Supt. Peterson Remains Upbeat Despite Threat to His Reign

When a relatively obscure college professor began testing the waters last December for a possible run at the county superintendent of schools, incumbent Robert Peterson brushed him off as just another in a long line of unsuccessful challengers.

“He would be swimming upstream,” Peterson said after the professor, John F. Dean, announced that he was considering becoming a candidate.

But six months later, it’s Dean who finds himself in the comfortable position of riding with the current, while Peterson may be faced with beginning an unwilling retirement after 24 years in office.

In the final tally from Tuesday’s election for the nonpartisan, $98,663-a-year post, Dean, a 63-year-old professor currently on sabbatical from Whittier College while serving as executive director of the nonprofit California Reading Assn. Inc., won 43.5% of the vote, topping Peterson by 1,035 ballots.

Peterson’s other challenger, Ron Detrick, an educator and administrator at National University in Irvine, finished with 12.8% of the vote.

Dean and Peterson, who finished with 43.2% of the vote, will square off again in a November runoff. And while that contest is five months away, the campaign rhetoric was in full swing just hours after the final results were tabulated early Wednesday morning.

“I think the public has spoken here,” said Dean, a Newport Beach resident. “Almost 60% of the public said they don’t want (Peterson) any more. They’re saying it’s time for him to hang it up.”

But Peterson, 69, who has been in office since 1966, contended that Dean’s win in the primary was achieved through misuse of campaign-contribution laws. Last week, Peterson called a press conference to point out that Dean’s father provided a $20,000 campaign loan, $19,000 over the legal limit as spelled out in Proposition 73.

“That (primary victory) was achieved through the use of a $19,000 illegal loan, and if (Dean) did not misuse the law, I doubt that he would have gotten as many votes as he did,” Peterson said.

Dean countered that the loan was accepted because of “an honest mistake” by his campaign staff and that the money has been returned. He and his staff are cooperating with an investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, he said.

Peterson also said that his campaign was damaged last week when the California Teachers Assn., which endorsed Dean, called a press conference to announce a $1-million claim against Peterson and the County Board of Education by a teacher who charged that her classroom in a county-run school for troubled youths was electronically bugged. Peterson called the timing of the announcement “politically motivated.”

While Dean’s candidacy clearly is the toughest political challenge that Peterson has faced in his 24 years as superintendent, he is no stranger to heated battles. The Orange County Grand Jury has frequently criticized Peterson as practicing “a policy of educational isolationism,” and other critics--including Dean--have called for switching the county superintendent’s post to an appointive office or doing away with it entirely.

Still, Peterson has managed to weather the attacks and, until now, has faced only token opposition from candidates in recent years. He was regarded as so strong, in fact, that no one dared challenge him four years ago.

In an interview Wednesday, Peterson said he expects that Dean’s strong showing in the election will rally “enthusiastic supporters” who didn’t work hard for him in the primary because they assumed Peterson would be “an automatic winner.”

Although he continued to attack Dean for “distortions of fact” and pledged to outspend him in the runoff, Peterson maintained that he is not concerned about the outcome of the November election. He noted that he will turn 70 in October, making him eligible for Social Security and pensions from the Air Force and his 40-plus years as a teacher and county superintendent.

“I’m in a win-win situation no matter what,” Peterson said. “I have no chagrin--whichever way the good Lord works it out, I’m going to be happy and pleased.” EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SERVICES County Supt. of Schools Robert Peterson is the chief executive of the county Department of Education and approves use of the department’s $65-million annual budget. The department has no control over local district policies, but among the services it provides are: Schools and transportation for handicapped children. Vocational training. “Court” schools for juveniles in custody. Limited day care. Auditing of budgets and distribution of payroll for local districts. A research library for educators. Workshops and training programs for teachers and administrators.