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Ralph Mechur
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Ralph Mechur is an at-large representative on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified Board of Education in California. Mechur sought another term in the general election on November 8, 2016, but the election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Mechur was re-elected to the board by default.[1]
Mechur previously served as a member on the board from 2007 to 2014, when he was defeated in the general election on November 4, 2014.[2]
Biography
Mechur is an architect and the owner of Ralph Mechur Architects. He served on Santa Monica's Architectural Review Board for five years and the city Planning Commission for eight years, and was on the board of directors of the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation for over 18 years.[3]
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education were supposed to be up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. The election was canceled, however, due to lack of opposition. Incumbents Maria Leon-Vazquez and Ralph Mechur and newcomer Jon Kean were the only candidates to file for the three seats. Because of this, they were elected to the board by default.[1][4]
Results
This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbents Maria Leon-Vazquez and Ralph Mechur and newcomer Jon Kean won election to the board by default.
2014
The election in Santa Monica-Malibu Unified featured four seats up for general election on November 4, 2014. There was no primary election.
Three at-large incumbents, Oscar de la Torre, Laurie Lieberman and Ralph Mechur ran for re-election. Incumbent Nimish Patel did not run for re-election. The three incumbents who ran faced challengers Patricia Finer, Craig Foster, Dhun May and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein.
Incumbents Oscar de la Torre and Laurie Lieberman and challengers Craig Foster and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein won the four at-large seats.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Laurie Lieberman Incumbent |
20.8% | 15,247 | |
| Nonpartisan | Craig Foster |
16.5% | 12,126 | |
| Nonpartisan | Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein |
16.7% | 12,277 | |
| Nonpartisan | Oscar de la Torre Incumbent |
16.3% | 11,990 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ralph Mechur Incumbent | 15.7% | 11,522 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dhun May | 7% | 5,169 | |
| Nonpartisan | Patricia Finer | 7% | 5,148 | |
| Total Votes | 73,479 | |||
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Los Angeles County Election Results," accessed January 2, 2015 | ||||
Funding
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[5][6][7]
Endorsements
Mechur was endorsed by the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, Education Workers of SEIU Local 99, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.[8]
Campaign themes
2014
Mechur highlighted the following priorities on his campaign website:
| “ |
|
” |
| —Ralph Mechur's campaign website (2014)[10] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Ralph Mechur' 'Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, California
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District elections (2016)
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District elections (2014)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "2016 General Election Contests," accessed August 30, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Los Angeles County Election Results," accessed November 4, 2014
- ↑ Argonaut News, "Ralph Mechur to join school board," August 9, 2007
- ↑ Santa Monica Lookout, "Brock Drops from Santa Monica-Malibu School Board Race as Possible Field of Four Forms," August 18, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ Santa Monica Mirror, "Teachers, School Workers, Renters Join To Endorse SMMUSD Candidates," October 5, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ralph Mechur for School Board 2014, "Continuing Priorities," accessed October 23, 2014
| 2016 Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Elections | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Maria Leon-Vazquez • Incumbent, Ralph Mechur • Jon Kean |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
