Wisnicki raises $26K more than competitors
By Daily Press Staff Writer
Voters this November could keep Malibu parents off the decision-making board of the local school district for the first time in nearly 25 years.
Only one of four candidates running for three open seats is a Malibu resident, and none of the board members whose terms don’t expire until 2006 are from Malibu. Board member Mike Jordan of Malibu will retire this November.
If community volunteer Kathy Wisnicki, a Malibu parent, fails to win a seat, it will be the first time since 1981 the board has been made up entirely of Santa Monica residents. That possibility has sparked a debate over what’s best for students.
“I think that Malibu would feel very disenfranchised,” said Wisnicki, 42, who sits on the district’s financial oversight committee. “I think that there’s already that impression coming from a number of people, and I think that, without Malibu representation, that will create more of that feeling of disenfranchisement from the district.”
Incumbent Maria Leon-Vazquez, 48, disagreed. She said the board will consider the interests of all the district’s students, regardless of where members live.
“We don’t turn around and say, ‘This money is just going to be spent on Santa Monica,’” said Leon-Vazquez, referring to a recently passed bond measure that was used in large part to fund projects in Malibu. “No, no. We said, ‘It’s got to be spent on all our children in the district. Wherever the need is, that’s where the money goes.’”
Challenger Ana M. Jara, 46, agreed with Leon-Vazquez.
A82,“I think that every single board member that is elected onto the position has to consider the overview of all the students, from Olympic High all the way to Point Dume,” she said.
Incumbent Jose Escarce, 51, said although the lack of a Malibu representative probably wouldn’t make much of a difference substantively, parent perceptions would be affected. Both Escarce and Vazquez are seeking re-election after four years on the board.
“Ninety-five percent of the time, the issues are not Malibu specific or Santa Monica specific, but there’s a small percentage of time where an issue relates to a particular school or a particular community,” Escarce said. “When issues like that come up, it’s really nice to have representatives from the Malibu community, if it’s a Malibu issue.
“From the perspective of appearance, I think it’s a really big issue,” he added. “I feel very comfortable and very confident that everybody on the board tries to represent everybody... Now, does it help to have somebody that lives in Malibu? Of course it does.
“It would be silly to say it doesn’t.”
The debate over Malibu representation comes only months after a group of Malibu parents began pushing to secede from the district, a movement that is still garnering support while the finances are being studied in detail. It also comes during a school board race that has been marked by an air of collegiality, both candidates and observers said.
“I think it’s been clean and fair,” said school board member Shane McCloud, whose term runs until 2006. “The mud’s been reserved for the City Council election.”
McCloud said he is supporting Wisnicki, along with Escarce and Leon-Vazquez for re-election. He’s not alone. That trio also won the backing of, among other groups, the Coalition to Protect the Living Wage, the local chamber of commerce, the Committee for Excellent Public Schools, the local teacher union and the faculty union at Santa Monica College.
Jara beat out Wisnicki to win a coveted endorsement from the powerful Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights group, along with Escarce and Vazquez. She is also backed by the local chapter of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union.
As of the middle of October, the candidates had reported widely varied fundraising amounts. Escarce reported raising $6,570, while Jara brought in $3,789 and Leon-Vazquez raised a total of $3,765, according to fundraising disclosure documents filed at City Hall. Wisnicki, on the other hand, reported raising nearly $33,000 by the middle of this month.
“That’s the disadvantage for a Malibu candidate not getting the SMRR endorsement,” Wisnicki said. “I’ve had to raise so much more money than anybody else.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 28, 2004. Read the original PDF.