Voters in Laguna Unified to Go to Polls Tuesday on Recall of 3 School Trustees

Voters in the Laguna Beach Unified School District will go to the polls Tuesday in a special election to decide whether to recall three school board trustees.

The Orange County registrar of voters office anticipates that 22% of the school district’s 16,721 registered voters will cast ballots in the election, Assistant Registrar Rosalyn Lever said. Voter turnout is usually low in special elections.

The cost of the election is about $1.07 to $1.10 per registered voter, Lever said. The registrar of voters will bill the school district about $25,000, which includes the election costs as well as the cost to tabulate and verify signatures on the recall petitions, she said.

A group of residents called Citizens Unified for Responsible Education (CURE) launched the recall effort last October, after the school board voted 4 to 1 to allow Cedrick W. Hardman, former Laguna Beach High School football coach, to continue as a volunteer coach despite his arrest on felony charges of possession of cocaine and resisting arrest.

In May, CURE submitted to the registrar the necessary registered voter signatures for the recall election of school board president Charlene Ragatz and trustees Carl Schwarz and Janet S. Vickers. Recall efforts to oust board member Susan Mas, who voted with the majority, failed after she publicly stated that she regretted her vote.

Each board member faces two challengers in the election. Challenging Ragatz are Kathleen Jones, assistant vice chancellor of communications at UC Irvine, and James G. Kreder, who owns Synergistic Planning Corp. in Laguna Beach.

Vying for Schwarz’s seat are Thomas R. Davis, owner of Laguna Print, and Philip J. Kams, who owns West Coast Sales and Service.

Vickers’ challengers are John E. Bachman, a Santa Ana schoolteacher, and Dr. Harvey Triebwasser, a pediatrician.

Voters may vote yes or no on the recall of each incumbent. If they vote in favor of recall, they may vote for a successor to that seat, who would take office for the remaining term of the incumbent should the recall succeed.

Both Schwarz’s and Vickers’ terms expire in November, 1989. But because Ragatz’s term expires this November, the winner in the recall race for her seat will face election again in six weeks in the regular election Nov. 3.

On Tuesday, 22 polling places will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Votes will be tabulated at the registrar’s office in Santa Ana.