FUSD's Mills faces challenger

Trustee works to clear worry of rivalry with Hanson as rival promises clean slate.

Published online on Monday, Oct. 06, 2008

Running for re-election, Fresno Unified School District trustee Carol Mills wants to clear up any misconception about her working relationship with Superintendent Michael Hanson: She supports him and doesn't want to fire him.

Though a Fresno County grand jury in 2007 accused Mills of micromanaging Hanson and asked her to step down as board president, she said the criticism was unfounded. The board later voted to keep her as president.

Recently, challenger Natalie Clark said Mills continues to dog Hanson at school board meetings.

"I'm open, honest and transparent," Clark said. "My opponent is not a team player and throws up roadblocks. I feel her ego gets in the way."

Now voters will decide whether to let Mills continue as a trustee -- or give Clark the job for the next four years.

The seat up for grabs in the Nov. 4 election represents the Fresno High School area in central Fresno. Mills, 53, has lived in the area 20 years. Clark, 36, is a lifelong resident of the area. She and her husband, Scott Miller, own Gazebo Gardens near Fresno High.

The post's duties include approving curriculum and setting policies for the district's 76,460 students, most of whom live in poverty. The job pays $1,500 a month, plus benefits.

The election is districtwide, and there are 145,083 voters.

Mills and Clark have invested in campaign consultants, hundreds of signs and reams of political literature that describe their achievements. They also have gathered key endorsements.

Mills is backed by several unions, including the Fresno Teachers Association and the California State Employees Association, which represents 2,500 food-service workers, classroom aides and other classified staff in Fresno Unified.

Clark has countered with nods from the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce and several local leaders, including former Fresno County Superintendent Pete Mehas and former Fresno Unified trustees Nancy Richardson, Dick Johanson, Luisa Medina and Pat Barr.

Mills is an attorney for the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno. She said many of Clark's supporters are the same people who were part of Voices for Excellence in Fresno Unified. That group spent about $240,000 in the 2006 election, but all of its candidates lost.

Mills said she deserves to be re-elected because three years ago Fresno Unified was in a financial mess. But after Hanson was hired in 2005, the district made significant improvements, she said.

In June this year, the board unanimously adopted a budget that protected student programs, emphasized campus safety and maintained about $30 million in reserves.

"I helped restore programs, positions and fiscal responsibility to Fresno Unified," Mills said.

Clark has a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master's degree in business administration from California State University, Fresno. She has been a member of the school site council at Hamilton School, but this is her first try in local politics.

In 2006, Clark's husband, Miller, lost a close race to Fresno Council Member Blong Xiong.

As a PG&E manager, Clark said she works on million-dollar projects with drafters, electricians and other technicians. She said she knows she is a good leader because the projects are done on time and on budget, and "the same people want to work with me again."

Mills, however, does everything to appease the unions, Clark said.

Mills bristled at the allegations. She said her votes are supported by independent research, and her voting record will show that she sides with the board majority most of the time.