By Thomas Ultican 12/17/2024
Before the recent election, I wrote recommendations for several school board seats in San Diego County. The San Diego County Registrar of Voters has posted the final official results which are transcribed here with a few comments.
San Diego County Board of Education
Gregg Robinson in district-1 and Guadalupe Gonzalez in district-2 ran unopposed and were easily reelected.
In district-4
| ERIN EVANS | 174,253 | 68.29% | My Recommendation |
| SARAH SONG | 80,916 | 31.71% |
NOTE: Song was an enthusiastic candidate with some support but Evans was clearly more qualified. The county board of education looks to be in good shape.
San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD)
Richard Barrera district-D and Sharon D. Whitehurst-Payne district-E, ran unopposed and were elected.
| SABRINA BAZZO | 40,289 | 50.93% | My Recommendation |
| CRYSTAL TRULL | 38,818 | 49.07% |
NOTE: This result surprised me. Brazzo is a very qualified member of the board supporting public education. Trull has the academic qualifications to serve but she is also a Howard Jarvis anti-tax ideologue and seems to base her education evaluations exclusively on standardized testing. It appears SDUSD dodged a big problem by less that 1% of the vote.
Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD)
Trustee Area 2
| ADRIAN E. ARANCIBIA | 21,226 | 56.72% | My Recommendation |
| ANGELICA S. MARTINEZ | 16,195 | 43.28% |
Trustee Area 4
| RODOLFO “RUDY” LOPEZ | 19,192 | 62.68% | My Recommendation |
| OLGA ESPINOZA | 11,426 | 37.32% |
NOTE: Both outcomes seemed reasonable and SUHSD should be well served.
Poway Unified School District (PUSD)
Trustee Area A
| TIM DOUGHERTY | 10,063 | 55.09% | |
| DEVESH VASHISHTHA | 8,205 | 44.91% | My Recommendation |
Trustee Area E
| DAVID CHENG | 6,528 | 38.34% | |
| CRAIG POND | 6,386 | 37.51% | |
| CINDY SYTSMA | 4,111 | 24.15% | My Recommendation |
NOTE: In Poway Area E, I recommended for Systema because of her strong background as an educator and former county sheriff however I think David Cheng is also an excellent choice. In Area A, I was bothered by two of Dougherty’s listed supporters, Carl DeMaio and Michael Allman. However, Dougherty looks like a normal civic minded guy and to be a supporter of public schools.
Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD)
Seat Number 2
| LUCY UGARTE | 80,824 | 69.85% | My Recommendation |
| SHARMANE ESTOLANO | 34,885 | 30.15% |
Seat Number 4
| FRANCISCO TAMAYO | 34,227 | 29.61% | |
| KATE BISHOP | 27,681 | 23.94% | My Recommendation |
| TANYA WILLIAM | 26,232 | 22.69% | |
| JESUS F. PARTIDA | 15,977 | 13.82% | |
| ZENITH KHAN | 11,491 | 9.94% |
NOTE: Educator Lucy Ugarte was the logical choice for seat 2. I have always liked Francisco Tamayo but his odd decision to run for seat number 4 while holding seat 1 caused me to recommend against him. For outsiders, it is difficult to get a good feel for what is happening. It seems that incumbent, Kate Bishop, had alienated several people in the district including Tamayo. The new board should be fine but now has two seats to fill with Tamayo moving to seat 4 and seat 5 member, Caesar Fernandez, becoming a Chula Vista city council member.
Vista Unified School District (VUSD)
Trustee Area 1
| MIKE MARKOV | 6,728 | 51.91% | My Recommendation |
| AMANDA “MANDY” REMMEN | 6,234 | 48.09% |
Trustee Area 4
| CIPRIANO VARGAS | 3,371 | 39.06% | |
| FRANK NUNEZ | 3,075 | 35.63% | |
| ZULEMA GOMEZ | 2,184 | 25.31% | My Recommendation |
Trustee Area 5
| SUE MARTIN | 9,540 | 60.39% | My Recommendation |
| ANTHONY “TJ” CROSSMAN | 6,258 | 39.61% |
NOTE: The outcomes here seem fine for the school District. Incumbent, Cipriano Vargas, was the pick of the Democratic Party and many political heavy hitters but I was more moved by Gomez’s support from sitting school board members and fellow educators.
San Marco Unified School District (SMUSD)
Trustee Area A
| HEIDI HERRICK | 7,047 | 56.04% | |
| CARLOS ULLOA | 5,527 | 43.96% | My Recommendation |
Trustee Area B
| SARAH AHMAD | 7,096 | 58.98% | My Recommendation |
| BRITTANY BOWER | 4,935 | 41.02% |
Trustee Area D
| LENA LAUER MEUM | 5,949 | 58.77% | |
| JAIME CHAMBERLIN | 4,174 | 41.23% | My Recommendation |
NOTE: This new board could have problems.
Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD)
Area 1
| CHRIS FITE | 13,923 | 43.30% | My Recommendation |
| RANDALL DEAR | 10,485 | 32.61% | |
| DEBRA HARRINGTON | 4,614 | 14.35% | |
| AZURE CHRISAWN | 3,132 | 9.74% |
Area 2
| SCOTT ECKERT | 14,768 | 36.64% | |
| JAY STEIGER | 13,645 | 33.85% | My Recommendation |
| JIM STIERINGER | 7,980 | 19.80% | |
| MARSHA J. CHRISTMAN | 3,914 | 9.71% |
NOTE: This looks like a decent outcome for GUHSD. Far right candidate, Randall Dear, was rejected even with his large cash advantage. Scott Eckert was not my first choice but he is a solid choice who cares about the district.
San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD)
Trustee Area 2
| JODIE WILLIAMS | 10,126 | 51.22% | My Recommendation |
| KELLY FRIIS | 9,643 | 48.78% |
Trustee Area 4
| MICHAEL ALLMAN | 8,990 | 51.12% | |
| KEVIN SABELLICO | 8,595 | 48.88% | My Recommendation |
NOTE: I was really sad to see MAGA man, Michael Allman, reelected. He has been a polarizing character since first being elected in 2020.
Escondido Union High School District (EUHSD)
Trustee Area 3
| CHRISTI KNIGHT | 7,538 | 65.36% | |
| CLAY BROWN | 3,995 | 34.64% | My Recommendation |
Trustee Area 4
| RYAN S. WILLIAMS | 7,848 | 64.66% | |
| DARA CZERWONKA | 4,289 | 35.34% | My Recommendation |
NOTE: In Area 3, Clay Brown dropped out of the race. Both incumbents, Christi Knight and Ryan S. Williams, were reelected. I felt there needed to be some people with education experience on the board.
Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD)
Trustee Area 2
| ELEANOR EVANS | 6,178 | 51.51% | My Recommendation |
| EMILY ORTIZ WICHMANN | 5,815 | 48.49% |
Trustee Area 5
| MIKE BLESSING | 6,354 | 53.44% | My Recommendation |
| ROSIE HIGUERA | 5,536 | 46.56% |
NOTE: The wins by incumbents, Eleanor Evans and Mike Blessing, were good news for Oceanside.
Twelve races were won by candidates I endorsed and ten went against my recommendations. Overall, there was only one of the ten districts I reviewed that I felt was hurt by this election. In San Marcos, they got rid of an incumbent with deep education experience, Carlos Ulloa, leaving SMUSD with little education knowledge. More troubling was they just elected a pro-school-choice trustee to its board.
tultican 
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