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FUESD's trustee district map comes under county review

Back in February, Fallbrook Union Elementary Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to accept Map 103 and its election sequence as the district's solution to remedy a 17-year California Voting Rights Act violation

At the time, there was a significant push-back from residents who felt Map 103, which was adopted by the board during the meeting with a 4-1 vote, didn't adequately represent the community and its best interests, specifically those of the Hispanic community.

Opponents referenced a lack of consideration for the so-called Favela/Stamos/Ortiz community map, which was put in front of the board and subsequently voted down a week earlier.

Supporters of the Favela/Stamos/Ortiz plan said Map 103 continued to violate the California Voting Rights Act and denies the members of a majority Latino district in the 2020 election.

Map 103, as adopted, would place each current board members – Governing Board President Siegrid Stillman, Patty de Jong, Lisa Masten, Caron Lieber and Susan Liebes – into separate voting districts. Masten and Stillman will be eligible for re-election in 2020.

Before the map can be put into use, the San Diego County Board of Education came to Fallbrook Tuesday, April 23, to hold a public hearing to get input from local residents on the issue.

Stillman, attorney Daniel Shinoff and demographer Doug Johnson opened the comments as spokespersons on behalf of the school board.

"In an effort to avoid the expense of litigation, and we've certainly seen the associated expenses throughout the state, the board unanimously voted to a by-trustee-area process," Shinoff said. "This is a process that's complex and difficult and the district has really relied upon the guidance of National Demographics Corporation that initially worked back with the San Diego County Office of Education back in 2011. Under the guidance of Douglas Johnson, who is the president of the corporation, and we received assistance from Justin Levitt.

"Please understand that what the district did, what this board did, they looked and they followed the federal law. The federal law is simple and straightforward; it's a matter of equal population and no racial gerrymandering.

"We look at communities of interest, we look at the compactness of an area, the contiguity or contiguousness of the area, the visible boundaries, natural and man-made. Finally, the request for voters' wishes of continuity in office. I know that you've received correspondence from a variety of different organizations suggesting that this was the sole consideration for the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, but I believe the materials that you have received belie that point," Shinoff said.

Johnson showed the board the process by which they drew the maps that were considered by the school board.

Stillman wrapped up the presentation.

"From the onset of this process, the district has engaged in extensive community outreach to all the communities of interest within the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District," she said.

"We know there is no perfect map in any community. Map 103 was adopted by this governing board because it was the best option to address the multiple views of our diverse community."

The county board members asked a series of questions regarding the map development and community input.

Fourteen residents submitted speaker cards in opposition to the map's adoption and six in support.

Leticia Maldonado-Stamos responded to questions posed by the Village News regarding the meeting.

"The most important thing that I wanted to come out of the public hearing on Tuesday was for the community to be heard and taken into account," she said. "When the local school board literally turned a deaf ear and voted completely against the community – and against the protected class they were obligated to remedy – it was a slap in the face to every Latino family in Fallbrook and the community of Fallbrook in general in that they denied community members their say."

Maldonado-Stamos is hopeful that the public speakers were able to sway the county board.

"If our Fallbrook residents who opposed Map 103 and its accompanying resolution were not heard by the county board of trustees, then we as a society are in big trouble," she said. "We are counting on the process to work for the public. We have had faith in the process from the beginning. The entire spectrum of Fallbrook demography was represented by the people who drummed up the courage to stand at that podium and raise their voices against the farce committed by the local board."

Music Watson, chief communications officer for the San Diego County Office of Education, said the board will consider the input they gathered at the hearing and consult legal counsel before taking action.

"The county committee can approve or disapprove the district's resolution to change its election system (that's one action) and (if the County Committee approves the move to by-trustee-area elections), the committee can adopt the trustee area map approved by the district's governing board or adopt an alternate trustee area map," she said.

Maldonado-Stamos said she expects to hear the committee's decision May 8, when they convene again in San Marcos.

"We are counting on them to do the right thing by and for Fallbrook because we obviously can't count on our local board," Maldonado-Stamos said. "We have always had faith in the democratic process, and we entered into this effort with the best of intentions and the highest of hopes for tremendously productive and positive results for all of Fallbrook. We want the county to know that, while we are new to this, we have done our homework and are continuing to learn about this process. We want them to have faith in us as we have faith in them."

Jeff Pack can be contacted at [email protected].

 

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