Unaligned Candidate to Quit 5-Way Tustin School Board Race

The only unaligned candidate in the race for two seats on the Tustin Unified School District school board said Sunday that he will withdraw, narrowing the contest to two incumbents and two challengers backed by the local teachers’ union.

Jim McBride, 42, a project manager for an Orange County real estate development consultant company, citing health reasons, said he has already contacted the county registrar’s office about withdrawing. Because the ballots are already printed, however, his name will still appear on the Nov. 5 ballots of Tustin-area voters.

With two seats up for election, the remaining candidates are the two incumbents--Edward H. Boseker and Dorothy T. Ralston--and challengers Jane Bauer, an attorney, and Gloria Tuchman, a teacher in the Santa Ana Unified School District.

The Tustin Educators Assn., the union that went on a six-day strike earlier this month, has said it is supporting Bauer and Tuchman. The union voted to suspend its strike after the teachers agreed that political action--ouster of the incumbent school board--is the best avenue to pursue.

The union, by a unanimous vote, said it supports the ouster of Boseker and Ralston in this election, followed by supporting “a citizens’ committee” move to recall the three remaining board members.

The strike was called because the school board and the teachers’ union have been unable to negotiate a contract. The teachers’ last contract expired July 1, 1984.

McBride said Sunday that he may endorse one or more of the remaining candidates in the race “in the next few days.”

He said he decided to withdraw because of a flare-up of a 2-year-old injury. “I did not want to be in the position of being unable to complete a term on the school board,” he said.

While McBride is officially unaligned in the race, he has been critical of incumbent board members, especially of their negotiations with the teachers. “I think their attitude and dealings with the teachers could have been less tense,” he said.

McBride said the teachers “demonstrated patience” and that they went on strike “to demonstrate their grievances, and they were effective in those efforts.”

Sandy Banis, president of the Tustin Educators Assn., said Sunday that she had admired the presentations and statements McBride had made while he was a candidate. She said his withdrawal “makes a clear choice” among the remaining candidates: “The ins and those who would bring new blood to the board.”

Banis said that while she and other teachers strongly disagree with incumbent Tustin schools Supt. Maurice Ross, the union has no commitment from Bauer and Tuchman about seeking Ross’ dismissal. “We only want a school board that provides new leadership, that is independent, with independent people solving the problems,” Banis said.