At the bottom of this post is the YouTube video of the special board meeting of the Brea Olinda Unified School District that was held for the sole purpose of rolling dice to determine the winner of the tied election for the Trustee Area 5 seat on the board of the Brea-Olinda Unified School District: incumbent Gail Lyons (R), 57, or challenger Lauren Barnes (D), 26. When the Registrar of Voters certified the election, Barnes had 1,805 votes to Lyons’s 1,804 votes. After a recount, the Registrar discovered one of the undervotes had voted for Lyons, so they tied at 1,805 votes. Under California law, this tie will be resolved “by lot” (at random), and BOUSD has determined a dice roll will be the random decider. (BOUSD fun fact: from 1992-1994, two future State Assemblymembers served on the BOUSD Board together: Todd Spitzer and Lynn Daucher.)
This is certainly a bizarre live blog.
9:00 AM: Board President Nicole Colon calls the meeting to order. The roll is called, and all Board members are present.
9:01 AM: Superintendent Brad Mason leads the Pledge of Allegiance.
9:02 AM: Colon asks Mason for any comments. Mason calls this an “odd set of circumstances.” He does not want the rolling of dice to take away from such an important and serious matter.
9:03 AM: Colon accidentally thanks everyone for coming “this evening” and quickly corrects herself with a chuckle, noting she is so used to evening meetings of the school board.
9:03 AM: Colon asks for public comment. Mason confirms there are none.
9:04 AM: Colon introduces the item. Board Vice President Paul Ruiz moves and Board Member Carrie Flanders seconds the item. Mason notes this is a nondiscretionary vote, in that the result must be resolved by casting of lots. He explains the candidates will roll the same pair of dice, and he will sanitize the pair of dice in between each roll in light of COVID. (Challenger) Lauren Barnes will roll first, and then (incumbent) Gail Lyons rolls second. Whoever rolls the higher number will win the seat. In the event they tie, they will roll again.
9:06 AM: Mason demonstrates how the dice roll will be done. Two red dice will be in a red cup. The candidates will hold the cup away from their bodies, shake the cup, and release the dice on to the table.
9:07 AM: Mason cleans the dice with sanitizing wipes.
9:08 AM: Mason asks Barnes to come to the podium and roll the dice. She rolls a 1 and 1, rolling a total of 2. Things are not looking good for her, as that is the lowest possible set of numbers one can roll with two dice.
9:09 AM: Mason asks Lyons to come to the podium and roll the dice. Lyons says, “I feel compelled to say a prayer for all of us.” She gives a prayer for everyone in the room, for the residents of Brea, for forgiveness, and for grace. She rolls a 1 and a 2, rolling a total of 3.
9:10 AM: Mason declares that incumbent Lyons has prevailed in the dice roll.
9:11 AM: Colon declares the word of the year is “unprecedented.” She thanks Barnes for her involvement in the process, and she urges her to stay involved. She notes that some in the room have experienced defeat before. She urges Barnes to reach out to the district. She congratulates Lyons on her re-election.
9:12 AM: The Board votes 5-0 to accept the result of the dice roll. Mason thanks both candidates and all others in attendance for this “inauspicious ending” of the election.
9:13 AM: The Board adjourns this extraordinary special meeting to hold a dice roll to decide the tied election.
Brea Olinda Unified School District Incumbent Gail Lyons (R) and Challenger Lauren Barnes (D)
After an extraordinary election result, a roll of the dice tomorrow morning will determine the winner of the Trustee Area 5 seat on the board of the Brea-Olinda Unified School District: incumbent Gail Lyons (R), 57, or challenger Lauren Barnes (D), 26.
All through the November ballot counting, the lead switched back and forth between incumbent Lyons and challenger Barnes, and the two of them tied several times.
When the election was certified on November 24 (the night before Thanksgiving), Barnes had defeated Lyons by 1 vote: 1805 votes (50.01%) for Barnes, 1804 votes (49.99%) for Lyons.
4,164 people in Trustee Area 5 had voted, but only 3,609 voted for school board. In other words, 555 people cast ballots for other things (e.g. President, Congress, Legislature, City Council, ballot measures) but left school board blank. There are 4,674 registered voters there, so 510 people did not turn out to vote at all.
Lyons requested a recount, which was conducted on December 2-3. It turns out 1 of the 555 people had actually voted for Lyons: that voter had clearly marked their ballot for Lyons but had not filled in the bubble. Consequently, while the counting machines did not register that vote for Lyons, the hand recount did. As such, 3,610 votes were cast for school board: 1,805 each for Lyons and Barnes. (Only 554 people had left school board blank.)
There are only 2 precincts in Trustee Area 5, and Lyons and Barnes each won 1 precinct. They live in the same precinct, which Lyons won.
California Education Code Section 5016 specifies, “If a tie vote makes it impossible to determine either which of two or more candidates has been elected to the governing board…The governing board may either call a runoff election or determine the winner or winners by lot. Prior to conducting any school board election…the governing board of each school district shall establish which of such procedures is to be employed by the district in the event of a tie vote.”
Brea Olinda Unified School District Board Bylaw Section 9220 specifies, “Whenever a tie makes it impossible to determine which of two or more candidates has been elected to the Board, the Board shall immediately notify the candidates who received the tie votes of the time and place where lots shall be cast to determine the winner.”
The phrases “by lot” and “casting of lots” mean to determine randomly. So here we are. The Brea Olinda Unified School District Board of Education has announced an extraordinary Saturday special meeting at 9:00 AM tomorrow with a single agenda item: “Finalize Trustee Area 5 Election.”
The staff recommendation reads, “Recommend the Board of Education determine the winner of Trustee Area 5 by lot in accordance with Board Bylaw 9220 using the following method: Casting Dice.”
Assuming the Board approves the recommendation, a roll of the dice will determine whether Gail Lyons wins another term or Lauren Barnes unseats her, and the winner of the dice roll will hold the school board seat for the next four years.
The BOUSD Board has 3 Republicans (Nicole Colon, Paul Ruiz, and Member-Elect Deanna Miller) and 1 NPP (Carrie Flanders). Republicans had already captured Democrat Keri Kropke’s seat with the election of Deanna Miller, so the dice roll determines whether the Board will be 4 Republicans and 1 NPP (if Lyons wins) or 3 Republicans, 1 Democrat, and 1 NPP (if Barnes wins). If Lyons wins, that means Republicans captured one seat from the Democrats on the BOUSD Board; if Barnes wins, that means Republicans and Democrats each traded a seat (Republican Miller replacing Democrat Kropke and Democrat Barnes replacing Republican Lyons).
OC Political will attempt to carry a live-stream of the meeting tomorrow morning.
As March 3rd is only a few days away, I just wanted to remind voters (who have not cast a ballot yet) that there are voter recommendations by conservatives who do not get paid for their endorsements – people like Robyn Nordell and myself. And we do not always agree!
Ever wonder who finances the campaigns to pass school bond measures in Orange County? A study performed by the California Policy Center of five school districts has shown that many of the same attorneys, construction contractors and design firms have contributed to the campaigns to pass these measures. In Construction Firms Fund Orange County School Bond Campaigns CPC reviewed the funders of school districts in Anaheim, Orange, Ocean View, Brea and Fountain Valley school districts. Of course this pay to play campaign contributions is not confined to these five districts. In Capistrano Unified School District’s Measure M (the Billion Dollar Bond Tax), many of the same players have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the yes on M campaign. Who is heading up the Yes campaign? CUSD Trustee Gary Pritchard.
As the report found (partial quote):
“Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Rudd & Romo (AALRR) is a law firm with eight offices across California. AALRR has donated $2000 to Anaheim Elementary School District’s bond measure, $12,000 to Orange Unified School District and $1000 to Fountain Valley School District. AALRR claims to represent nearly half the school districts in California and has previously represented both districts.
Bernards Builders Management Services is a general contractor located in San Fernando. Bernards has donated $2000 to Anaheim Elementary’s bond measure and $5000 to Brea-Olinda Unified School District’s measure. Bernards has worked with Brea-Olinda before on the Brea-Olinda High School and Olinda Elementary School. The subcontracted architecture firm for the Brea projects, LPA, has donated $10,000 this election cycle to Orange’s bond measure.”
These attorneys, contractors and others stand to make millions of taxpayer funded bond tax money if these measures pass. The same is true of Proposition 51 – the $9 Billion school facilities bond tax before the voters next week. The report notes:
“The California Building Industry Association has donated over $1,500,000 to Proposition 51, a statewide measure that would allow the state of California to issue $9 million in bonds for the State School Facilities Fund. The builders are the second-largest contributor in support of the proposition.”
There are ten school bond measures on the November 8th ballot in Orange County alone. If only a few pass, these firms stand to make millions on contracts to build these projects. Not a bad return on their campaign contribution investments – at taxpayers’ expense.
Are you looking for voter recommendations from people that do not get paid from politics (i.e. consultants and slate cards)?
Are you looking for voter recommendations from people that do notaccept money to give a proposition, a ballot measure or a candidate the thumbs up (or down)?
Are you looking for advice on national, state wide and local races that include all of the state wide and local ballot propositions / measures?
Then you should go over to Robyn Nordell’s web site for Voter Recommendations from Robyn and some of her friends like myself.
Finally my favorite page at her site is Craig’s Pics my voter recommendations which Robyn kindly allows to be published there.
She also has information on some other counties in California.
Who is Robyn Nordell? She is an Orange County homeschool mother and advocate, a pastor’s wife, a tireless advocate for open and transparent government, a social and fiscal conservative and one of the most talented, honest, brightest and kind persons I know. Robyn does not get paid one penny for her work in researching candidates and ballot propositions / measures, putting together her voter recommendations and publishing them on her web site. Plus she is gracious to publish others voter recommendation lists (like my own) even when we make recommendations different from her own. She is a Patriot!
The Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee met on August 15 and August 31 to consider endorsements for local offices and ballot measures. Further endorsements will take place on September 19 (and possibly more after that).
OC Political live-blogged the August 15 meeting and the August 31 meeting, but by popular demand here is the list of endorsements so far:
City Councils and Mayors
Aliso Viejo City Council: Mike Munzing
Anaheim City Council, District 4: Lucille Kring
Anaheim City Council, District 5: Mark Lopez
Costa Mesa City Council: Allan Mansoor, Steve Mensinger, Lee Ramos
Dana Point City Council: Michelle Brough
Fountain Valley City Council: Steve Nagel
Fullerton City Council: Larry Bennett, Bruce Whitaker
Garden Grove Mayor: Steve Jones
Huntington Beach City Council: Patrick Brenden, Joe Carchio, Lyn Semeta
Irvine Mayor: Don Wagner
Irvine City Council: Anthony Kuo, Christina Shea
La Habra City Council: Tom Beamish, Dawn Holthouser, Tim Shaw
Laguna Hills City Council: Janine Heft
Laguna Niguel City Council: Laurie Davies, John Mark Jennings, Jerry Slusiewicz
Lake Forest City Council: Francisco Barajas, Dwight Robinson
Los Alamitos City Council: Dean Grose
Newport Beach City Council, District 5: Lee Lowrey
Newport Beach City Council, District 7: Will O’Neill
Orange City Council: Mark Murphy
Rancho Santa Margarita City Council: Tony Beall, Carol Gamble
San Clemente City Council: Dan Bane
Tustin City Council: Allan Bernstein, Austin Lumbard, Charles Puckett
Westminster City Council: Kimberly Ho
Yorba Linda City Council: Tara Campbell, Gene Hernandez, Craig Young
College Districts
North Orange County Community College District, Trustee Area 7: Ryan Bent
Rancho Santiago Community College District, Trustee Area 5: Steven Nguyen
School Districts
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 1: Wendy Shrove
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 2: Jim Reardon
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 3: Laura Ferguson
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 5: Jake Vollebregt
Santa Ana Unified School District: Angie Cano
Water Districts
Orange County Water District, Division 6: Cathy Green
Mesa Water District, Division 2: James R. Fisler
Moulton Niguel Water District, Division 6: Duane Cave
Yorba Linda Water District: Ric Collett, Andy Hall
No on the Yorba Linda Water District Recall of Directors Bob Kiley and Gary Melton
Ballot Measures
No on Measure J – Anaheim Elementary School District $318 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure K – Brea-Olinda Unified School District $148 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure M – Capistrano Unified School District $889 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure N – Centralia Elementary School District $49 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure O – Fountain Valley School District $63 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure P – Garden Grove Unified School District $311 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure Q – Huntington Beach City School District $159.85 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure R – Ocean View School District $169 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure S – Orange Unified School District $288 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure T – Westminster School District $76 Million Facilities Bond
Yes on Measure U – Anaheim 2/3 Vote of the Council to Propose Taxes (Instead of Simple Majority)
No on Measure Y Costa Mesa initiative to amend Municipal Code to require voter approval of certain changes in land use, retroactive to July 17, 2015
No on Measure HH – Fountain Valley 1% Sales Tax Increase (from 8% to 9%)
No on Measure JJ – La Palma 1% Sales Tax Increase (from 8% to 9%)
No on Measure LL – Laguna Beach 2% Hotel Tax Increase (from 10% to 12%)
Yes on Measure MM – Newport Beach 5/7 Vote of the Council to Propose Taxes (Instead of Simple Majority)
No on Measure OO – San Clemente 3% Hotel Tax Increase (from 10% to 13%)
No on Measure PP – Santa Ana 700% Pay Raise for City Council (from $125/mtg to $1000/mo for Council and $200/mtg to $1000/mo for Mayor)
Yes on Measure QQ – Stanton 1% Sales Tax Repeal (from 9% to 8%)
No on Measure SS – Westminster 1% Sales Tax Increase (from 8% to 9%)
The Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee met on Monday night to consider endorsements for local offices and ballot measures.
OC Politicallive-blogged the meeting, but with the back and forth motions to modify the list, many readers were confused by what the endorsements were, so by popular demand here are the list of early endorsements (most non-early endorsements will be considered on September 1):
Aliso Viejo City Council: Mike Munzing
Costa Mesa City Council: Allan Mansoor, Steve Mensinger, Lee Ramos
Fullerton City Council: Bruce Whitaker
Irvine City Council: Anthony Kuo, Christina Shea
Laguna Niguel City Council: Laurie Davies, John Mark Jennings, Jerry Slusiewicz
Lake Forest City Council: Dwight Robinson
Orange City Council: Mark Murphy
Rancho Santa Margarita City Council: Tony Beall, Carol Gamble
Tustin City Council: Allan Bernstein, Austin Lumbard, Charles Puckett
Westminster City Council: Kimberly Ho
Yorba Linda City Council: Tara Campbell, Gene Hernandez
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 1: Wendy Shrove
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 2: Jim Reardon
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 3: Laura Ferguson
Mesa Water District, Division 2: Jim Fisler
Moulton Niguel Water District, Division 6: Duane Cave
No on Measure K – Brea-Olinda Unified School District $148 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure M – Capistrano Unified School District $889 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure N – Centralia Elementary School District $49 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure O – Fountain Valley School District $63 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure S – Orange Unified School District $288 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure T – Westminster School District $76 Million Facilities Bond
No on Measure HH – Fountain Valley 1% Sales Tax Increase
No on Measure JJ – La Palma 1% Sales Tax Increase
No on Measure SS – Westminster 1% Sales Tax Increase
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 22, 2013
I was working on a database of the part affiliation of all Orange County local elected officials. Finally, I have completed the project with all of the special districts and county seats being added. I also fixed some errors in the previous versions (here, here, and here) and have combined the database into one post.
We have added a button on the menu bar for our readers to always be able to access this database and use it for whatever research/political needs that they may have. Due to the length of th epost you are going to have to click the below link to read the rest of the post.
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on November 16, 2012
As promised, I have now put together a database for the School Board members and their party affiliation based on who will be serving post election. Based on results in a couple of races being close, this list may change before it goes up on the website permanently.
If anybody reading this finds an error (like the situation where I thought Wendy Leece ran unopposed for NMUSD) please let me know so I can fix it.
The Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee met on August 15 and August 31 to consider endorsements for local offices and ballot measures. Further endorsements will take place on September 19 (and possibly more after that).
OC Political 