Big Surprise for First-Time School Board Candidate
Manhattan Beach school board candidate Ronald G. Durham had a slight handicap going into the campaign leading up to Tuesday’s elections.
He didn’t realize at first that school board positions are elective.
“I went to sign up and had no idea there was an election,” Durham says. “I was trying to do a good thing by volunteering for my community. The next thing I knew I was invited to candidates’ forums.”
Whereas his opponents invested in slick handbills and yard signs, Durham deployed lime green pieces of construction paper carrying a handwritten message from his second-grade daughter, Crystal. They read: “Vote for My Dad.”
Durham finished last in the four-way race for the three seats up for grabs. But he still managed to get 722 votes, 395 short of board member-elect Bernhard O’Connor, the third-place finisher.
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