Laguna Beach : Petitions Circulated for School Board’s Recall

Members of Citizens United for Responsible Education (CURE) began a petition drive Saturday aimed at recalling four school board members who voted to permit a football coach arrested on suspicion of drug possession to remain at Laguna Beach High School.

Former professional football player Cedrick Hardman was arrested Sept. 20 after police stopped him for a traffic violation and allegedly found cocaine. He was suspended without pay following the arrest.

But on Oct. 28, the school board voted 4 to 1 to allow Hardman to coach the high school football team on a volunteer basis, and to resume his paid position if he successfully completes a court-supervised drug-rehabilitation program, thus avoiding a trial. At the stormy session, attended by 250 Laguna residents, members Carl Schwarz, Janet Vickers, Susan Mas and Charlene Ragatz voted to reinstate Hardman. Harry Bithell voted against.

The vote was criticized by a number of individuals and groups, including the Laguna Beach Police Employees Assn.

Saturday’s canvass “got a pretty good response” CURE spokeswoman Nancy Kreder said, “but we won’t have any results until Sunday night or Monday morning.”

Kreder said that about 75 members of the group walked precincts, and some reported that 75% of the people they approached agreed to sign.

Officially, the group needs to collect 3,515 signatures on each of four recall petitions, about 20% of Laguna’s registered voters.

“We need about 20% more than that,” Kreder said, in case not all of those who sign are registered voters. “For some reason,” she said, “people just like to sign things.”

Kreder said the group hopes to have the required signatures by Feb. 1. “That’s our goal,” she said. “We should be able to get an election before the end of school.”

The drive will continue, she said, regardless of the outcome of Hardman’s drug-diversion program.

“That will have no affect on the drive,” she said. “No matter what the decision would be on his trial, it would not affect the recall.”

While the Hardman vote was the “catalyst” for the recall drive, Kreder said, “we feel a new school board could give as a good a quality of leadership as the present board” in many areas.