Paso Robles residents are alleging that one member of the local school board was illegally appointed to his seat.
Sande Adkins, who spoke during public comment at the Jan. 24 Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board meeting, said that trustee Joel Peterson shouldn’t be sitting on the dais.
“Joel Peterson did not receive one vote,” Adkins said during the meeting. “[County Clerk-Recorder Elaina] Caino was allowed to appoint him by one obscure election code that in itself fails to fill the requirements of the Constitution of the United States as well as the Constitution of the state of California, which all of you and she was sworn to uphold.”
The “obscure election code” she’s referencing is actually part of the state’s education code. It states that a person can be appointed to a school board seat if there aren’t enough candidates running in that district.
“If no person has been nominated or if an insufficient number is nominated, the governing board shall appoint a qualified person or persons,” the code reads.
The county clerk-recorder appointed Peterson in lieu of putting him on the ballot because the education code superseded election code, according to the district. Peterson took his seat in December.
Peterson told New Times that he conferred with both the county superintendent of schools and the district’s legal counsel to determine whether he was legally serving on the board. During the Jan. 10 meeting, Paso Superintendent Curt DuBost addressed the claims made by community members.
“Every member of the board seated up here is sitting here having been legally selected to the board,” Dubost said. “We have legal opinions that have been provided to the audience on numerous occasions that everyone who is here is here legally.”
Moms for Liberty Chapter Chair Trisha Murray told New Times that while the group isn’t necessarily pursuing the removal of Peterson, the district should’ve provided more transparency.
“I think it would have been fair to put him on the ballot and allow residents of Paso to put in a write-in,” Murray said. “Though we do understand California law, a lot of residents were upset about that.”
Michael Rivera, who lost his bid for Paso mayor in 2022, created a petition to remove Peterson from the board. During the Jan. 10 meeting, Rivera said that the petition had gained 130 signatures from Peterson’s district. Hunter Breese, who also spoke at the Jan. 10 meeting, chalked up some of the district’s past controversies and misfortunes to Peterson’s “lack of ability to run an efficient board.” Peterson previously served on the board from 2012 to 2020.
Breese pointed out instances of Peterson’s alleged malfeasance, including his “support” of former superintendent Chris Williams, and blamed Peterson for a 2020 county grand jury report that attributed the district’s financial crisis to “poor leadership and management.”
“If anyone out there is wondering why Paso High doesn’t have a swimming pool, it’s because of Joel Peterson,” Breese said. “As I close tonight, ask yourself: Can we really afford Joel Peterson’s incompetence? Can the Paso Robles school district afford Joel Peterson’s incompetence? Can our community afford Joel Peterson’s incompetence?”
Soquel Goodin, a resident of Peterson’s trustee area, said that she worked with community members to try to find candidates to run in the election.
“Although abundant, our efforts fell short, and we were all very grateful to hear that in the final hours, Mr. Peterson stepped up to represent area 2,” Goodin said at the Jan. 24 meeting. “The fact that Mr. Peterson’s name didn’t appear on the ballot is consistent with California election practices, due to the fact that he ran unopposed. Mr. Peterson filed his papers on time and was the only applicant.”
Peterson said he wasn’t planning on running for another term but was encouraged to after receiving multiple phone calls asking him to run.
“When someone follows the rules and they’re seated, you don’t have to like it, but it’s kind of the way it is,” Peterson said. “When they keep telling me to resign, I’m like, ‘You should have run if you wanted to run against me or have a candidate run against me.’ They should have filed paperwork.” Δ
This article appears in Feb 9-19, 2023.
If Moms for Liberty (the Jane Birch Society) had put up a candidate; they would have contested a loss anyway.
The calls for Joel Peterson to resign have absolutely no legal basis. If his opponents want him to leave office before his four year term expires, they can always try a recall. Otherwise they can field a candidate in Area 2 in 2026.
Mr Joel Peterson Should be recalled. More to come.