing board fails to make a provisional appointment or order an election within the prescribed 60-day period as required by this section, the county superintendent of schools shall order an election to fill the vacancy.

(b)When an election is ordered, it shall be held on the next established election date provided pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1000) of Division 1 of the Elections Code not less than 130 days after the order of the election.

(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 1 1/2 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 less than 2,000 registered voters, 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 established election date.

(3)For purposes of this section, “registered voters” means the following:

(A)If the district uses the at-large method of election, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 14026 of the Elections Code, registered voters of the entire school district or community college district.

(B)If the district uses district-based elections, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 14026 of the Elections Code, registered voters of the election district.

(d)A provisional appointment made pursuant to subdivision (a) confers all powers and duties of a governing board member upon the appointee immediately following his or her appointment.

(e)A person appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office only until the next regularly scheduled election for district governing board members that is scheduled 130 or more days after the effective date of the vacancy, whereupon an election shall be held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term. A person elected at an election to fill the vacancy shall hold office for the remainder of the term in which the vacancy occurs or will occur.

(f)(1)If a petition calling for a special election is circulated, the petition shall meet all of the following requirements:

(A)The petition shall contain the estimate of the elections official of the cost of conducting the special election.

(B)The name and residence address of at least one, but not more than five, of the proponents of the petition shall appear on the petition, each of which proponents shall be a registered voter of the school district or community college district, as applicable.

(C)None of the text or other language of the petition shall appear in less than six-point type.

(D)The petition shall be prepared and circulated in conformity with Sections 100 and 104 of the Elections Code.

(2)If any of the requirements of this subdivision are not met as to any petition calling for a special election, the county superintendent of schools shall not verify the signatures, nor shall any further action be taken with respect to the petition.

(3)No person shall permit the list of names on petitions prescribed by this section to be used for any purpose other than qualification of the petition for the purpose of holding an election pursuant to this section.

(4)The petition filed with the county superintendent of schools shall be subject to the restrictions in Section 6253.5 of the Government Code.

(g)Elections held pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) shall be conducted in as nearly the same manner as practicable as other governing board member elections.

 

https://ballotpedia.org/Section_100-106,_California_Elections_Code:_Petitions_and_petition_signers

 

Section 100-106, California Elections Code: Petitions and petition signers

Section 100-106 of the California Elections Code that is part of the laws governing the initiative process in California says:

 

Text

100

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any initiative, referendum, recall, nominating petition or paper, or any other petition or paper, is required to be signed by voters of any county, city, school district, or special district subject to petitioning, only a person who is an eligible registered voter at the time of signing the petition or paper is entitled to sign it. Each signer shall at the time of signing the petition or paper personally affix his or her signature, printed name, and place of residence, giving street and number, and if no street or number exists, then a designation of the place of residence which will enable the location to be readily ascertained. A space at least one inch wide shall be left blank after each name for the use of the elections official in verifying the petition or paper. The part of a petition for the voters' signatures, printed names, and residence addresses and for the blank spaces for verification purposes shall be numbered consecutively commencing with the number one and continuing through the number of signature spaces allotted to each section. The petition format shall be substantially in the following form:

 

Official Use Only

 

__________________________________________________________________

(Print Name) (Residence Address ONLY)

1. ____________________ ________________________ 

  (Signature) (City)

__________________________________________________________________

(Print Name) (Residence Address ONLY)

2. ____________________ ________________________

  (Signature) (City)

_____________________________________________________________

 

100.5

Notwithstanding Section 100, a voter who is unable to personally affix on a petition or paper the information required by Section 100 may request another person to print the voter's name and place of residence on the appropriate spaces of the petition or paper, but the voter shall personally affix his or her mark or signature on the appropriate space of the petition or paper, which shall be witnessed by one person by subscribing his or her name thereon.

 

101

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any state or local initiative petition required to be signed by voters shall contain in 12-point type, prior to that portion of the petition for voters' signatures, printed names, and residence addresses, the following language:

 

"NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

 

THIS PETITION MAY BE CIRCULATED BY A PAID SIGNATURE GATHERER OR A VOLUNTEER. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK."

 

102

A person who is a voter or who is qualified to register to vote in this state may circulate an initiative or referendum petition in accordance with this code. A person who is a voter may circulate a recall petition in accordance with this code.

 

103

Any voter who has signed an initiative, referendum or recall petition pursuant to the Constitution or laws of this state shall have his or her signature withdrawn from the petition upon filing a written request therefore with the appropriate county elections official or city elections official prior to the day the petition is filed.

 

104

(a) Wherever any petition or paper is submitted to the elections official, each section of the petition or paper shall have attached to it a declaration signed by the circulator of the petition or paper, setting forth, in the circulator's own hand, the following:

 

(1) The printed name of the circulator.

(2) The residence address of the circulator, giving street and

number, or if no street or number exists, adequate designation of residence so that the location may be readily ascertained.

 

(3) The dates between which all the signatures to the petition or

paper were obtained.

 

(b) Each declaration submitted pursuant to this section shall also set forth the following:

 

(1) That the circulator circulated that section and witnessed the

appended signatures being written.

 

(2) That according to the best information and belief of the

circulator, each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.

 

(c) The circulator shall certify to the content of the declaration as to its truth and correctness, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, with the signature of his or her name at length, including given name, middle name or initial, or initial and middle name. The circulator shall state the date and the place of execution on the declaration immediately preceding his or her signature.

 

105

For purposes of verifying signatures on any initiative, referendum, recall, nomination, or other election petition or paper, the elections official shall determine that the residence address on the petition or paper is the same as the residence address on the affidavit of registration. If the addresses are different, or if the petition or paper does not specify the residence address, or, in the case of an initiative or referendum petition, if the information specified in Section 9020 is not contained in the petition, the affected signature shall not be counted as valid.

 

Any signature invalidated pursuant to this section shall not affect the validity of other valid signatures on the particular petition or paper.

 

106

Notwithstanding any other provision of law:

 

(a) Any registered voter who is a candidate for any office may obtain signatures to and sign his or her own nomination papers. The candidate's signature shall be given the same effect as that of any other qualified signer.

 

(b) Any person engaged in obtaining signatures to the nomination papers of a candidate for any office or to any recall, initiative or referendum petition, may, if otherwise qualified to sign the papers or petition, sign the papers or petition. The signature of the person shall be given the same effect as that of any other qualified signer.