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Vista Unified School District elections (2016)
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Three of the five seats on the Vista Unified School District Board of Education were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. In her bid for re-election to Trustee Area 1, incumbent Elizabeth Jaka was defeated by challenger Rosemary Smithfield. Trustee Area 4 incumbent Angela Chunka ran against challengers Heather Emaus and Cipriano Vargas, and Vargas won the seat. The Trustee Area 5 race featured incumbent Richard Alderson and challenger Roland Balmer. Alderson won re-election to the board.[1][2]
Smithfield and Balmer participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Vista Unified Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held by district on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Two 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 Vista Unified Board of Education. 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 1
Results
| Vista Unified School District, Trustee Area 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rosemary Smithfield |
62.84% | 6,156 |
| Elizabeth Jaka Incumbent | 37.16% | 3,641 |
| Total Votes | 9,797 | |
| Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Elizabeth Jaka | Rosemary Smithfield 
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Trustee Area 4
Results
| Vista Unified School District, Trustee Area 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Cipriano Vargas |
55.51% | 3,679 |
| Heather Emaus | 24.76% | 1,641 |
| Angela Chunka Incumbent | 19.73% | 1,308 |
| Total Votes | 6,628 | |
| Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Angela Chunka | Heather Emaus | Cipriano Vargas
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Trustee Area 5
Results
| Vista Unified School District, Trustee Area 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Richard Alderson Incumbent |
53.97% | 6,184 |
| Roland Balmer | 46.03% | 5,275 |
| Total Votes | 11,459 | |
| Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Richard Alderson
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Roland Balmer | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The district's school board election shared the ballot with two bond measures for San Diego County, a number of statewide ballot measures, and 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 San Diego County Democratic Party endorsed Area 4 challenger Cipriano Vargas and Area 5 incumbent Richard Alderson, and the Republican Party of San Diego County endorsed Trustee Area 5 challenger Roland Balmer.[12][13] The Vista Teachers Association endorsed Area 1 challenger Rosemary Smithfield and Area 4 challenger Heather Emaus.[14]
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 $31,165.00 and spent a total of $23,937.12 as of November 4, 2016, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.[15]
Trustee Area 1
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Jaka | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Rosemary Smithfield | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Trustee Area 4
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angela Chunka | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Heather Emaus | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Cipriano Vargas | $25,541.00 | $19,393.96 | $6,147.04 |
Trustee Area 5
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Alderson | $4,344.00 | $3,570.28 | $773.72 |
| Roland Balmer | $1,280.00 | $972.88 | $307.12 |
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2014Incumbents Carol Weise Herrera and Jim Gibson ran unopposed for re-election to their Trustee Area 2 and 3 seats, respectively, and won their elections by default. 2012
2010Incumbents Carol Weise Herrera and Jim Gibson ran unopposed and won re-election to their Trustee Area 2 and 3 seats, respectively.[17] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Trustee Area 1 challenger Rosemary Smithfield and Trustee Area 5 challenger Roland Balmer.
Hope to achieve
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Smithfield stated:
| “ | I want students to be the focus of all decisions.[18] | ” |
| —Rosemary Smithfield (October 29, 2016)[19] | ||
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Balmer stated:
| “ | Bringing about more parental involvement and choice in our children's education. I would love to see parents have more choices in where their children get to go to school. Unfortunately not all the schools have the ability to accommodate every child's needs and by allowing different Charter Schools to come into the district will allow more choices for parents. It does not take a village to raise a child it takes parental control to raise them as productive individuals.[18] | ” |
| —Roland Balmer (October 30, 2016)[20] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
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| Issue | Smithfield's ranking | Balmer's ranking | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | ||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
About the district
The Vista Unified School District is located in San Diego County in southern California. The county seat is San Diego. San Diego County was home to 3,299,521 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[21] The district was the 47th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 25,670 students.[22]
Demographics
San Diego County outperformed California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2010 and 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 35.1 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 San Diego County was $63,996, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 14.7 percent, while it was 16.4 percent statewide.[21]
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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 'Vista Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Vista Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate List: 2016 General Election," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, "PRESIDENTIAL GENERAL ELECTION," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Vista Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed August 12, 2016
- ↑ Vista Unified School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 12, 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
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate List: 2016 General Election," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Local Measures for November 8, 2016: County of San Diego," 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
- ↑ San Diego County Democratic Party, "Democratic Candidates 2016," accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ The Republican Party of San Diego County, "2016 General Election: Local Endorsements," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with pemausff@yahoo.com," August 24, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "CampaignDocs eRetrieval: Search by Candidate's Last Name," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ The San Diego Union-Tribune, "Vista Unified sees a change in voting," October 4, 2012
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Board Member; Vista Unified School District Voter Information," accessed November 19, 2014
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Rosemary Smithfield's responses," October 29, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Roland Balmer's responses," October 30, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 United States Census Bureau, "San Diego County, California," accessed June 16, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election November 6, 2012, Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election November 4, 2008, Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "General Election November 2, 2004, Final Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "General Election November 7, 2000," accessed July 14, 2014
| 2016 Vista Unified School District Elections | |
| San Diego County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 1: • Incumbent, Elizabeth Jaka • Rosemary Smithfield Trustee Area 4: • Incumbent, Angela Chunka • Heather Emaus • Cipriano Vargas Trustee Area 5: • Incumbent, Richard Alderson • Roland Balmer |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
