Coleman Forced Into Runoff in Inglewood Schools Race

Thomasina Reed, a Ladera Heights attorney seeking office for the first time, beat out two other candidates this week to face 10-year Inglewood school board member Caroline Coleman in a June 6 runoff election.

The campaign was notable for Coleman’s absence from the campaign trail and from the past four school board meetings because of illness. Coleman’s last campaign disclosure statement reported that she had raised and spent no money as of March 18. Yet voters received a flurry of campaign mailers on her behalf in the days preceding the election, and Coleman won 44.3% of the vote.

Reed ran the best-financed campaign among the three challengers, winning 26.3% of the vote. She said she spent about $16,000, considerably more than insurance underwriter Jewett Walker, who drew 19.2%, and businessman Emanuel Gary, who got 10.3%. Walker said he raised $6,200, and Gary filed a form indicating that he expected to raise less than $1,000.

Reed, 40, promised Tuesday night to focus her runoff campaign on Coleman, 51, a veteran political warrior who has been at the center of a score of controversies during her tenure on the Inglewood Unified School District board.

“Obviously this is a big upset for her,” Reed said of Coleman, who was not available for comment. “I’ve never run for election before. I think very clearly I’m going to pick up those votes (that the other challengers received).”

Coleman had the backing of fellow board members Larry Aubry and Joseph Rouzan, who were reelected over minimal or no opposition Tuesday. Inglewood Mayor Edward Vincent, a longtime ally, also strongly supported Coleman.

Reed questioned where the money to pay for Coleman’s mailers had come from and speculated that Vincent may have been involved. She said she would press for an investigation of possible violations of Proposition 73, a new campaign spending law that prohibits contributions between candidates.

Reed said: “I think one of the things you’ve got to look at is where did her money come from? If Mayor Vincent put his money into it, then he’s violating Proposition 73, and that’s going to have to be investigated.”

Coleman’s campaign spending after March 18 does not need to be reported until May 25.

Vincent could not be reached for comment.

Another issue Reed said she would stress is Coleman’s illness. Opponents and school district employees say Coleman is bedridden with cancer and may not be able to serve her board term if elected. In a telephone interview before the election, Coleman vigorously denied having cancer, calling her illness “a female thing” from which she would recuperate.

“What’s the true story on her illness?” Reed asked Tuesday.

Reed appears to have a solid chance of unseating Coleman, whose opponents have accused her of allowing political connections to influence her decisions as a board member.

At campaign forums--which Coleman did not attend but to which she sometimes sent representatives with prepared statements--the other candidates criticized Coleman’s votes to demote rather than fire Leonard Matthews, a principal and political ally who faces criminal charges for embezzling $10,000 in school funds. They also cited a 1985 indictment of Coleman on charges of misusing public funds, a case that a judge later threw out on grounds that it was a civil matter.

Opposition to Coleman appears to be particularly strong in the Ladera Heights area where Reed and Walker live. Reed said Tuesday that she would attempt to expand her support into Inglewood and seek the votes of the other challengers’ supporters and of the Inglewood Teachers Assn., which endorsed Walker.

Reed already has the strong support of board member Lois Hill-Hale, who cheered her strong showing at a celebration at Reed’s Inglewood campaign headquarters Tuesday.

Times Staff Writer Sheryl Stolberg contributed to this story.