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Santa Clara Unified School District elections (2016)
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Three of the seven seats on the Santa Clara Unified School District board of trustees were up for general election on November 8, 2016. The race for the two Trustee Area 2 seats featured incumbent Albert Gonzalez and challengers Ashish Mangla and Mark Richardson. Gonzalez won re-election, and Richardson won the other seat on the ballot. Trustee Area 3 incumbent Michele Ryan defeated challenger Anna Welsh to win another seat on the board.[1][2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Santa Clara Unified board of trustees consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Board members are elected to specific seats. Four seats were up for election on November 4, 2014, and three seats were up for election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.[3]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to register with the county elections office by August 12, 2016. If incumbents did not file by that deadline, the filing deadline was extended for non-incumbent candidates until August 17, 2016. In order to qualify as candidates, they had to be at least 18 years old, citizens of California, residents of the school district, registered voters, and "not legally disqualified from holding civil office," according to the bylaws of the Santa Clara Unified board of trustees. Once they took office, school board members could not be employed by the school district.[4][5]
To vote in this election, residents of the school district had to register by October 24, 2016.[6] Photo identification was not required to vote in this election.[7]
Candidates and results
Trustee Area 2 (two seats)
Results
| Santa Clara Unified School District, Trustee Area 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Albert Gonzalez Incumbent |
49.26% | 26,613 |
| Mark Richardson |
29.41% | 15,890 |
| Ashish Mangla | 21.32% | 11,518 |
| Total Votes | 54,021 | |
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Official Final Results," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Albert Gonzalez 
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Ashish Mangla | Mark Richardson
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Trustee Area 3
Results
| Santa Clara Unified School District, Trustee Area 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Michele Ryan Incumbent |
51.52% | 21,672 |
| Anna Welsh | 48.48% | 20,391 |
| Total Votes | 42,063 | |
| Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Official Final Results," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Michele Ryan
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Anna Welsh | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The district's school board election shared the ballot with three bond measures for the city of Santa Clara, a bond measure for Santa Clara County, and a number of statewide ballot measures. It also shared the ballot with elections for the following offices:[8][9]
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Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[10][11]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| August 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 10, 2016 - November 8, 2016 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| August 12, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| August 17, 2016 | Extended filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates for open seats |
| September 29, 2016 | First pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 27, 2016 | Second pre-election campaign finance report due |
| November 8, 2016 | Election Day |
| January 31, 2017 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Endorsements
The community organization Evolve endorsed Trustee Area 3 challenger Anna Welsh.[12] The United Teachers of Santa Clara endorsed Welsh and Trustee Area 2 incumbent Albert Gonzalez and challenger Mark Richardson.[13]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates in this race were required to file two pre-election reports. The first was due on September 29, 2016, and the second was due on October 27, 2016. If candidates received more than $1,000 from a single source between August 10, 2016, and November 8, 2016, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours of receiving the contribution.[11]
Candidates who did not raise or spend more than $2,000 on their campaigns had to file an exemption form by September 29, 2016. They did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[11]
Candidates who had a remaining balance from previous campaigns or who had raised or spent money on their campaigns prior to the candidate filing deadline had to file a semi-annual campaign finance report by August 1, 2016. The next semi-annual campaign finance report was due January 31, 2017.[11]
Reports
Candidates received a total of $45,260.00 and spent a total of $15,739.78 as of November 3, 2016, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.[14]
| Candidate | Existing balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Gonzalez | $0.00 | $7,925.00 | $2,460.00 | $5,465.00 |
| Ashish Mangla | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mark Richardson | $0.00 | $6,244.00 | $5,615.64 | $628.36 |
| Michele Ryan | $2,068.44 | $3,189.00 | $2,559.08 | $2,698.36 |
| Anna Welsh | $0.00 | $27,902.00 | $5,105.06 | $22,796.94 |
Past elections
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2014Trustee Area 1This election was canceled due to a lack of opposition. Incumbent Jim Canova won re-election by default.[15] Trustee Area 2
Trustee Area 3
2012
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What was at stake?
2016
Issues in the district
Legal conflicts with trustee cost district nearly $400,000
Santa Clara Unified School District board of trustees member Christopher Stampolis cost the district $396,884 between August 2014 and March 2016, according to the Santa Clara Weekly. The costs came from legal fees attached to a restraining order filed against Stampolis by Peterson Middle School principal Susan Harris in 2014 and renewed in 2015 after he displayed threatening behavior, including miming the act of pointing a gun at Harris. Other costs to the district came from a harassment complaint Stampolis filed against Harris in 2014 in which she was cleared by the district, a lawsuit his son filed against the district alleging false imprisonment that was thrown out on a technicality, his $4,800 annual trustee stipend, and a conflict of interest lawsuit due to Stampolis' participation in board discussions involving his employer.[16][17][18]
The conflict of interest lawsuit was still active as of November 22, 2016.[19] It was filed by the district against Stampolis in October 2015. District officials alleged he had violated the Santa Clara Unified board of trustees' conflict of interest policy as well as state law by participating in board discussions involving an umbrella organization that represented the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA). Stampolis' company, Praxis House, was hired by the Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, a part of LIUNA, to provide government and community relations services from 2012 to 2014.[16] The district asked the court to require Stampolis to disclose the details of his consulting work for the Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, to recuse himself in future board discussions involving LIUNA, and to compensate the district for its legal fees.[20]
Stampolis' term was up for re-election on November 8, 2016, but he did not file to run for re-election. Instead, he ran for the Trustee Area 2 seat on the West Valley-Mission Community College District, and he lost that election.[2][21][22]
Candidate survey
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About the district
The Santa Clara Unified School District is located in Santa Clara County in west-central California. The county seat is San Jose. Santa Clara County was home to 1,918,044 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[23] The district was the 103rd-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 15,434 students.[24]
Demographics
Santa Clara County outperformed California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2010 and 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 47.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent of state residents. The median household income for Santa Clara County was $93,854, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 8.5 percent, compared to 16.4 percent statewide.[23]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Santa Clara Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Santa Clara Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Santa Clara County, "November 8, 2016 Presidential General Election Summary," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara Unified School District, "board of trustees," accessed August 10, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara Unified School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 10, 2016
- ↑ California Elections Code, “Part 5, Section 10600-10604: School District And Community College District Governing Board Elections,” accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "California Online Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "List of Local Measures: Presidential General Election November 8, 2016," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List: Presidential General Election," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ United Teachers of Santa Clara, "Home," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "County of Santa Clara Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed November 3, 2016
- ↑ California Election Code, "Section 10229," accessed October 13, 2014
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Santa Clara Weekly, "Chris Stampolis: The $400,000 Schools Trustee," March 2, 2016 - March 8, 2016
- ↑ The Mercury News, "Chris Stampolis ordered to pay $19,000 in legal costs for principal he harassed," November 14, 2014
- ↑ The Mercury News, "Stampolis loses claim for $1,500 from Santa Clara Unified School District," January 21, 2015
- ↑ Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, "Case Information Portal: 2015-1-CV-286790," accessed November 22, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara Weekly, "District Sues Trustee in Conflict of Interest Dispute," October 28, 2015 - November 3, 2015
- ↑ Santa Clara Unified School District, "Board Members," accessed May 18, 2016
- ↑ Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 24, 2016
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 United States Census Bureau, "Santa Clara County, California," accessed June 14, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Past Election Results," accessed July 3, 2014
| 2016 Santa Clara Unified School District Elections | |
| Santa Clara County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 2: • Incumbent, Albert Gonzalez • Ashish Mangla • Mark Richardson Trustee Area 3: • Incumbent, Michele Ryan • Anna Welsh |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
