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Brenda Chicharello
Brenda Chicharello was a candidate for District 4 representative on the Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board in New Mexico. Chicharello was defeated in the by-district general election on February 7, 2017.
Elections
2017
Three of the five seats on the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on February 7, 2017. In her bid for re-election to District 2, appointed incumbent Sandra Jeff faced challengers Freda Joe and Charles Long. Long won election to the board. District 4 incumbent Joe Menini and District 5 incumbent Lynn Huenemann did not file to run for re-election, leaving two seats open for newcomers. The race for the District 4 seat featured candidates Brenda Chicharello and Christopher Mortensen, and Mortensen won the seat. Three candidates—Esther Macias, Gerald O'Hara, and Michael Schaaf—ran for the District 5 seat, and Schaaf won. All three winners were endorsed by the McKinley County Federation of United School Employees (MCFUSE).[1][2][3]
Results
| Gallup-McKinley County Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Christopher Mortensen |
58.57% | 400 |
| Brenda Chicharello | 41.43% | 283 |
| Total Votes | 683 | |
| Source: McKinley County Bureau of Elections, "OFFICIAL RESULTS from the February 7, 2017 School Election," accessed February 22, 2017 | ||
Funding
Candidates in the Gallup-McKinley County Schools election did not have to file campaign finance reports. The state only required campaign finance reporting for school districts with an enrollment of 12,000 students or more.[4]
What was at stake?
2017
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2015
Before citizens of the district cast their ballots, the Gallup-McKinley County Board of Education was guaranteed to add more newcomers to the board in 2017 than it did in 2015 due to two open seats. In the district's 2015 school board election, both incumbents whose terms were up for re-election ran to retain their seats. The one newcomer elected in 2015 defeated an incumbent to win the seat. In 2017, two of the three incumbents did not run for re-election, and the one incumbent who did run was defeated by a newcomer.
| School board election trends | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Gallup-McKinley County Schools | |||||
| 2017 | 2.67 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| 2015 | 3.50 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 50.00% | |
| New Mexico | |||||
| 2015 | 2.05 | 30.00% | 64.29% | 50.00% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Issues in the election
Bond question
In addition to choosing candidates for the board of education, citizens of the Gallup-McKinley County school district approved a $25 million general obligation bond question for the school district with 77 percent of the vote.[2] The question appeared on the ballot as follows:
| “ | Shall the Board of Education of the Gallup-McKinley County School District, County of McKinley, New Mexico, be authorized to issue up to $25,000,000 of general obligation bonds for the purpose of erecting, remodeling, making additions to and furnishing school buildings; purchasing or improving school grounds; purchasing computer software and hardware for student use in public schools; providing matching funds for capital outlay projects funded pursuant to the Public School Capital Outlay Act; or any combination of these purposes?[5] | ” |
| —Gallup-McKinley County Schools (2017)[6] | ||
Issues in the district
Teachers union calls upon state to resolve question of residency
The McKinley County Federation of United School Employees (MCFUSE) passed a resolution in January 2017 that asked the director of the McKinley County Bureau of Elections, the district attorney, members of the New Mexico Public Education Department, and the New Mexico attorney general to determine the residency of District 2 appointed incumbent Sandra Jeff. The resolution said that local media outlets had reported that Jeff resided in Albuquerque, which was outside of the Gallup-McKinley County school district. State law requires school board members to reside in the districts they represent.[7][8]
Jeff was appointed to the board in July 2016 with a 3-1 vote.[9] When questioned about her residency at a school board meeting in January 2017, Jeff said she was from Crownpoint, which is in District 2 of the school district, the area she was appointed to represent. The Gallup Independent, however, published articles in August 2016 and January 2017 that said Jeff lived at 6612 Welton Drive NE in Albuquerque and that her children attended Hope Christian School in Albuquerque.[10]
Prior to her board appointment, Jeff ran for the District 22 seat in the New Mexico State Senate. The boundaries for that district include parts of McKinley County, which is where the school district is located, and parts of Bernalillo County, which is where Albuquerque is located.[11] When she filed to run in the primary election for the state Senate seat, Jeff listed a P.O. box in Crownpoint as her address.[12] Jeff lost her re-election bid to the board in the general election on February 7, 2017.[2]
The entirety of the resolution passed by the MCFUSE General Membership on January 21, 2017, can be found below.
| “ | WHEREAS, Sandra D. Jeff was appointed by the Gallup-McKinley County Schools [GMCS] Board to replace Titus Nez and represent District 2;
WHEREAS, local/state media and investigative sources report that Jeff has resided with her family in Albuquerque for the past 20 years and does not reside in District 2; WHEREAS, residency is GMCS Board policy and New Mexico statute; WHEREAS, this issue/allegation of said residency has been raised to the GMCS Board by the New Mexico Public Education Department [NMPED] to no avail and without redress; WHEREAS, Jeff has added her name to the candidate list for the upcoming GMCS Board elections on February 07, 2017; WHEREAS, a non-resident representative would be a disservice to the voters/residents of District 2 and its students; WHEREAS, an illegitimate Board member could possibly jeopardize/delegitimize any action of the GMCS Board; WHEREAS, the NMPED and the New Mexico Attorney General [AG] have recently taken action in other New Mexico school districts; BE IT RESOLVED, that the McKinley County Federation of United School Employees [MCFUSE] call upon the Director, Bureau of Elections, Mr. Rick Palochak; the District Attorney, Mr. Karl Gillson; the Deputy Secretary of NMPED, Mr. Paul Aguilar; the Secretary of PED, Ms Hanna Skandera; and the New Mexico Attorney General, Mr. Hector Balderas to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of office by finally making and publishing a legal and informed determination on Jeff’s residency and eligibility as a GMCS Board candidate and, if appropriate/applicable, to act in accordance with and as the authority of said office dictates.[5] |
” |
| —McKinley County Federation of United School Employees (January 21, 2017)[8] | ||
District leaders receive Notice of Disapproval and Failure to Meet Requirements
The five members of the Gallup-McKinley County Board of Education and Superintendent Frank Chiapetti were each sent a Notice of Disapproval and Failure to Meet Requirements from the New Mexico Public Education Department on December 15, 2016. The notice listed three ways the board had failed to meet the requirements of the law or the department's standards.[13]
The first failure listed on the notice was related to a directive the Public Education Department had previously sent the board. On August 24, 2016, New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera informed board members that they committed gross overreach in a directive to the superintendent. Skandera told the board to withdraw the directive and "allow the Superintendent to do his job." The board did not withdraw the directive, however, and they continued to use the directive to critique the superintendent's performance through October 2016. The December 2016 notice said the board's failure to withdraw the directive was a "severe act of noncompliance" and also violated the state's Public School Code "by making it impossible for the Superintendent to perform his functions as required."[13]
The second failure listed on the notice was "On-going interference with decisions that are the responsibility of the Superintendent," and the third failure listed was "The board has not exercised sufficient oversight over the Indian Education Committee." The notice instructed board members to withdraw their directive to the superintendent, provide a plan on how board members would avoid engaging in actions under the responsibility of the superintendent, and require the Indian Education Committee to comply with the directives from the Public Education Department.[13]
The board was given 30 days to comply with the notice or face possible suspension. Board President Priscilla B. Manuelito and Board Secretary Lynn Huenemann met with officials in the Public Education Department on January 12, 2017, to discuss the notice. At the board's meeting on January 17, 2017, Huenemann said the department had clarified its requirements and given the board an extension. The board planned to discuss the notice in more detail at its meeting on February 6, 2017. According to the meeting's agenda, the board discussed the notice in executive session.[14][15][16]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with McKinley County Bureau of Elections," December 22, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 McKinley County Bureau of Elections, "Election Summary Report," accessed February 7, 2017
- ↑ McKinley County Federation of United School Employees, "Stand With Us in Solidarity!" accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ New Mexico Statutes, "Chapter 1. Elections: Article 22A. School District Campaign Reporting," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ McKinley County Bureau of Elections, "2017 SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION INFORMATION," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ New Mexico School Boards Association, "School Board Member Handbook: CHAPTER II – LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 McKinley County Federation of United School Employees, "MCFUSE Resolution," January 21, 2017
- ↑ Navajo Times, "New Gallup McKinley County School Board member takes reins," July 28, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "McKinley County Federation of United School Employees (MCFUSE) post from January 21, 2017," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "New Mexico Senate District #22," accessed January 26, 2017
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Candidate Portal: 2016 Primary Election Contest/Candidate List," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 New Mexico Public Education Department, "Notice of Disapproval and Failure to Meet Requirements," December 15, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "MCFUSE post from January 25, 2017," accessed January 30, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "MCFUSE post from February 4, 2017," accessed February 7, 2017
- ↑ Gallup-McKinley County Schools, "Agenda of Regular Meeting: Monday, February 6, 2017 6:00 PM," accessed February 7, 2017
| Gallup-McKinley County Schools elections in 2017 | |
| McKinley County, New Mexico | |
| Election date: | February 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 2: • Incumbent, Sandra Jeff • Freda Joe • Charles Long District 4: • Brenda Chicharello • Christopher Mortensen District 5: • Esther Macias • Gerald O'Hara • Michael Schaaf |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
