Friday is the deadline, but where are the candidates? UPDATE:Extension to Wednesday, Aug. 15

Update: Filing Extension Yields New Candidates
Candidates may file until Wednesday at 5 p.m. to run for elected office in the Mountain Communities. Those positions, and the candidates registered so far, are as follows:

El Tejon Unified School District—New candidates may register until Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 5 p.m.
Three 4-year seats are opening. Current registered candidates are:
John Fleming, Piñon Pines (incumbent)
Bob Anderson, Lake of the Woods
Vickie Mullen, Frazier Park
Linda Sheldon, Frazier Park
Lark Shillig, Piñon Pines

One 2-year seat is opening. Current registered candidates are:
Dean Crabb, Frazier Park
Scott Robinson, Pine Mountain
Timothy Schantzen, Lebec

South West Health Care DistrictNew candidates may register until Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 5 p.m.
Linda Sheldon

Frazier Park Public Utilities District
Gerald McKay, Frazier Park (incumbent)
Gerald Garcia, Frazier Park (incumbent)

UPDATE: Since we first went to press, by Thursday, Aug. 9 there were four candidates for the El Tejon Unified School District Board, for four seats. The Kern County board of elections announces that in the races in which the incumbents do not all file to run, there will be an extension to Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 5 p.m. for candidates to file. More candidates are still able to sign up.

The South West Health Care District had no candidates by the end of Thursday. Two seats are open.

Comment by Patric Hedlund, Editor

We called the Kern County Elections Board on Monday. Our goal was to confirm who has filed so far to run as candidates

  • for the four seats available on the El Tejon Unified School District (ETUSD) Board of Governors;
  • for the two seats available on the Frazier Park Public Utility District Board and
  • for the three seats available on the South West Health Care District Board.

We found something surprising on Monday, Aug. 6.

With only four days left before the Friday, Aug. 10 deadline for candidates to file to be on the ballot, no one—not one member of our community—had filed yet to run for the school board or the health care district board. Two have filed as candidates for Frazier Park’s Public Utility District: incumbents Gerald Garcia and Gerald McKay.

Now, if you are reading this as soon as our newspaper comes onto the street on Thursday morning, you have about 1.5 days left to declare your candidacy. If you see it Friday, you would have to be in Bakersfield by about 4 p.m. Friday to complete your registration by the 5 p.m. deadline for candidates.

People often wait for the last moment,” said a board of elections clerk, with a small laugh. Perhaps it is a tactical move to avoid potential adversaries from knowing aspiring candidates’ plans—but the lack of candidates is of great concern.

The South West Health Care District helps sponsor community health efforts on the mountain. They distribute money that is collected from taxes we all pay.

As to the school board, we need solid, conscientious candidates who care about excellence in education. We need proactive leaders, people who genuinely care about bringing opportunity to children. I believe we can make this a place where people are eager to come to raise their families. But it will require work and dedication. There are vital issues before the school district that will continue for the next several years as we navigate out of a crisis amid the likely closure of one school.

A major task ahead is to invent ways to steer this small district toward community strengths, so ETUSD can become a center of excellence in education in California, much as its Pine Mountain Learning Center has demonstrated is possible here.

Board of Elections: 1115 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield (661-868-3590).

This is part of the August 10, 2012 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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