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The Dublin Unified School District is set to fill an expected vacancy for the Area 3 trustee seat by a provisional appointment in December, following a split vote on how to address the anticipated opening at a school board meeting last week.
The upcoming gap in leadership is a result of Jeff Clark’s resignation from the position in October. But because he announced his departure before even taking office, there is technically no vacancy until the organizational meeting where DUSD trustees are seated on Dec. 17, according to the meeting agenda.
Board members in favor of advertising a provisional appointment lauded the benefits of a swift process, given its approaching budget decisions. Meanwhile, dissenters argued that it is premature to promote a vacancy and seek applicants because the vacancy has not yet occurred.
But Superintendent Chris Funk assured the trustees of legal counsel: The resignation letter from Jeff Clark is sufficient to pass a resolution to post the open seat.
“We will have a vacancy on Dec. 17, so I think it’s important that we live in that reality and plan towards it,” Area 2 Trustee Kristin Speck said at the board meeting Nov. 12.
As the only candidate who filed to run for DUSD Board of Trustees in Area 3, Clark was set for an automatic win without even needing to appear on the ballot.Â
Clark’s decision to back out in October, which came in before the election but after the deadline to remove his name from the process, mixed up the regular proceedings because his resignation cannot take place before he assumes office, according to the DUSD agenda.Â
“I’m writing as a follow up to the e-mail I sent to Registrar of Voters on September 13th where I advised that due to a personal matter I would be unable to serve as Trustee on the DUSD Board. It is my understanding that is (sic) e-mail was sent after the official deadline to withdraw. With this is mind (sic), I’m writing to formally resign from the board effectively immediately,” Clark wrote in an email to Funk dated Oct. 16
“I wish you, the board and all DUSD teachers and students all the best and look forward to staying in touch,” Clark added.
It then became up to the school board to decide whether to fill the position through a special election or provisional appointment lasting two years.
But based on a collaboration between Funk and the majority of the board, the option before trustees last week was a resolution to give notice of a vacancy in Trustee Area 3 and declare the board’s intent to fill Clark’s position by a provisional appointment.
Dan Cherrier, Area 5 trustee, was the first to express his hesitation regarding the resolution.
“Technically right now there is not a vacancy,” Cherrier said. “There’s nothing to resign from immediately.”
Cherrier pointed to the rules of resignation, wherein he said the letter must be submitted to the superintendent of schools of Alameda County for there to be a vacancy.
Funk agreed that there is no vacancy to fill at this time, but noted the board is not taking action to fill a seat. There is no code stopping an announcement of that vacancy before commencement day on Dec. 17, he added.
Next, Area 4 Trustee Gabi Blackman inquired about filling the position via a special election, a possibility not included in the resolution.
But the option seemed impractical to outgoing Board President Kristin Pelham, who deemed it unlikely for someone to run in a special election, since the most recent election only garnered one candidate.
When the conversation circled back to Cherrier, he said, “I would rather wait and make this decision when the vacancy actually occurs. I feel we’re jumping the gun here.”
Speck disagreed, saying that announcing a vacancy and seeking applicants follows board policy.
“We want to have this seat filled. We want to have this area represented,” Speck said. “So I think if we do the provisional appointment, for the two-year period, that seems appropriate after offering this time and no one wanted to run.”
Funk jumped in to say, even if the board decides on a provisional appointment, Area 3 constituents would have 30 days to file a petition to reject that appointment and call for a special election.
He added, if someone is not seated on Dec. 17, then they are no longer a trustee. No letter of resignation is required at that point.
Blackman added another point of opposition to the conversation. The participation of current Area 3 Trustee William Kuo in deciding how to fill an expected vacancy of his seat troubled Blackman.
“My concern right now is we’ve actually involved Trustee Kuo in a decision to put forward on the agenda the option only to appoint. And that would seem outside the norm,” Blackman said. “If the position was truly vacated, he wouldn’t be part of the conversation to put this on the agenda, so he’s already in fact impressed upon the board his point of view, which, he should not have a vote on how we proceed moving forward to replace Mr. Clark.”
Kuo, who opted to not seek reelection this year, agreed that he should not decide what happens in December.
“But I am appreciative of the fact that we are making this announcement so the community knows – instead of waiting until Dec. 17 – and get this thing rolling,” Kuo said.
He hedged his approval on the fact that the Area 3 electorate could rescind the appointment.
Pelham doubled down on the impracticality of a special election, arguing that the time and cost associated with holding a special election would be a disservice to the district.
On the opposite side of the argument, Blackman warned members of potential legal ramifications of skirting codes and laws in this process.
Funk jumped in, “Legal said that the letter is sufficient to pass a resolution to actually post the vacancy, not to take action. The board cannot take action until after the election is certified and it’s the second Friday of December.”
The debate then moved onto whether or not Kuo should be able to vote on the matter.
Blackman and Cherrier were against Kuo’s participation. Meanwhile Kuo, Pelham and Speck were supportive.
“He’s not resigning. His term is ending,” Pelham said of Kuo. “I feel like it would be trustee Clark that couldn’t be voting on this.”
The board then approved a provisional appointment 3-2 with supporters Kuo, Pelham and Speck.
But upon the supporters’ attempt to schedule the provisional appointment, Blackman called for a point of order.
The date for provisional appointment should have been included in the original resolution, Blackman said. Since it was not, there were no more actions to make on the item.
Supportive trustees then struck the previous motion to discuss the appointment schedule.
Once the resolution was back up for discussion, Cherrier added, “I would probably not be able to vote for anybody until I was assured we have a vacancy.”
But Cherrier said he would be ready to vote if Clark submitted a resignation letter to the county, effective Dec. 17.
As presented, the new resolution specified Dec. 17 as the date of provisional appointment, pending a new resignation letter to the county superintendent with the appropriate date in December.
Board members held their ground in a 3-2 vote, with the supporters being Kuo, Pelham and Speck.
The deadline for Area 3 residents to apply for the trustee position is Dec. 6.
