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El Monte Union High School District recalls, California (2023)
| El Monte Union High School District recall |
|---|
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| Officeholders |
Florencio Briones |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Esthela Torres de Siegrist from her position on the El Monte Union High School District board of trustees in California did not go to a vote in 2023. Recall supporters stopped pursuing the effort in August 2023 after Torres de Siegrist voted against an effort to build a new building at Mountain View High School for adult students with disabilities.[1]
The effort against Torres de Siegrist began in March 2023 and followed the board's vote in January 2023 to cancel plans for a new school for adult students with disabilities at the district's Rosemead campus, which had been scheduled to begin construction in the summer of 2023, and instead reintegrate those students into the district's high schools.[2] In addition to voting against the new building at Mountain View High School, Torres de Siegrist also voted in August 2023 to return to the Rosemead campus proposal and rehire the group that had been working on the construction at that campus.[1] To get the recall on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 2,768 signatures by September 9, 2023.[3]
A separate effort to recall board member Florencio Briones also began in March 2023.[4] The effort against Briones was rejected by the county due to an insufficient number of valid signatures on the notice of intent to recall.[5]
Torres de Siegrist was elected to a four-year term on the five-member board in 2020. She previously served on the board from 2007 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2017. Briones was elected to the board in 2017.[6]
Recall supporters
Effort against Torres de Siegrist
The notice of intent to recall Torres de Siegrist said that she "[colluded] with Trustees Ricardo Padilla and Qui Nguyen to enter into a lease agreement with her employer." Torres de Siegrist's employer was Pasadena City College at the time the recall effort started, where she worked as an adjunct professor. The lease agreement mentioned in the notice of intent was a plan to continue renting property at the district's Rosemead campus to Pasadena City College instead of building a new school for adult students with disabilities, which had been scheduled to begin construction when the college's current lease ended in June 2023. The board voted in January 2023 to cancel the plans for the new school and reintegrate adult students with disabilities into the district's high schools. The lease with Pasadena City College was still being negotiated at the time the notice of intent was served.[2][7] When the renewal was later brought up for a vote, Torres de Siegrist abstained, and the vote failed, letting the lease expire.[1]
The notice of intent to recall said that Torres de Siegrist should have recused herself from discussions about the potential lease with Pasadena City College and alleged that she had broken state conflict of interest laws.[2]
Paul Arellano served Torres de Siegrist with the notice of intent to recall. “I was not happy with the decision this board made on January 18 to reverse the hard work and taxpayer dollars that went into the design to renovate the Rosemead Center for disabled students,” Arellano said.[2]
Arellano also filed a complaint against Torres de Siegrist over the possible lease agreement with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). The FPPC closed the complaint in April 2023 because Torres de Siegrist had not yet voted on the lease agreement, which was still in negotiations at the time the complaint was filed.[7]
Briones was listed as a point of contact on the notice of intent to recall Torres de Siegrist.[2]
Effort against Briones
Irma Zamorano served Briones a notice of intent to recall at a board meeting on March 15, 2023. “He is a confirmed congenital liar,” Zamorano said at the meeting.[4]
The notice of intent included the following reasons for recall, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune:[4]
| “ | The notice alleges Briones lied about graduating from Pepperdine University; engaged in 'elder abuse against several El Monte residents, wishing they have a stroke'; publicly made false accusations and accused 'residents of being homophobic'; falsely accused his fellow board members of violating the Brown Act; and supported 'segregating special needs students' instead of 'integrating (them) to a normal student society.'[8] | ” |
Briones was censured by his fellow board members on February 8, 2023. The censure resolution said Briones had fallen short of the standards of a board member, "engaged in personal attacks against his fellow Trustees," insulted other elected officials in the surrounding area, and lied to the public about his educational and career backgrounds. Torres de Siegrist joined members Ricardo Padilla and Qui Nguyen in voting to pass the censure. Briones and member Carlos Salcedo voted against.[9][10]
Torres de Siegrist's husband, David Siegrist, was listed as a point of contact on the notice of intent to recall Briones.[4]
Recall opponents
Response by Torres de Siegrist
In response to the recall effort, Torres de Siegrist said she had a daughter with a disability who attended the school district. “I don’t forget my students with disabilities. I know what it is to have a student with a disability and I want to help them,” Torres de Siegrist said. “That’s the reason I am here.”[2]
Torres de Siegrist's lawyer denied that she had any conflict of interest in the vote to consider a lease agreement with Pasadena City College but said she was consulting the school district's counsel for advice on future recusals.[2]
At a board meeting on March 15, 2023, an attorney for the school district said he did not believe Torres de Siegrist had a conflict of interest but that he had not reviewed the matter in detail.[7]
Response by Briones
Briones said the recall effort against him was political retaliation after he spoke out against Torres de Siegrist's vote to cancel plans for the new school for adults with disabilities. “When you stand up for your students, you’re bound to get some pushback from individuals, and I’m going to continue doing what I know is right for our students,” Briones said.[4]
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "Briones said the allegations about him lying about where he went to college were the result of inaccurate information posted on the website Ballotpedia and that he had it corrected as soon as he learned about it."[4][11]
"They’ve offered no proof to substantiate any of those claims," Briones said. "These efforts, they will not deter me from continuing to advocate for our special education students."[4]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
California does not require specific grounds to be met for recall efforts to make the ballot. Recall supporters must collect signatures equal to 10% to 30% of registered voters depending on the jurisdiction's population and have 40 to 160 days to do so depending on the size of the jurisdiction.[12]
Before a recall petition can be circulated, supporters must file with the county registrar of voters the notice of intent to recall, an affidavit detailing the time and manner of the notice being served to the official being recalled, proof of publication of the notice of intent to recall, and copies of the proposed petition format. The petitions must then be approved by the county registrar of voters.[13]
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk verified the petition against Torres de Siegrist for circulation on May 12, 2023. To get the recall on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 2,768 signatures by September 9, 2023.[3]
2023 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.
The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- El Monte Union High School District, California
- El Monte Union High School District elections (2017)
- El Monte Union High School District elections (2015)
- El Monte Union High School District elections (2013)
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- El Monte Union High School District
- Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "Plan for $25 million Rosemead adult education center revived by El Monte Union," August 23, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "Parents launch bid to recall El Monte school trustee accused of supporting lease with her employer," March 6, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Mike Sanchez, Media and Communications, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk," June 7, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "Bitter fighting in El Monte high school district sparks another recall effort," March 27, 2023
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Mike Sanchez, Media and Communications," April 26, 2023
- ↑ El Monte Union High School District, "Board of Trustees," accessed April 4, 2023
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pasadena Star-News, "FPPC rules El Monte Union board member does not have a conflict, at least not yet," April 5, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ El Monte Union High School District, "RESOLUTION NO. 26-22/23," accessed April 4, 2023
- ↑ El Monte Union High School District, "Board of Trustees Special Meeting (Wednesday, February 8, 2023) MINUTES," accessed April 4, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia confirms that the education error did occur on our website. It was corrected on March 11, 2021.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of Local Officials," accessed July 27, 2021
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "A Guide To Recall For County, School, Special District And Local Offices," accessed April 4, 2023
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