Sonja Cameron
Sonja Cameron was the Area 5 representative on the Twin Rivers Unified School District Board of Trustees in California. She was appointed by the other board members on December 8, 2014, to fill the vacancy that was created in October 2014 when trustee Cortez Quinn pleaded no contest to charges that he conspired to obstruct justice in a paternity case and accepted illegal loans and gifts from a school district employee.[1] She did not run for re-election in the general election on June 7, 2016.
Shortly after her appointment, Cameron faced a recall effort that made it to the ballot on May 12, 2015. She survived the recall to serve the remainder of her appointed term, which ended on June 30, 2016.
Biography
Cameron is the chief operations officer and co-founder of the Pacific Charter Institute, which serves 1,619 students. The institute operates the Heritage Peak Charter School, an independent study and home-school program, is authorized to serve TRUSD students, but operates independently from the district.[1]
Due to her position with the charter institute, Cameron is required to recuse herself from any votes involving the institute, including the charter's renewal.[1]
Elections
2015
Cameron became a recall target after her appointment was accused of having been done illegally and without consulting the community. Del Paso Heights Community Association and the Democratic Party of Sacramento County lead the signature gather efforts to remove her from the board.[2][3]
The board had planned to make its final selection to fill the vacancy at a meeting on December 11, 2014. After interviewing 13 candidates on December 8, 2014, the board unanimously approved a motion to appoint Cameron. According to Area 7 Trustee Linda Fowler, Cameron had received the top score from a majority of the existing board members during the interviews. Recall supporters have said that this violates the state's open meeting laws because the appointment was not on the agenda for that meeting, the meeting did not include a period of public comment and the scores of the trustee's scores of the candidate interviews were kept secret.[3]
Basim Elkarra was the only candidate to file to run against Cameron in the recall election. Voters chose to retain Cameron.
Results
| Twin Rivers Unified School District, Area 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Sonja Cameron | 1087 | 52.21% | ||
 Basim Elkarra | 985 | 47.31% | ||
| Write-in votes | 10 | 0.48% | ||
| Election results via: Sacramento County Election Results, "Summary Report 2015 Twin Rivers USD Final," May 18, 2015 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, Cameron stated that she was running to provide Are 5 with “a real and honest voice on the board.” She also discussed concerns about parents taking their children out of Norwood Junior High School and, instead, homeschooling them or sending them to other public and private schools. She said, "These are high-performing students and, if they don’t stay within your system, it is a brain drain and a fiscal drain."[4]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Sonja + Cameron + Twin + Rivers + Unified + School + District"
See also
- Twin Rivers Unified School District, California
- Sonja Cameron recall, Twin Rivers Unified School District, California (2015)
- Analysis of incumbency advantage in the 2014 school board elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Sacramento Bee, "Twin Rivers taps charter school leader Sonja Cameron to fill board vacancy," December 9, 2014
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Twin Rivers taps charter school leader Sonja Cameron to fill board vacancy," December 9, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Sacramento Bee, "Democratic Party joins recall fight in Twin Rivers school district," January 2, 2015
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Twin Rivers race features charter school operator, Democratic Party activist," March 30, 2015
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