Kathryn Ramirez recall, Salinas Union High School District, California (2018)

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Salinas Union High School District recall
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Officeholders
Kathryn Ramirez
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2018
Recalls in California
California recall laws
School board recalls
Recall reports

An effort to recall Kathryn Ramirez from her position as the Trustee Area 4 representative on the Salinas Union High School District Board of Education in California did not go to a vote in 2018. The county determined the notice of intent to recall Ramirez did not meet election code requirements.[1]

The effort began in January 2018 after the opening of a new district high school was delayed from 2018 to 2019.[2]

Ramirez was elected to the seven-member board in 2003. She won re-election in 2007, 2011, and 2015.[3] In 2015, she won re-election with 54 percent of the vote, defeating challenger John "Tony" Villegas.[4]

Recall supporters

Richard Giffin, a resident of Trustee Area 4, filed the notice of intent to recall. He is a member of the Salinas Planning Commission and the SUHSD bond oversight committee, but those groups were not part of the recall process.[2][5] The recall notice said:

During your tenure as trustee for Area 4, you have been grossly negligent in the execution of your duties overseeing the construction project of the new high school, Rancho San Juan, which will result in continued overcrowding of classroom and not ensuring a Fair and Public Education for all of the students of the Salinas Union High School District and will cost the district unknown millions of taxpayer dollars due to construction delays where the school will not open until Aug 2019.


As one of the most senior members of the school board, your blatant lackadaisical attitude towards your fiscal responsibilities in overseeing any school construction come at the taxpayer’s expense, and demands that you be removed from office and replaced with a representative that will take the oath of office and all the responsibilities seriously and to vigorously represent all the people of Area 4 in a responsible and dignified manner.[6]

—Notice of Intent to Recall Kathryn Ramirez (2018)[7]

Recall opponents

Ramirez said the board was as surprised by the delays in construction of the high school as the public was. She said that the district's superintendent, Dan Burns, visited the construction site in September 2017 and reported back to the board that there were problems. Ramirez said that the board had been aware that there were flooding problems but had not been aware that the flooding problems coupled with manufacturing delays would mean the school would not be finished on time.[5]

In a statement, Ramirez said her priorities when she was re-elected in 2015 were to build two new schools, maintain a stable budget and safe learning environments, and advocate for parental involvement. “I have been making good on these goals ever since,” said Ramirez.[5]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

Ramirez was given a notice of intent to recall at a school board meeting on January 23, 2018. The Monterey County Elections Department rejected that notice on January 25, 2018, as it did not meet a legal requirement to notify Ramirez that she had seven days to respond to the effort. Other petitions were also rejected by the county.[1][2][5]

2018 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

A total of 33 school board recall efforts nationwide were covered by Ballotpedia in 2018. They included 74 board members. Twelve recall elections were held in 2018. The school board recall success rate was 28.4%.

Of the 12 efforts that made it to the ballot in 2018, eight were approved and the 20 targeted members were removed from office. Another two recall elections were defeated, and the targeted members kept their seats. One effort saw a mix of results: three members retained their seats, while the fourth was removed from his. Another recall election was held after the board member resigned. Her replacement was elected through the recall. The chart below details the status of 2018 recall efforts by individual school board member.

See also

External links

Footnotes