Newport-Mesa challengers question school board decisions at forum
Three candidates challenging three trustees for spots on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board described how they would approach district issues during a forum Monday where the incumbents were not present.
The event, presented by Costa Mesa resident and former Mesa Verde Homeowners Assn. member Martie O’Meara, drew about 30 onlookers along with candidates Leslie Bubb, Amy Peters and Michael Schwarzmann to Mesa Verde Methodist Church in Costa Mesa.
A forum previously planned by the homeowners association was canceled after incumbents Martha Fluor, Vicki Snell and board President Dana Black said they would be unable to attend, O’Meara said. O’Meara then took the reins as forum host Monday.
Snell and Schwarzmann are facing off for the trustee Area 1 seat in the Nov.8 election. Fluor and Peters are running in Area 3, and Black and Bubb are vying for the Area 6 seat.
Bubb and Peters, both Newport Beach residents, and Schwarzmann, a Costa Mesa resident, took questions from the audience on how they would have handled recent district issues, including 20-foot poles that were installed as part of a plan for an 80-foot-tall, $640,000 netting structure to intercept foul balls from Estancia High School’s baseball field.
The candidates also discussed the reassignments of three elementary school officials this school year and lawsuits filed by former district officials alleging that their workplace contained a culture of “fear” and “intimidation.”
In response to the netting project at Estancia — where 16 poles were planted in August but will be taken down after complaints from nearby residents — Bubb said trustee and staff visits to the site before the poles’ installation could have been helpful.
“It goes back to this idea of being thoughtful in our approach … thoughtful in what companies that we hire and what’s their background,” Bubb said.
Schwarzmann agreed, saying input from neighbors and facilities staff could have led to “better ideas that cost less.”
“It’s not difficult if you get the right information to make the right decision,” Schwarzmann said.
The candidates were asked about the reassignment of Matt Broesamle, who was principal of California Elementary School in Costa Mesa until he was moved to Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach after former Mariners principal Laura Sacks left amid complaints about her leadership style and allegations that she filed false information in an application for a school award.
Sacks was put on special assignment at Costa Mesa Middle School, and Jacob Topete, an assistant principal for Newport Heights and Whittier elementary schools, took over as principal at California.
“This process is very reactive,” Peters said of the decision to move principals. “When Mariners had an issue with their principal … that fire had to be put out quickly, and the easiest way to do it was to take someone else’s principal from another school.”
Rather than shuffle principals, Peters said, the Mariners position could have been advertised and references for candidates collected.
Peters also took on the question of what she and her fellow challengers think of former district officials Laura Boss and Ann Huntington suing the district and Supt. Fred Navarro this year, alleging that fear and intimidation in their workplace compelled them to leave.
“I think it’s a culture which says ‘It’s my way or the highway,’” Peters said. “I’m not sure exactly who’s making that culture that way, but we can’t have a top-down type of leadership structure. If there’s people leaving or filing lawsuits at the district, we need to look at that. If you’re creating a hostile work environment, you’re not going to keep your employees.”
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
