Editorial:
Re-elected Sweetwater Union High School District board members Pearl Quinones and Bertha Lopez will soon be sworn on to the Board for another four years of service. The question is will it be four more years of the same old thing or will these board members take the bull by the horns and bring about changes that are so sorely needed.
Bertha Lopez ran her campaign as a reformer, as the person leading the way against corruption, as a leader of the people. Pearl Quinones ran under the cloud of an indictment and had to face the onslaught of attacks against her character of honesty and integrity.
The District Attorney’s investigation into Quinones and sitting board member Arlie Ricasa, along with the indictments against Greg Sandoval and former superintendent Jesus Gandara, coupled with the recent scandalous reports coming out of San Ysidro school district, clearly defines the systemic problems within the school board system.
The question is will the re-elected board members, along with the board majority fix the problem or will they sit back and do nothing and allow the problems to continue and fester?
What is wrong with the system: there are no term limits, there is no cap on campaign contributions, and there is a need for district-seated elections.
Running for office is an expensive proposition and running for a school board seat that encompasses three cities, National City, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach causes the cost of campaigning to exceed $100,000. Imagine raising $100,000 every four years in campaign donations.
To raise this much money candidates, in particular incumbents running for re-election, have come to depend on special interests and contractor donations to fill campaign coffers. With no campaign contribution limits, it is not out of the question for a contractor to donate large amounts of money. The contractor knows that in the near future, he will be before the same board member seeking a million dollar contract.
Without term limits it is the norm for board members to serve 16, 20, 24 years on the board. During this time the interaction, the line between campaign donors and board members becomes blurred between business associate/campaign donor and friendship.
The solutions are simple and straight forward:
1: Put a limit on campaign contributions, no one person or entity can give more than $500.
2: Instead of open elections create smaller seat district elections. Not only will this create equal representation across the district, it will reduce the geographic size of the campaign area and cut costs.
3: Term limits. Two (2) four-year terms should be enough for any school board member. To allow these board members to serve 5 or 6 terms only invites more opportunity for familiarity and the opportunity for corruption and empire building.
There are three ways to make these changes come about. One is for the citizens to put forth a resolution or a motion and the school board act upon it. Second, for the citizens to put a proposition on the ballot, it is a costly matter. The better way is for the school board to take it upon itself to bring forth these changes and put them on a ballot for the voters to decide. This would be the easiest and most expeditious way to bring about change.
It is up to the current board members to do what is best for the future of elected board members. Election reform can help deal with systemic problems that occur not only at Sweetwater but in San Ysidro. We hope that the members of this board do not sit on their hands and do nothing about election reform. Not doing anything to correct the resulting problems from election peculiarities would be criminal in of itself, with all the problems and issues this board is facing.