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By Janis Russell
April 7, 2016 (El Cajon) - At the El Cajon public hearing held March 28, many speakers expressed their support for the new election system for the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD). The hearing was the second in a series of six public meetings convened by the County Office of Education Committee on School District Organization regarding Grossmont’s plan to shift to five trustee districts elected by voters within each district, instead of at-large elections voted upon by all voters district-wide.
James Messina, who is a concerned parent, said, “What jumps out at me is the size of the district,” which ends up being a financial burden for a potential candidate seeking to run district-wide. He questioned why there wasn’t a meeting in the proposed District 1 area. (The committee later added a District 1 meeting April 6.)
Jessica Merschtina, an East County resident, said, “I’m in favor of this.” She also expressed her support to have a meeting in District 1.
Priscilla Schreiber, GUHSD trustee, opposed the plan. She opened by rebutting defamatory remarks made by trustee Jim Kelly at a prior meeting which “had no bearing on these hearings but nonetheless were made to cast a local journalist in a bad light before the public and this panel. Contrary to those statements, The East County Magazine has made every attempt to invite all parties and perspectives to be heard in this matter. Because some decline the opportunity should not be a means to construe the truth in an attempt to discredit and attack the journalist.”
Schreiber, who would lose her seat under the proposed redistricting plan, further stated, “Since I represent the minority perspective on the GUHSD Board in this matter, my only appeal is for any thoughtful consideration is before you, the County Committee.” She asked the committee to consider two questions. Her first question was, “At your first CC hearing, GUHSD Board member Kelly said that the demographer's tried to put together a 5 incumbent trustee area map but said that would be gerrymandering; also, the demographer suggested that such a map revealed `slivers of fingers’ traversing the district.” She noted that implies existence of a map showing those fingers, but said it was never made public for board discussion nor provided for her review, despite her request.”
Secondly, she observed, “The first time we looked at this process in 2011, the attorney for the District had sent a report or letter to Mr. Swenson that was steeped in controversy because it was discovered that Mr. Swenson had shredded it without sharing it with the full Board. I believe acquiring a copy of that document would be important to the discussion today. My request for a copy of that document is pending.”
RozhGar voiced. “It’s really very important we have someone represent us,” referencing immigrants in the district who have problems that should be addressed.
Deena Alnoree, who’s a mother of an El Cajon Valley High student, stated, “We are very thankful you support this culture.. and our students.”
Tony Lawrence also expressed his support. “I’ve been around politics since my father in Chicago in 1972…when we eliminate the politicalness, do people deserve representation? The answer should be yes…” He argued that the committee shouldn’t slow down the redistricting process, as some people have advised. He’s had two children who have graduated from Grossmont High. He added that he’s proud of this community.
Jim Kelly, GUHSD trustee, spoke next , stating that “…The number one responsibility of the County school board.. is to help local school districts.” Kelly said that the National Demographics Company’s demographer, Doug Johnson, ”made up the proposed map himself.” He then argued that Schreiber has teaming up with ECM “to deceive you,” claiming that Schreiber is “desperate to hang on this seat at all costs…I’m seeing efforts to make it look political,” which cuts the public out. “Miriam Raftery always says this is controversial…this is not controversial…this is a rubber stamp issue,” Kelly concluded, ignoring the fact that numerous members of the Alpine and Chaldean communities have voiced strong opposition to the proposal.
Dr. Gary Woods, GUHSD board vice president, said, “Thank you for this opportunity to express my support of the trustee elections.” He said the prospect of a lawsuit over Voting Rights violations, if the plan is not approved, “is very real… No parent (or anyone else whose kid attends GUHSD) has spoken against the trustee areas.” (Editor’s note: Members of the public spoke against the plan at GUHSD meetings, in correspondence, and at later hearings conducted by the County, though not this specific meeting.) Woods added, “This must be implemented now or we will get sued for millions of dollars… This is not a political issue... This plan does not involve gerrymandering… Every board member save for one is a teacher or is married to a teacher,” he added.
ECM’s own Miriam Raftery, who has covered the Grossmont District for over two decades, shared her thoughts. “I am personally opposed to this plan.” She noted the unfairness of leaving Alpine without its only voice on the board at a time when Alpine parents have a lawsuit pending against the district over tis failure to build an Alpine high school. She then defended herself and the magazine to Kelly. “He is the one being completely dishonest.” She noted that she and the magazine have won numerous journalism awards, including some for coverage of the district, and that multiple efforts had been made to obtain comment from Kelly and other district representatives (See a rebuttal against Kelly here: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/guhsd-trustee-jim-kelly-slanders-media-dodges-interview-requests). Raftery expressed concern over the Chaldeans and two Native American tribes not being heard.
Leon Thompson, ECM’s Tribal Beats writer, then expressed his thoughts. There are 19 tribes, three of whom are represented in Grossmont. “What has the district done to connect with the tribes?” including two tribes in Alpine. He added, “Two bonds passed that promised an Alpine high school…these proponents are saying this is not political… “ But he noted that parents have been “advocating for a high school for a long, long time.” Thompson also noted, “One advocate who stands up for these minorities is being eliminated for this (Schreiber). “This process needs to be looked at far more carefully…” He also said it was important to consider “who represented whom…I ask the committee to reach out to the tribes.” He asked the committee to keep the needs of parents and students in mind.
The committee than had a chance to ask questions.
Alicia Muñoz clarified, “At the last public hearing, some people left thinking we were dismissing their opinions.” She apologized ,saying that was not her intent. She just wanted to hear more from the community. “We’re here to listen… We need to hear from District 1… I certainly would support the motion for Spring Valley, La Presa, and La Mesa with a high Latino population (getting) a representative.”
Doug Johnson from NDA clarified where each board member lived with Schreiber being the farthest at the Northwest. “Four [of the members] are in an arc…there’s no way to get Miss Schreiber out and in her own trustee area. Just in terms of the process, we’ve helped about 112 jurisdictions going through this process," he added. (The plan approved by the GUHSD would pair Schreiber and trustee Robert Shield in the same district, but since her term ends two years earlier than his, she would be off the board after this November’s election and unable to run again for two years.)
Mark Anderson mentioned he was at Vista and Sweetwater, where they’ve proposed this new election system. He addressed Johnson. “I think the work here done by your company is very good…we’re dealing with complex issues… Nobody here on this board thinks the idea of representation is a bad one… What the County board here is charged with is to examine the process.” He added, “That’s part of our job, not to rubber stamp anything…our job is to listen, to investigate, and to ensure the process was followed as best as possible.” He added that if the committee finds problems, they will bring them up.
Rick Shea told everyone, “We’re not here to make declarative statements of what we’re going to do.” He asked Johnson to clarify about the criteria.
Johnson explained how it’s broken up into must-do’s and redistricting principles. “90-95% of jurisdictions use the exact same list. We recommend [this] to all our clients.”
Shea then asked if it’s rare that NDC has a situation where there are not five board members. Johnson replied, “No, it happens all the time.” There’s the question of the board members being spread out.
Shea asked Lora Durzyk, assistant superintendent at the County Office of Education, if NDA was a group she had recommended. Durzyk explained how they’ve worked with NDA since 2011. They paid NDC to come up with initial evaluations and demographics. “All districts have a relationship with NDC”, she added.
Shea wanted to know if in Johnson’s professional opinion, keeping all five board members would be gerrymandering. Johnson replied, “It would take violating criteria to a fairly extreme consent” and it would violate the Voting Rights Act.
Shea asked, “How much input did the board have in determining the final [map]?” Johnson said, “We offered up draft maps” for consultants. Then they looked to the board and to the public to see which map they preferred.
Shea’s last question was about the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). He wanted to know if there are other populations that aren’t protected on the CVRA compliance, like for the Chaldeans. Johnson responded, “It’s a numbers issue… Can the group be a large population of any district where they can be the majority? The numbers don’t get there… Part of the problem is using the 2010 census data” along with other old data, he observed. East County has had a huge influx of Iraqi Chaldean immigrants since then due to the Iraq War.
Guadalupe Gonzalez said how she’s lived through the Sweetwater district being redistricted. As a result, some board members couldn’t run again because their term was up. “We’re really trying to hear from all sides,” she added.
County Office of Education Board President Greg Robinson mentioned again of the hostility people expressed of their opinions being left out at the last meeting. He also apologized. He was also impressed that people brought up wanting a hearing in District 1. “This is what democracy looks like. We really do care about input from the community.” He asked Durzyk if notices could be sent to parents of GUHSD students and if the parents could be called as well for input.
Durzyk said how, out of the nine districts, three districts have made calls and left voicemails, and four have emailed notices to parents. There have also been public notices, and notices in the mail and on the websites. But not all have been called because the districts had various spring breaks, and not all could be reached right away.
Robinson wanted to make sure they reached their maximum outreach in terms of having a meeting at District 1. He also emphasized the idea of the Chaldean community being too small and confirmed that Native Americans are a protected group.
Johnson brought up Thompson’s comment on how the board member living close to the Native American tribes don’t even listen to them. But the reservations are all together in one district on the map. “On the Chaldean issue, the issue is that it’s grown very rapidly, very fast; the data lags too long.” But he predicted that they will be counted in the future, including the 2020 census.
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