Local Elections : ‘Phantom’ in Race for Pasadena Schools Seat

Call it the phantom campaign.

Juan Francisco Lara dropped out of the race for a seat on the Pasadena Unified School District board more than two months ago for unspecified personal reasons.

Despite refusing to campaign, he still won enough votes in the March 7 primary to have his name placed on the runoff ballot.

Next Tuesday, Lara will face George A. Padilla in an election that both candidates say has become a bit ridiculous.

Lara, 45, former assistant dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education, asked to be dropped from the election, but the city said his name could not be removed from the ballot unless Lara obtained a court order. He did not do so.

Arlene Moncrief, 57, who came in third in the primary, filed a suit last month against the city clerk to replace Lara’s name on the ballot with her own. Moncrief finished 100 votes behind Lara. The suit is pending in Pasadena Superior Court, but the ballots listing Lara and Padilla have been printed.

Padilla, 43, said he feels a bit awkward campaigning against Lara, who has shown he can win votes without trying.

“As long as his name is on the ballot, we are assuming he is a real candidate,” said Padilla, the owner of an engineering consulting firm in Pasadena. Padilla is continuing a campaign of voter mailings.

Based on his showing in the primary, Padilla could be headed for an easy victory.

He ran first in the primary with 6,974 votes, or 46.7% of the total, followed by Lara with 4,024 votes and Moncrief with 3,924.

A runoff is being held between Lara and Padilla because no candidate for the seat won more than 50% of the votes.

If Lara wins, he could resign and the school board could call a special election or appoint a replacement. Lara said he has not decided what he will do if he wins.

“I’m not campaigning, I don’t expect to win, and I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

The school board has five members. Three seats were up for election this year. One was won outright by incumbent Anne Pursel.

In the runoff for a second open seat, James H. McBath, the incumbent school board president, is opposed by Wilbert Smith.

McBath, 63, a professor of communications at USC, placed first in the primary with 6,687 votes, or 44% of the total. He is seeking his second four-year term.

McBath said the board has done an admirable job of increasing educational standards and teachers’ salaries throughout the district. He supports creating specialized schools that would emphasize specific fields such as math, literature or the performing arts.

Smith, 38, who came in second in the primary with 6,086 votes, or 40.1%, is a vice president for national accounts with Bank of America in Los Angeles.

He supports improving training for teachers to keep them abreast of new teaching and counseling methods. He also supports creating specialized programs in math, science and the performing arts.

Smith is a reserve deputy sheriff in Altadena and has a master’s degree in special education.