When Ben Allen was elected to California State Senate in November and resigned his seat on the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education, a tidal wave of speculation and contention arose over who would be appointed to fill his vacancy.
On Thursday, the six current board members finally meet and try to decide who gets the seat.
Out of 10 applicants, three come from Malibu: Jennifer deNicola, Larry Droeger and David Hays. Of the remaining seven applicants from Santa Monica, three are candidates who lost the November election: Patricia Finer, Dhun May and incumbent Ralph Mechur.
It’s these applications for a placement on the board that have stirred up the most controversy in Malibu, where many think their loss in the election was a clear sign constituents do not want to see them on the board in 2015.
“From my point of view, it’s crystal clear that the voters have had an opportunity to put those people on the board and they chose not to,” said School Board Member Craig Foster, who won the election in November that ousted Mechur.
Mechur, who came in fifth place last November, disagreed with Foster, stating that he felt he had “broad based” support, both from other board members and the community, and was very close to winning his November re-election campaign.
“The fact that the race was so close, there was really little difference between the last three or four candidates, there was a lot of support for me to continue on the board,” Mechur told The Malibu Times.
Mechur added that he didn’t feel there was a conflict if the sitting board appoints him following his loss in the campaign.
“I’m confident I had as much support as people who were elected, and … I don’t think there’s a conflict of any kind,” Mechur said.
Many in the Malibu community, however, feel that Mechur would be a disservice and not represent all interests equally. He was especially criticized on the campaign trail last October when he stated, “I have a problem though with people speaking in large politics about issues but yet their main effort is to create this separate, rich, 90 percent white district that won’t have to deal with any of these issues,” during a Board of Education candidate debate hosted by The Committee for Racial Justice.
“An egregiously divisive and disingenuous attempt to gain votes while hurling racially bias accusations at Malibu efforts to create a Malibu District is despicable,” reader Kristina Kell wrote in a letter to the editor in October.
In response to the controversy, Mechur said that his statement was taken out of context.
“What people assumed what I was saying about Malibu is not true,” Mechur contended, “It’s a great community.”
Foster, who lives in Malibu and also serves as the president of Advocates for Malibu Public Schools (AMPS), said that appointing another Malibu candidate could be beneficial for residents of both cities, but there are several excellent candidates running.
“There are great Malibu candidates running and whether those candidates are elected or not, I’m sure whoever is appointed will include Malibu’s needs and everything that they’re thinking about in terms of making this district the best it can be,” Foster said.
deNicola, one of the founders of Malibu Unites (now known as America Unites), agreed with Foster that Mechur, Finer and May were defeated for a reason.
“I think what the people voted for is change,” said deNicola, “I hope the current board, when they vote for a new candidate, takes that into consideration because they’re supposed to be the voice of the people.”
When the current School Board meets on Thursday evening, they will interview and then vote on the 10 applicants, with a final outcome of 4-2 needed for a new member to be elected.
One thing Foster, Mechur and deNicola agreed on was that the outcome of Thursday’s vote is anyone’s guess.
“I think it’s very open-ended at this point and there’s a lot of possibilities,” Foster said.
Mechur agreed.
“I think board members in general are being true to the process of reviewing the applications and certainly talking to people, but they will not make their final decisions until they vote on Thursday,” he said.
According to Supt. Sandra Lyon’s office, there is a pathway for discontented community members to petition for a change in the School Board, should they be unhappy with who the board selects.
Board bylaws dictate that voters may file “a petition calling for a special election… in the office of the County Superintendent within 30 days of the provisional appointment.” Should voters take this step, the special election could cost upwards of $200,000 by some estimates.
“This is a huge responsibility because we’re doing for the voters what they should be able to do for themselves… however, the cost for an election is prohibitive,” Foster said.
