The Santa Rosa School Board elected its new lineup of office holders at the tail end of Wednesday night’s meeting, but the typically routine votes were split this time around.
Trustee Frank Pugh nominated vice president Bill Carle for president, which was followed by a unanimous vote in support. For vice president, Pugh then nominated Donna Jeye, a move that was seconded by outgoing President Larry Haenel. The vote was unanimous.
After trustee Ron Kristof nominated current clerk Laura Gonzalez to keep her post, he got a second from newly sworn in board member Jenni Klose. But instead of a roll call vote as had happened after the first two nominations, Haenel promptly offered up Pugh for the post.
The vote was then taken and Pugh beat out Gonzalez 4-3 with Jeye, Haenel and Carle backing Pugh. Pugh cast a vote for himself. Klose and Kristof voted for Gonzalez and Gonzalez voted for herself.
The split vote was followed by Klose being nominated to represent the board on the Sonoma County Committee on School District Organization. Kristof was nominated as alternate but declined. Gonzalez was then nominated to serve on the district panel of the Independent Study Physical Education program. She “respectfully declined” after which Jeye was nominated.
The split vote and subsequent nominations for less than choice committee positions might signal that a rift that emerged on the board last spring still lingers, according to observers.
A split occurred back in 2010, with a different alliance of votes and in which Gonzalez and Haenel sided together. Read about that here: http://bit.ly/129Mb3d
Caller
I saw Lisa Maldonado post on her Facebook timeline:
“Laura Gonzalez is the top vote getter, the only Latina and the only k-12 teacher on the School Board and she gets passed over? Thanks for supporting teachers Larry Haenel! (that thank you to larry haenel was ironic)”
Well, I think the rest of the board recognizes Ms. Gonzalez has been abusive to many members of the community, including attacking people online just because they have a different opinion than her own. I wouldn’t expect Ms. Maldonado to have a problem with it because she behaves the same way.
December 15th, 2012 4:51 am
About Time
Yes I am shocked at Ms. Gonzalez and all her mean/hateful comments through out MANY rants in the PD articles. Spending time on real issues and lesson plans sounds like a better use of her time. She may have a Latino name but she lives in Windsor and her kids go to Montgomery…maybe choosing someone that will really be your advocate Roseland might be someone that actually lives here…and doesn’t give such an abrasive attitude of expecting some special rights instead of equal rights…
December 17th, 2012 9:17 pm