School board moves elections to even years School board moves elections to even years (January 14, 2005)

Consolidating with city vote will mean big savings
by Teresa C. Brown

The November 2006 ballots are going to get longer.

After weighing unknown consequences with a possible savings of more than $100,000, school district trustees approved moving board elections to even years at their Tuesday meeting.

The action, once adopted as a resolution, will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors by March 13 with official resident notification occurring possibly in June.

The proposal to change the election years was financially motivated. If the board election is held during even years, the election costs can be shared with other municipalities, explained John Casey, superintendent of Pleasanton Unified School District.

The board reviewed a comparison of election costs between PUSD and the city of Pleasanton. In 2003, the board election cost the district about $120,000, Casey said, adding that because the city was able to share election expenses for the 2004 election, its cost was about $25,000.

"When you consolidate, there is an obvious savings that is substantial," Casey said.

During their last board meeting, the trustees expressed concerns about voter turnout if they moved to even-year elections. During the 2003 PUSD election, 6,608 registered voters, or 18 percent of the district's 37,010 voters, turned out to cast ballots, Casey said.

That percentage was compared to last November's city election, which was shared with state and national elections. While a total of 84 percent of registered voters cast ballots, 77 percent voted in the mayoral race, 79 percent voted on the Measure X ballot and an estimated 57 percent voted in the City Council election, he said.

Another concern was extending the terms of the current trustees. Terms for both Pat Kernan and Gloria Fredette are due to expire in November. Moving the election to even years would extend their terms by one year to 2006, Casey explained, and terms for Juanita Haugen, Steve Pulido and Kris Weaver would also be extended a year to 2008.

"People expect to have the opportunity to re-elect," Weaver said. "It would feel more comfortable to shorten our term rather than lengthen it."

Kernan agreed. "Obviously this is a conflict of interest," he said. "Nothing says we have to re-up that year." He added, "In this day and age with dollars, that's got to take first priority."

Although the trustees unanimously approved the motion to change the election years, the decision was not made without concern. "If this was purely a financial decision, I would be on the side of an even election," Pulido said.

"What concerns me is I don't want to be lost in the shuffle," he said, pointing to ballot placement. "There is a tendency sometimes to put the school board at the bottom of the ballot."

Haugen agreed, adding that school board candidates may also get entangled in local politics when holding elections at the same time as other races. "We've managed and tried very hard to keep our focus on kids, what's best for the kids," she said.

A resolution moving the election to even years will be presented for board approval during its Jan. 25 meeting.

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