One seat on new unified board still undecided
By Brian D. Wilson
Santa Paula News
Published: November 14, 2012
After voters approved Measure M last week four of the five seats were decided for the Santa Paula Unified School District.
The remaining seat on the board is still up in the air. The morning after the voting Kelsey Stewart led Tim Hicks by one vote with absentee ballots and provisional ballots still to be counted. Some of those results are now in and Hicks has taken a 30-vote lead over Stewart.
There were six candidates running for the five-member board. Christina Tina Urias was the top vote getter with 20.99 percent. Diana Ponce-Gomez placed second with 17.66 percent. Third was Michelle Kolbeck at 17.03 percent. Chris Wilson took the fourth spot with 16.28 percent of the vote.
Urias, Wilson and Ponce-Gomez all currently serve on the Santa Paula Union High School District board. Kolbeck serves on the Santa Paula Elementary School District board. She wrote the ballot argument opposing the measure. Hicks also currently serves on the elementary board. Stewart has served as a volunteer at the schools and is active in other community activities, most notably the Santa Paula Little League.
The top three vote earners will serve a three-year term and the remaining two will serve a one-year term to stagger the elections.
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