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Incumbent Steve Grenbeaux and political newcomer Cathy Flores Hallinan appeared to have won the Modesto City Schools board election. Amy Neumann held a slim lead over Solange Altman in a close race for the third seat.
With all but 3 of 219 precincts tallied, Hallinan had 7,439, or 16 percent of the vote; Grenbeaux had 6,872 votes, or 15
Grenbeaux, headed for his fifth term, credited at least part of his success to ballot placement. He and Hallinan were the top two on the list as well as the count.
“It doesn’t look like the stadium was much of an issue after all,” Grenbeaux said Tuesday night. “I’m glad to be back because there are some things we’ve started that I want to see through,” he said, listing vocational courses, a soon to be proposed military academy and the stadium at Gregori High.
Hallinan said watching the polling results come in said, “I’m delighted — super surprised.” She said the ballot placement likely helped, but “Whatever the reason, I will be working really hard.” As tough decisions happen in the next year, Hallinan said, “The public has a right to know what’s happening, every step of the way.”
Neumann said her race was too close to call. “I am very excited. There were lot of great candidates running,” she said. Candidate Mylinda Mason, who had weathered a storm of controversy in recent days, appeared to be losing. Mason had 5,134 votes, or 11 percent, placing her fifth among the nine candidates. Mason ignited passions last week with Facebook postings blaming “homosexuals and other liberals” for the loss of her campaign signs.
Mason defended her views in news reports and a lively exchange on her campaign Facebook page. Mason said she is not homophobic, but does not believe sexuality should be discussed in classrooms.
Protesters against her candidacy demonstrated at Modesto’s Five Points intersection Saturday and pickets walked by her home all day Tuesday. Mason said the protesters arrived at 7 a.m. “They’re exercising their free speech rights,” she said Tuesday night. “I told the police officer. ‘It’s my turn.’ I’ve been an activist for 25 years,” and picketed many times, she said.
A counter-campaign Facebook page, “Students, Teachers, and Families against Mylinda Mason for School Board,” was put up Sept. 23. Early postings said if elected, Mason would work against tolerance and diversity “by mandating her own beliefs that will shanghai students, and make children less safe in our schools.”
Mason was not the only candidate to lose signs. The Modesto Teachers Association, which supported Altman, Hallinan and Grenbeaux, estimated 25 signs were destroyed from their group. Josh Vander Veen and Rickey McGill also said they lost signs.
The union for support staff, the California School Employees Association Modesto chapter, endorsed Altman, Hallinan and Neumann, said President Aaron Castro.
The Republican Party of Stanislaus County endorsed Brian Du Bois, Mason and Bill Mussman. Du Bois is a leader in the Tea Party Patriots. Mason is a GOP supervisorial district caucus chair.
The winning candidates will serve four-year terms on the seven-member board. Members earn $688.75 a month plus $258 toward health care premiums.
Almost immediately after being sworn in, the board could face news of mid-year state budget cuts. The district’s budget shows it pulling $22 million from reserves to finish the school year even before those cuts.
Without a major turnaround in California’s economy, the new board members will face difficult decisions this spring to curb expenses for the next school year and avoid running out of money in 2013-14.
Bee education reporter Nan Austin can be reached at naustin@modbee.com or (209)
