School Board Terms Extended One Year

The new California State elections code requires local elections with poor voter turnouts to consolidate their election with the next statewide election.

For the Culver City Unified School District, which had a meager turnout of 13.98% in the last election, the 2017 election will be cancelled and rescheduled with the statewide general election in November 2018.

This will effectively extend the terms of board members Dr. Steven M. Levin, Katherine Paspalis, Esq. and Susanne Robins an additional year making their term a total of five years.

Also the terms of board members Anne Allaire-Burke and Dr. Kelly Kent will also be extended to 2020 allowing them to each serve a five-year term.

Existing law generally requires all state, county, municipal, district, and school district elections be held on an established election date. Existing law also establishes certain dates for statewide elections. Existing law requires any state, county, municipal, district, and school district election held on a statewide election date to be consolidated with a statewide election, except as provided.

SB 415 requires that effective January 1, 2018, the Culver City Unified School District would not be allowed to hold an election other than on a statewide election date if holding an election on a nonconcurrent date has previously resulted in voter turnout for a regularly scheduled election in the city being at least 25% less than the average voter turnout within the school district for the previous four statewide general elections, except as specified.

This bill would require a court to implement appropriate remedies upon a violation of this prohibition. The bill would also authorize a voter, who resides in a political subdivision where a violation is alleged to file an action in superior court to enforce this prohibition, and it would allow a prevailing plaintiff other than the state or political subdivision to collect a reasonable attorney’s fee and litigation expenses, as provided.