Sonja Cameron recall, Twin Rivers Unified School District, California (2015)
| Twin Rivers Unified School District Board of Trustees recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| May 12, 2015 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2015 Recalls in California California recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
A vote about whether or not to recall Sonja Cameron from her position as Area 5 representative on the Twin Rivers Unified School District Board of Trustees in California took place on May 12, 2015. Cameron was retained.
Cameron was appointed to the position on December 8, 2014, to fill a vacancy on the board. The seat was vacated 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. Recall proponents, including the Del Paso Heights Community Association and the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, argued Cameron's appointment was done illegally and without consulting the community.[1][2]
On January 22, 2015, Sacramento County schools chief David Gordon stated that sufficient valid signatures had been submitted and that a recall election would be held. Supporters submitted slightly less than the required signatures, but the election was allowed to move forward.[3] One candidate, Basim Elkarra, filed to challenge Cameron for the seat in the recall election.[4]
Recall vote
| 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 | ||||
Recall supporter arguments
The effort to remove Cameron from the board was portrayed by some of the recall proponents as a recall on the process used to appoint her, rather than an attack on Cameron personally. Kerri Asbury, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, summarized the recall effort, saying, "It’s not about the person. It’s about the process."[2]
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 claimed this violated the state's open meeting laws because the appointment was not on the agenda for December 8, 2014, the meeting did not include a period of public comment and the trustee's scores of the candidate interviews were kept secret.[2]
Board responses
As the effort to unseat Cameron focused on the decision of the other trustees who appointed her, board president Rebecca Sandoval defended the board's actions. She stated the board did nothing wrong in making the appointment earlier than scheduled and that the idea to make an early decision if a majority supported one candidate was discussed at the beginning of the meeting on December 8, 2014. She also drew attention to the fact that the final vote was taken in open session and that a community meeting had been held on December 1, 2014, in Area 5 for public comments.[2]
About the district
Twin Rivers Unified School District is located in Sacramento, the county seat of Sacramento County in north-central California. Sacramento County was home to an estimated 1,462,131 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[5] Twin Rivers Unified School District was the 27th-largest by enrollment in the state serving 31,637 students in the 2011-2012 school year.[6]
Demographics
Sacramento County underperformed in comparison to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.0 percent of Sacramento County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.7 percent for California as a whole. The median household income in Sacramento County was $55,064 compared to $61,094 for the state of California. The poverty rate in Sacramento County was 17.6 percent compared to 15.9 percent for the entire state.[5]
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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.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
| Timeline | |
|---|---|
| Date | Event |
| October 2014 | Cortez Quinn pleads no contest and leaves board |
| December 1, 2014 | Community meeting for public comments on appointment held |
| December 8, 2014 | Sonja Cameron unanimously appointed to board |
| January 7, 2015 | Recall signature gathering deadline |
| January 22, 2015 | Recall election scheduled |
| February 13, 2015 | Candidate filing deadline |
| March 16, 2015 - April 28, 2015 |
Write-in candidates may pick up nomination documents |
| April 27, 2015 | Voter registration deadline |
| May 12, 2015 | Recall election day |
| June 11, 2015 | Final canvass of votes completed |
A "cure and correct” letter prepared by Sacramento Democratic Party attorneys on behalf of Sascha Vogt and the Del Paso Heights Neighborhood Association was sent to school district officials. The letter asked the board to remove Cameron's appointment and to schedule a special election to fill the seat instead. The district had 30 days from the time the letter was received to respond.[2]
At the same time, recall proponents gathered signatures to institute a recall election of Cameron. They had until January 7, 2015, to gather at least 1,083 valid signatures.[2] Supporters reported submitting 1,461 signatures by the deadline, and the county office had 30 days to verify the signatures.[8]
On January 22, 2015, David Gordon, the Sacramento County schools chief, announced the recall election would be held. The election was approved even though supporters submitted signatures totaling 1.49 percent of the district's voters when they were supposed to have submitted a total of 1.5 percent. The shortfall in signatures was due to 40 to 50 signatures that were misdated as 2014 instead of 2015 from the beginning of the new year.[3]
It was initially unclear whether the recall election would be held just among Area 5 voters or if it would take place district-wide. This is due to the fact that when Quinn was last re-elected in 2012, the board members were elected by the district at-large. However, at the same election, district voters approved Measure G, which created a new system of area representatives who are elected by just the voters of the area they represent. The recall petition estimated the special election would cost $113,040 if held in just Trustee Area 5 and $708,570 if held district-wide.[2]
When the recall election was announced, it was stated it would be held just among Area 5 voters. The election was estimated to cost $113,000, as polling places were opened for the election.[9] The cost could have been less if voting had been done entirely by mail, instead.[3]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Sonja + Cameron + Twin + Rivers + Unified + School + District + recall"
See also
- Twin Rivers Unified School District, California
- Twin Rivers Unified School District Method of Electing School Board Trustees, Measure G (June 2012)
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2015
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Twin Rivers taps charter school leader Sonja Cameron to fill board vacancy," December 9, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 The Sacramento Bee, "Democratic Party joins recall fight in Twin Rivers school district," January 2, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Sacramento Bee, "Twin Rivers Unified to hold May election for trustee post," January 23, 2015
- ↑ Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, "Contest/Candidate Proof List: 2015 Special Election Twin Rivers Unified School District Area 5," February 17, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 United States Census Bureau, "Sacramento County, California," accessed January 5, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Registration by County," accessed September 5, 2014
- ↑ The Sacramento Observer, "Sac County Democrats Turn In Petitions For Twin Rivers Special Election," January 8, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Telephone call with Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections office," March 11, 2015
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