ANAHEIM : Trustee Candidates Make Publicity Pitch

Numerous placards touting candidates for the Anaheim Union High School District board have surfaced, with the office seekers trying to raise more money to pay for bigger signs and thus gain greater name recognition before to the Nov. 6 election.

“I think it may be a little distracting because we should be dealing with schools, not politics,” said Beverly Yourstone, whose hot-pink-and-black placards are among the most noticeable in the city.

The competition to see who posts the most eye-catching sign has some candidates wondering if they are more steeped in politics than school governance.

Still, like other candidates in the school board race who have become aggressive in their campaigning, Yourstone admits that it’s going to be a tough haul and every bit of publicity helps.

This is the first year the high school district race is on the same ballot as the general election, and many candidates are trying to make their name stand out so voters don’t select new board members randomly.

Yourstone and Hersh Cherson recently held a joint fund-raiser for their campaigns.

Cherson, whose black-and-green signs are probably the most numerous throughout the city, leads the pack of candidates with more than $5,500 raised from the last fund-raising period earlier this month. The next period ends Thursday.

Donald D. Weddle is the second-highest fund-raiser on the list, with $3,670. Yourstone is next, with $3,085 in contributions, and incumbent JoAnne L. Stanton has raised $1,725.

Three other candidates have raised less than $1,000--Shirley Rehm, Lola Tapia and Molly McGee, although both Rehm and Tapia have been able to produce placards with their relatively small war chests.

“My family has been helping me. My campaign’s a down-home, mom-and-pop thing,” said Rehm, a former district employee. Rehm said she isn’t upset that fund raising has become an issue in the campaign but hopes that the voters can separate qualifications from publicity. “I would only be upset,” Rehm said, “if in the end money won, rather than reason or experience.”