FUESD transitions to by-district elections

Leticia Maldonado Stamos

Special to Village News

As we, as a community, continue to move forward in a positive way onto the next step in the process of transitioning from at-large elections to by-district elections in the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, which the San Diego County Board of Education has yet to approve, we have become aware of some misinformation that some residents of Fallbrook have regarding Map 103 which the FUESD board adopted last month.

Through the California Public Records Act, we learned that a very small number of people expressed their support of Map 103 through emails to the district website – eight people to be exact – to which we were not privy until just last week.

In these emails, comments were made in support of Map 103 because people believed that this was the only map that would allow the current trustees to remain in their roles as elected officials. These comments lead us to believe that folks were being told that trustees were in jeopardy of being tossed off the school board if any other map were to be adopted.

That the community-developed Favela/Ortiz/Stamos map, or any other maps considered for that matter, would somehow remove current duly elected trustees from the school board is simply not true. All five trustees would be allowed to serve their four-year terms, and all five could seek re-election at the end of their terms should they so desire no matter which map was adopted.

The misinformation that those few people shared, and maybe others also believe, is what probably led our fellow Fallbrook residents to lend their support to a deficient map rather than the Favela/Ortiz/Stamos community map.

While we fully realize and respect that there are opposing views, we want to do our part to make sure that whatever the view or opinion, it be based on fact, not conjecture or misinformation.

These are the facts. The Favela/Ortiz/Stamos community map would allow current trustees to serve their full four-year term on the board. It has the highest percentage of protected class voters. It has no gerrymandering. It provides a remedy to the California Voting Rights Act violation as soon as possible. It keeps the communities of interest intact. It allows any eligible resident to run in their district including the incumbent trustees.

The Favela/Ortiz/Stamos map is the fairest map for Fallbrook. Map 103 is not. We attended the Bonsall school district’s County Committee Public Hearing and congratulated them on the smooth and transparent process they just completed. We commend the boards, administrators and staff of the North County Fire District, the Fallbrook Regional Healthcare District and the Fallbrook High School District for their continued open public discourse and accessibility in the process of creating maps for their consideration.

We once again reiterate that we have always believed in the validity of the process and continue to have faith that if we participate as an engaged and informed community, the end result will be a better and stronger Fallbrook.