Race For Natomas School Board Is On

BY BRANDY TUZON BOYD
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
updated 12:30 p.m. August 16, 2012

The race for the Natomas Unified School District board of trustees is officially on.

Ten candidates have qualified to run for three available school board seats in the November 2012 election. (The filing period to declare candidacy for the Natomas school board closed 5 p.m. yesterday, August 15.)

In Natomas, the highly anticipated school board race could overshadow two proposed tax initiatives that would strike a blow to education funding statewide if not passed by voters.

The Natomas school district’s two employee unions, political parties and elected officials, including Sacramento’s Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby and 5th district state Assemblyman Richard Pan, are already weighing in on what promises to be a competitive race between two incumbents, three repeat candidates, and five newcomers.

This election, registered voters in Natomas can vote for three different school board candidates. And every vote will count.

In 2010, incumbent Teri Burns narrowly won re-election over then-newcomer Ryan Herche by only 20 votes in a six-way race for two seats on the Natomas Unified school board. Nearly 15,000 undervotes went uncounted.

An undervote occurs when the number of choices selected by a voter in a contest is less than the maximum number allowed for that contest.

Four years ago, when six candidates vied for the same three seats up for election this winter, there were 37,007 undervotes.

The three candidates who get elected Nov. 6 already face the Natomas Unified School District’s legacy of financial woes, declining enrollment and five superintendents in three years. The school board will be forced to make mid-year budget cuts such as shortening the school year, if both tax initiatives fail at the polls.

Running for Natomas Unified school board are incumbents Bruce Roberts and Sue Heredia; repeat candidates HK Allen, Briza Trujillo Cardenas and Ryan Herche; and newcomers Josh Baker, Michael Bedrosian, Karen Bernal, Scott Dosick and Vina Guzman.