Fresno-area trustee claims voter fraud and was a part of US Capitol mob. He must resign

James Hoak, the embattled new member of the Sierra Unified School District board, is not going to step down despite strong opposition to his remaining in office. That’s a mistake. He is unfit to be a member of a local school board.

A petition calling for his ouster was signed by more than 4,000 people by midday Wednesday in the wake of news that he took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last week.

Hoak admits he was part of the horde that went to the Capitol, but says he never entered the building and did not condone the violence that ensued.

During Monday’s board meeting, Hoak was asked by a parent if he was going to resign. “I can answer that real quick for you. I will be here until 2024, and I’ll see you at the polls.”

The change.org petition includes comments from many who signed on. Among the words used to describe Hoak: Traitor. Terrorist. Racist. White supremacist. Hater.

Chances are the people who signed that petition have never met Hoak; many of them don’t live in the Sierra foothills where the district is located, and don’t know anything about him beyond what they have read in news reports.

That said, he acknowledges he was at the Capitol during the attack, one in which five people died, including a Capitol officer and a woman from San Diego.

Those are bad optics for an elected official with a duty to constituents to act with proper discernment. As a school trustee, Hoak’s responsibility is also to impressionable youth. He is guilty of using incredibly poor judgment to join in, despite his claims to be acting as a private citizen, of just being part of the crowd, and simply wanting to document the moment for history as a “rookie journalist.”

The attack on the Capitol, the heart of American democracy, was shocking, horrific, unbelievable. Far from being the patriots they claim to be, the attackers were domestic terrorists, plain and simple.

But beyond that, the real reason why Hoak must step down from his post is what he said to a local television reporter in the aftermath of the riot.

Fraud claim

Marie Edinger of KMPH Fox 26 asked Hoak what his goal was in going to Washington, D.C. Hoak, a supporter of President Trump, said “I was hoping to see our Congress object to multiple states where there was plenty of evidence of voter fraud,” referring to the presidential election results.

“The ultimate goal was … just give us our day in court.”

Hoak offers that justification despite only one Trump court challenge of 62 made having been upheld (it was inconsequential to the results in Pennsylvania). Ballot results were certified by election officials in all the states, even the Republican-dominated ones. The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr, who was chosen by Trump, found no evidence of voter fraud to change the fact that Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump.

The number of electoral votes that switched because of Trump’s efforts? Zero.

Despite his journey to Washington to join the others in the Capitol attack, Hoak did not realize his goal. Congress certified the Electoral College results, giving Biden the victory.

Leading school district

The Sierra Unified district is headquartered in Prather, in the foothills on the way to Shaver Lake. It is not a big district — enrollment is about 1,200 children. There is an elementary school, a junior high and Sierra High. Of the students, about two-thirds are either English learners, foster children or receive free-reduced price meals.

More than 800 of the students are white; 200 are Native American and another 200 are Latino.

How can a school board member properly serve these children if he is going to peddle lies? He cannot.

This incident is not the first time Hoak has been a provocateur. Last May he joined a throng that accosted Fresno City Councilman Miguel Arias at his front door, his children just inside the living room, to harangue him about business restrictions related to the COVID pandemic.

Hoak told Edinger he likes to stand up against bullying. But in supporting Trump, Hoak backs America’s biggest political bully; and Hoak’s in-your-face ambush of Arias belies the kinder image he seeks to portray.

Monday’s school board meeting was just Hoak’s second since being elected. It should be his last.