Loyalties for Fresno Unified board candidates shift

Published online on Wednesday, Sep. 27, 2006

Originally published in The Fresno Bee and on FresnoBee.com on July 23, 2006.

Four candidates for Fresno Unified's school board may look the same, but some political landscapes and loyalties have shifted.

More than half of the seats on the board of California's fourth-largest school district are up for grabs this November, and all of the incumbents have confirmed they'll run again: Luisa Medina, Pat Barr, Tony Vang and Valerie Davis.

Monday was the first day for candidates to officially file with the Fresno County elections office. Several of the incumbents said they've heard rumors they may face opposition in the races, but only Davis, Medina and Barr had officially taken out papers to file by late Friday afternoon.

The trustees came to the financially struggling district with a blend of political backings. The mayor supported some, and the teachers union backed others.

Some of that's changed. Barr said Fresno Mayor Alan Autry supports her, and that wasn't the case when she was elected four years ago.

"Those people who put people up against me are now with me," she said.

Four years ago, Medina and Vang were part of a four-person slate billed as "4 Voices for Reform" that came to be associated with Autry after he publicly endorsed them in 2002.

But Medina said what was sometimes called the "Autry slate" was actually assembled by Fresno community members including business leaders, Fresno County schools Superintendent Pete Mehas, then-county Supervisor Juan Arambula and then-Rep. Cal Dooley, D-Fresno.

Eventually, the coalition put together four candidates: Medina, Vang, Richard Johanson and Joseph Penbera. Because of Autry's outspoken criticism of the educational system, Medina said the coalition didn't want to ignore him.

"Critical to the success of that was, in fact, the mayor's endorsement," she said.

Voters put three of the mayor's four picks into office, with Barr beating Penbera. Johanson beat opponent Valerie Davis, but she was elected as a trustee in 2004 after he resigned.

Since those elections, a lot of changes have taken place in Fresno Unified. Superintendent Michael Hanson was hired, and the district's budget stabilized.

Medina said those changes made a difference for the mayor, who has given Hanson support that his predecessor Santiago Wood didn't enjoy.

Vang agreed that Autry seemed to have a decent relationship with the district's leaders, including a number of the school board members.

"I haven't talked to the mayor, but I'm pretty sure the mayor will support my re-election," he said.

On Monday, Autry agreed he supports reforms within Fresno Unified, but he maintained that, as a whole, the educational system is incapable of giving children a quality education.

The mayor has focused on Fresno Unified for years, saying that whatever children learn in schools directly affects their adult contributions to society. Previously, he tried to take over the academically struggling school district by asking for the power to appoint school board members, but was rebuffed by state lawmakers.

Autry likened electing good board members to putting racecar driver Jeff Gordon behind the wheel of a Model T: No matter how skilled the driver, he's not going to win the race.

"You try to get the best people that you can to do what you can with the broken system," he said. "It's really like buying a ticket on the Titanic. There's got to be reform."

It's too early to say which candidates the Fresno Teachers Association will endorse. The union's selection process won't start until the filing window closes in August, said Gary Alford, associate executive director.

Alford also said the union would carefully look at all candidates, regardless of previous endorsements.

"Nobody has our guaranteed support," he said. "We could choose to sit it all out."

Davis said she received endorsements from the unions last time, and she appreciated them.

"I think they validate me being a teacher," she said.

At the same time, Davis said she hoped people thought of her first as a community member and parent of two Fresno Unified students who's worked hard at her job. She noted the diversity in the current slate of board members.

Barr said the trustees are in the middle of a reform plan, and it would be folly for voters to boot any of them out of office.

"I think it's imperative that we don't change leadership," she said.

Time will tell whether the public agrees. The deadline for school board candidates to register with the county elections office is Aug. 11.

The reporter can be reached at cvance@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6197.