Coastal County : Hottest Race Centers on College District Seats

The hottest race for coastal residents is for two vacant seats on the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees. It is not as controversial as in 1983, where a union representing teachers in the district succeeded in electing three new board members endorsed by the union.

Now, critics of the union claim that the union is seeking to “complete its coup” by winning the two remaining seats on the five-member board.

Similarly, the District Educators Assn., the teachers’ union in the Huntington Beach Union High School District, has announced its goal of unseating school board members and replacing them with union-endorsed candidates in Huntington Beach. The high school district has three of its five seats--a voting majority--up for election.

Elections for both the Irvine and Newport-Mesa unified school districts have few of the strong issues that have marked their past elections.

Irvine, which saw a ballot measure to increase local taxes to support education defeated in 1983, has nine candidates seeking two vacant seats. Two candidates, Chris King and Greg Smith, are supported by the Irvine Teachers Assn. Barbara McCoy, vice president of the association, says the two candidates have told the association that money to cover classroom expenses, such as teachers’ salaries, will be their highest priority, if elected.

Newport-Mesa has four board seats open with two incumbents running unopposed. Two candidates are challenging the other two incumbents but district Supt. John Nicoll says that the election will not be as dramatic as the district’s election four years ago which focused on school closures and program and personnel cutbacks.