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With filing deadlines less than a week away for candidates in Mountain View’s local school board elections, several residents have come forward seeking public office this November.
In recent days, a total of five people have pulled candidacy papers across the Mountain View Whisman School District, the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District. At least one incumbent has yet to file for re-election in two of the three races, meaning the filing deadline could be extended from Friday, Aug. 10, to Wednesday, Aug. 15.
In the Mountain View Whisman School District, board members Ellen Wheeler and Greg Coladonato both have terms that expire at the end of 2018. Wheeler has filed to run again, and three newcomers — Mountain View residents Rich Tanner, Charles DiFazio and Tamara Patterson — have all at least pulled papers to file for candidacy, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
Tanner told the Voice he is still “exploring options” to run for a seat on the school board but has not filed. DiFazio and Patterson could not be reached for comment.
Los Altos School District board members Vladimir Ivanovic and Bryan Johnson have both filed to run for re-election, according to the latest update from the county, while board member Sangeeth Peruri has not. Peruri did not respond to the Voice’s request for comment.
Non-incumbents running for a school board seat this November include Los Altos resident Shali Sirkay, an active parent volunteer and leader of multiple school election campaigns, and Los Altos Hills resident Ying Liu, who is “seriously considering” running for a seat on the school board and intends to file for candidacy by the end of the week.
The Mountain View-Los Altos High School District could also be a contested race. Along with incumbents Joe Mitchner, Fiona Walter and Debbie Torok, Mountain View resident Catherine Vonnegut is also considering a run for the school board this November. Vonnegut told the Voice last week that she had not made her final decision on whether to file for candidacy.
The regional race for the Foothill-De Anza Community College District school board remained uncontested as of Wednesday. Two board members have terms that expire this year, but only one incumbent and one candidate have shown an interest in running.
I hope newcomer Ying Liu, decides to run!! More of the same has clearly not been working for LASD. I have enjoyed reading Ying’s thoughtful posts on Nextdoor. She seems well versed in ALL the issues and has offered innovative suggestions that I have not heard from the current LASD board. Plus, we need more Asian representation and a school board that reflects the ethnic makeup of the ENTIRE LASD community! Time for a change.
She’s running. One incumbent isn’t. So the new filing deadline for that (LASD) board is Wednesday, August 15. No one challenged the 2 incumbents on the MVLA high school board. They are running unopposed. Here come the football field lights, evening band practice and late night games. In the MV-Whisman School District and for MV City Council, one incumbent is not seeking re-election so the new filing deadline is August 15. Same for El Camino Hospital Board. Someone should run for the Hospital Board so career politician Mike Kasperzak does not get a free seat.
Both incumbents filed for the MV Whisman Board so the deadline is not extended. There are four people running.