|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education formalized additional four-year terms for two of its trustees, while swearing in a new face following the retirement of a longtime representative this week.
Jesse vanZee, who won in a tight race for the Area 1 seat vacated by the retirement of then-Board president Ken Mintz, was sworn in as Mintz’s replacement at a special board meeting Tuesday, along with sitting trustees Susanna Ordway and Rachel Hurd, who faced no challengers in the November election.
In addition to swearing in the three trustees, the board went through its annual reorganization process on Tuesday. Hurd was selected as president, with Laura Bratt being selected as vice president and Shelly Clark being selected as clerk.
The motions for all three positions passed in 4-0 votes, with Clark not present at the meeting.
Mintz announced his retirement from the board and decision not to file for candidacy for the Area 1 seat ahead of the opening of the filing period on July 18.
“While this has been a difficult decision — actually harder than the decision to retire from my ‘day job’ last year – I can’t describe how fortunate I feel to play even a small role in providing the educational environment and opportunities available to our students in the San Ramon Valley,” Mintz said in a July 16 statement.
Mintz served for a total of more than 18 years on the board, with his first term spanning 1992 to 1996. His current tenure began in 2009, when he was appointed following the election of then-trustee Joan Buchanan to the State Assembly.
Mintz’ retirement meant a wide open race for the seat representing Area 1 under the district’s newly drawn maps that emerged following the decision to shift from at-large to by-trustee elections that first came into effect in this year’s race.
The race for the seat saw vanZee opposed by Michelle Petersen, who came in at a close second with 40.53% of the vote behind vanZee’s 42.18%. Jerome Pandell, the third candidate in the race, came in at 17.29%.
“I am excited to serve on the board and look forward to getting to work,” vanZee said in a Nov. 18 statement. “As a dad with kids in the district, I will bring a fresh perspective to the board. Also, I will stay rooted in core principles of parental involvement, transparency and keeping the focus on academics in the classroom.”
The outcome of this year’s general election means that vanZee, Ordway and Hurd are now set to remain on the board through 2026, with their fresh four-year terms effective as of Tuesday.
Appeal over redevelopment project at old Chevron HQ coming to San Ramon councilApril 6, 2026 10:32 pm
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/12/16/campaign-tricks-cited-in-close-contra-costa-school-board-election/
Are you going to report on this?
@Tomdanville — We received the communication from the “shadow group” but instead of posting it, we called the candidate and asked about the allegation. She didn’t deny it, only said she would answer our questions after the election. After the election it was a moot point. We didn’t have time to pull the records from the department the group said they had — it was days before the election. We asked the group to share the documents and they ghosted us.
If the candidate had talked with us when we asked the question, perhaps the outcome would have been different.