Petitions in Laguna School Board Recall Filed With County

Recall proponents claimed victory Monday in their efforts to obtain sufficient voter signatures to force a recall election for a majority of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees.

Although it could be up to a month before the totals are fully certified, Citizens United for Responsible Education said it met the filing deadline Monday with a 500-signature “cushion” for three of the trustees.

CURE filed its petitions with the Orange County registrar of voters office Monday morning, and that office, under state law, now has 30 days to check the accuracy of the signatures.

CURE needs the signatures of 3,515 registered voters to trigger a recall against four of its targeted school trustees: Charlene Ragatz, Carl Schwarz, Janet Vickers and Susan Mas. The recall move began last fall, after those four voted to allow then-Laguna Beach High football coach Cedrick Hardman to resume coaching after his arrest on a drug-related charge.

Regretted Her Vote

The fifth board member, Harry Bithell, voted against allowing Hardman to return.

Mas, on the day the recall notice was formally served, said “in retrospect” she regretted her vote. Public sentiment against her reportedly dropped after that, and, as had been expected, the recall group did not have enough voter signatures Monday to seek her ouster.

There were about 3,000 voter signatures against Mas--about 500 short of the total needed, CURE officials said.

By contrast, CURE said it had at least 500 more signatures than needed against the other three trustees. CURE chairman Matt Gorry Monday morning told the registrar of voters office that the petitions he gave them had 4,215 voter signatures against Ragatz; 4,152 against Vickers and 4,071 against Schwarz.

If at least 3,515 of the signatures against each trustee are found valid by the registrar’s office, state law requires a recall election. The date of the special election would fall somewhere between Sept. 23 and Oct. 30, said Jeannette Shelton, a section supervisor at the registrar’s office.

Can’t Be Consolidated

She said there is no way, under state law, that the election could be consolidated with the regularly scheduled Nov. 3 general election. Ragatz’s term ends in November, and she would be on the Nov. 3 ballot if she chooses to seek reelection.

If the recall movement triggers a special election, Ragatz would be before the voters a few weeks earlier.

The special election would cost $1.20 per registered voter in Laguna Beach Unified School District, according to Shelton. She said there are currently 16,682 registered voters in the district, so the total cost would be $20,018.40. The election cost is charged to the school district.

Schwarz, in a statement Monday, said the $20,000 cost of a special election would be a waste of money, especially since the district is already hard-pressed with declining budgets.

Deplored the Cost

“That money could be used for teaching staff,” he said. But Schwarz said that while he deplores the cost of a possible recall election, he personally would welcome the opportunity to face the voters “and let all the facts and issues come out.”

Schwarz said that throughout the recall campaign he had vainly sought to engage CURE leaders into a face-to-face public debate. “So if there is now a special election, I think there will finally be an open discussion,” Schwarz said. “These people are well-intentioned, but they have said there are many issues when actually everyone knows there is just one issue, and that is Hardman. This is a one-issue campaign, and people shouldn’t be recalled for a difference of opinion on one issue.”

Vickers said Monday that she deplores the recall move, and she said she “proudly” stands on her record. “The recall is now against me and Charlene and Carl, and you couldn’t find a better school board than the three of us,” she said.

In various appearances and talks, Schwarz, Ragatz and Vickers have repeatedly said they made a wise and humane move in the Hardman case.

Adopted a Policy

They said that before Hardman’s arrest, the district did not have a policy on how school employees would be treated if arrested on drug-related charges. In the wake of the Hardman arrest, the school board drafted and passed a districtwide policy. One provision allows a school employee who is pursuing court-ordered drug rehabilitation to continue working at his or her job. It was under that provision that Hardman was allowed to continue coaching last fall on a volunteer basis.

Hardman’s drug arrest will not be prosecuted, if he continues his rehabilitation program, court officials have said. Hardman, however, still faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

Earlier this year he resigned from his coaching position, and he has kept a low profile in Laguna Beach in the wake of the school controversy. Hardman is a former All-Pro player for the San Francisco 49ers.

Anti-Recall Effort

Gorry, chairman of CURE, said Monday that the recall effort has cost about $2,500, with the money coming from private donations.

Pat Crosby, chairman of Citizens Against the Recall Effort, said Monday that his counter-petition group on Sunday turned in 43 signatures of voters who originally signed the recall petitions but now have changed their minds. “I think CURE is only going to have a 50% chance at best in getting an election,” Crosby said.

Crosby also said he is filing a complaint against CURE with the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission. Crosby said that a flyer by CURE was mailed in a shopper’s publication and that under state law the cover of the publication must then give a disclaimer about the political material inside, including the name and address of the paid political advertiser. Gorry and CURE worker Lisa Triebwasser said, in rebuttal, that no effort was made to disguise the sponsor or source of the flyer.