Jerome C. Pandell

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Jerome C. Pandell

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Northwestern University, 2005

Law

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 2008

Personal

Birthplace

Walnut Creek, Calif.

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Attorney at law

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal website

Jerome C. Pandell ran for election to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District school board to represent Trustee Area 1 in California. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Pandell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Pandell was a candidate for an at-large seat on the San Ramon Valley Unified Board of Education in the California general election on November 4, 2014. Jerome C. Pandell lost the general election on November 4, 2014.

Biography

Jerome C. Pandell was born in Walnut Creek, California. He earned a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 2005 and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2008. His career experience includes working as an attorney. Pandell was chair of the SRVUSD Facilities Bond Oversight & Advisory Committee from 2017 to 2020; he was a member of the committee from 2015 to 2021. Pandell has also served on the SRVUSD Access2Excellence Committee. He has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Contra Costa County Bar Association
• State Bar of California
• U.C. Hastings College of the Law Alumni Association
• Northwestern University Leadership Circle

Elections

2022

See also: San Ramon Valley Unified School District, California, elections (2022)

General election

General election for San Ramon Valley Unified School District school board Trustee Area 1

Jesse vanZee defeated Michelle Sinnott Petersen and Jerome C. Pandell in the general election for San Ramon Valley Unified School District school board Trustee Area 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse vanZee (Nonpartisan)	42.2	6,030
		Michelle Sinnott Petersen (Nonpartisan)	40.5	5,794
		Jerome C. Pandell (Nonpartisan)	17.3	2,472

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,296
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Pandell's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2014

See also: San Ramon Valley Unified School District elections (2014)

The election in San Ramon Valley featured three seats up for general election on November 4, 2014. There was no primary election.

Three at-large incumbents, Rachel Hurd, Denise Jennison and Ken Mintz, were up for re-election. They defeated challenger Jerome C. Pandell to win new terms in office.

Results

San Ramon Valley Unified School District,
At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Rachel Hurd Incumbent	28.9%	22,916
	Nonpartisan	Denise Jennison Incumbent	26.8%	21,248
	Nonpartisan	Ken Mintz Incumbent	22.9%	18,185
	Nonpartisan	Jerome C. Pandell	20.9%	16,548
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.6%	438
Total Votes				79,335
Source: Contra Costa Elections Division, "Final Official Results - November 4, 2014 General Election," accessed January 2, 2015

Funding

Pandell reported $14,082.00 in contributions and $5,400.84 in expenditures to the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters, leaving him with a cash balance of $8,681.16 as of October 18, 2014.

Endorsements

Pandell was endorsed by the Contra Costa County Democratic Party.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jerome C. Pandell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Pandell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Alamo resident Jerome Pandell is running in November 2022 to become a trustee for Area 1 on the Board of Education for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District — home of the elementary, middle, and high schools in Alamo and Danville that both Jerome and his wife Emlyn attended. A longtime volunteer for the SRVUSD, Jerome served from 2015 through 2021 on the SRVUSD Facilities Oversight & Advisory Committee, including more than 3 years as chair. This committee ensures transparency for taxpayers in spending on school campus construction projects and provides recommendations to District leaders on project design to deliver the promise of the school bond enacted by voters. Jerome and his wife and son currently reside in Alamo, California, and their son will be a student in our schools through at least 2038. As an attorney primarily working with businesses, Jerome possess deep understanding of budgetary issues our District faces to provide a safe, supportive learning environment for parents, teachers, and students at all SRVUSD schools.

With this experience, Jerome will know how to support educational needs of teachers and students as well as collaborate with parents and the community to ensure all schools maintain longtime traditions of excellence as well as build on that excellence.

On this website, you can learn more about his vision and why so many SRVUSD parents, teachers, community leaders, and graduates support Jerome. You can also email him at JCP4SRV@gmail.com.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Ensure our District continues to recruit, retain and support quality teachers, nurses, librarians, psychologists, and support staff to provide the best learning opportunities for students.
• Expand and strengthen mental and emotional health resources for all students, no matter whether source of stress is academic, personal, or external, to ensure a safe, welcoming, and supportive learning environment at all campuses.
• Improve transparency of District operations and decisionmaking as much as possible, by providing for remote public comment at school board meetings and holding monthly "office hours" for community input.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An ability to listen, especially to viewpoints that may contradict your own assumptions and perspectives, as well as a willingness to seek common ground.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

An ability to listen and a desire to seek common ground with people.

What legacy would you like to leave?

One of my favorite sayings is that you should live your life in a way where you plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. My hope would be that my service on the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education would do that -- perhaps not literally, but at least create a lasting and meaningful impact on the campuses and in the lives of teachers, students, and families who call their schools home.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Though definitely not the first historical event that happened in my lifetime, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred literally the day before I was to fly to Chicago to begin college at Northwestern University. With the tragedy shuttering airline flights for several days, my Dad rented a car and we drove from California through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa to Illinois. Celebrating my birthday at a diner in Park City, Utah, and meeting a wide array of people in a similar situation as us -- expecting to fly somewhere but winding up on the road -- made me feel very connected to others.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first paying job was teaching public speaking and debate at a summer camp for high school students. I attended this camp during my high school years, and it proved very rewarding to learn about teaching from educators who taught me.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book is THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O'Brien. I read the book while in college, shortly after the 2003 war in Iraq began, and the tragic absurdity of many of the short vignettes and stories about the Vietnam War area resonated strongly with the atmosphere of the U.S. at the time.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

To maximize budget resources to benefit students and teachers inside the classroom, while ensuring that a safe learning environment exists on all campuses.

Who are your constituents?

More than just the voters and residents of SRVUSD Trustee Area 1 -- once elected, you become a trustee for the entire San Ramon Valley Unified School District.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

Yes, and to meet this goal there must be intentional efforts to turn San Ramon Valley Unified School District into a "destination district" for faculty, staff, and administrators as well as families and students. This may require partnering with other local education agencies to build workforce housing on district property to provide homes for employees to avoid burnout from long commutes and feeling disconnected from the community surrounding the school campus.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

Advocate for more consistent growth in state support as well as continue to advance justification for the generous support from the community that San Ramon Valley Unified School District receives.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

I remain deeply concerned about mental health challenges impacting our students, their families, and teachers. A wide array causes — ranging from social media to the pandemic — have been identified, but solutions tend not to follow such finger–pointing. Burnout and bullying could be twin areas of focus for alleviating such mental health challenges, both with students and faculty/staff.

Though this is somewhat anecdotal, there appears to be greater turnover of school site leadership on average than I recall seeing in the past. It certainly seems like principals serving a decade or more in the role rarely occurs anymore, and it seems that turnover of the principal and/or entire administrative team after only a few years now becomes more commonplace. I would want to study what factors cause this, to the extent the trend exists district–wide or only at a few school sites, and look for policy solutions to ameliorate. Longevity for the sake of longevity should not be the goal. But the consistency of a collaborative, site–based support system for teachers and staff coupled with an empowerment for more site–based decision–making likely would help with the first goal of continuing to recruit and retain outstanding educators and improve outcomes for students and families.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

I plan to hold monthly office hours and meet with parent groups every other week. As a parent myself, listening to parents and meeting with them regularly would inform my duties as a trustee.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

San Ramon Valley Unified School District school board Trustee Area 1

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Personal

Website

• San Ramon Valley Unified School District
• Campaign website