ADAMS PULLS AHEAD OF CARUTHERS IN GROSSMONT-CUYAMACA COMMUNITY COLLEGE RACE

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Update December 8, 2016: Adams has won by 124 votes.  The election was certified today.

By Miriam Raftery

December 4, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) - In the race to fill an open seat on the Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District Board, Elena Adams has pulled ahead of Timothy Caruthers by a razor-thin margin of 69 votes.  Adams, a teacher backed by the American Federation of Teachers, has 50.1% with 18,136 votes, while Caruthers, who currently serves on the Alpine Union School District board, has 49.9% and 18,067 votes.

On election night, Caruthers had a hefty 440 vote lead, but as late mail-in and provisional ballots tallies have come in, the lead shifted to Adams.  All votes will be counted and the election certified by December  8th.

Caruthers is a conservative endorsed by the Republican Party, though this is a nonpartisan race.   He previously served on the Grossmont board before losing reelection and then gaining a seat on the Alpine board.  A chiropractor who has taught chiropractic students, his goals included assuring that tax dollars go into classrooms, assuring that the curriculum prepares students for the workplace.

Adams was endorsed by the Democratic Party.  A mailer sent to voters indicated she also had support from all four of the current GCCCD board members and all five County Board of Education members,  however Board president Bill Garrett did not endorse either candidate,  ECM has learned.

The winner will replace incumbent Mary Kay Rosinski, a Democrat who did not seek reelection.

Adams has said her goals include ensuring community colleges are affordable, increasing college transfer and career training for local jobs, providing retraining and continuing education for veterans, as well as assuring accountability and transparency on how tax dollars are spent.

In addition to quality of education for students, key issues in the race included contract relations for teachers as well as project labor agreements requiring union wages for district contractors. Caruthers supports open bidding and opposes project labor agreements.

The teacher’s union poured substantial donations into the race, targeting Caruthers with hit pieces accusing him of causing a teacher’s strike in Alpine and being an “ambulance chaser” involved in over 120 lawsuits.  


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