ELECTIONS : Crowded School Board Contests, Bond Issue Top November Races

Dozens of candidates will compete for seats in school board and community college districts in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys Nov. 5 in an election that also will determine the fate of a $20-million bond measure to build new schools in Valencia and Newhall.

Voters in Westlake Village and Agoura Hills will elect city council members, and seats on various water districts also will be decided.

Santa Clarita Valley Schools

Thirty-five candidates filed papers by Friday’s deadline for seats in all six of the Santa Clarita Valley’s school districts. Each five-member board has two seats up for reelection.

The most hotly contested races are expected to be in the Saugus Union School District, which is composed of 11 elementary schools. Ten candidates--far more than in any other district--are running for the two seats on that board.

During the past year, the district has been rocked by protests from some parents and board members over the actions of Supt. Christopher Wilson, who warned two popular principals that their performance was less than satisfactory.

Incumbent Peggy A. Marrone will face Fred Berson, an educator; Jim Chaffee, a security director; Michael P. Erwin, an administrative hearing representative; Ken Johnson, a police sergeant; Rose Koscielny, a registered nurse; Peter J. Krug, a medical sales manager; Deme Clare Larson, an art teacher; Antonio (Tony) Martino, an engineer, and Al Nocciolo, a retired school administrator.

In the overcrowded Newhall School District, appointed incumbent Gonzalo Freixes will compete against Candace Fleece, a parent; Dan Ladd, an engineer; Frank J. McKendall, an educator; Ronald E. Winkler, a businessman; Sara Dulmage and Leann Wills.

In addition to electing two trustees, voters in the Newhall district, which encompasses Newhall and parts of Valencia, will decide whether to increase their property taxes to pay for new elementary schools. A homeowner whose property was assessed at $250,000 would pay $44 more a year in taxes for the 27-year life of the bond.

In June, the same measure fell 121 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

The district needs the bond money to build at least three more schools during the next few decades, officials said. About 4,700 students are enrolled in the district’s six elementary schools, about 800 more than the schools were designed to hold.

“Getting this initiative passed is the No. 1 priority,” said Anne Hazlett, assistant superintendent of personnel and instruction. “We only have six schools, but enough children right now for seven, and we anticipate additional growth.”

In the Castaic Union School District, incumbent John W. (Jack) Johnson will be challenged by Bruce Fox, a police officer, and Lester M. Freeman, an emergency planner. Incumbent Jane Wakeham-Lopez did not file candidacy papers by Friday.

In the William S. Hart Union High School District, incumbents Gerald (Jerry) Heidt and Clara Stroup will face off against Francis J. (Frank) Turner, a police officer, John Hassel and Paula Olivares.

The race in the Soledad-Agua Dulce Union District will pit incumbent Martin Barofsky against Joyce Field, a homemaker; David J. Perez, a firefighter; Rebecca A. Small, a businesswoman and education advocate, and Robert Daley.

Both incumbents in the Sulphur Springs Union School District, Joan Whaling MacGregor and Susan R. Ostrom, are not running for reelection. Competing for the two seats will be Ethelyn Glancy, a homemaker, Beth J. Levi, a businesswoman; Marilyn Anderson Sparks, a human resource director; Sheldon Wigdor, a business manager, and John P. Smith.

Antelope Valley Schools

As in the Santa Clarita Valley, board races in the Antelope Valley, including Lancaster, Palmdale and Wilsona, will revolve around crowded classrooms and rising school-age populations.

Controversy is expected to distinguish the race in the Antelope Valley Union High School District. Appointed incumbent Bob McMullen is running to finish an unexpired term ending in December, 1993. McMullen, who had served as an elected board member through 1989, had been living in Cambria until recently, and had said previously he would not seek reelection.

Nolan D. Negaard, a retired teacher, and Charles L. Whiteside, a human resources director, are also seeking the unexpired term.

Running for two four-year terms are Los Angeles County Probation Department worker William M. Olenick; incumbent Wilda N. Andrejcik; James L. Hutchins, a quality assurance engineer; Sue Stokka, a homemaker, Keith Davis and Billy A. Pricer.

Olenick, the board’s president until two years ago, is attempting a political comeback. He was defeated in November, 1989, after a much-publicized criminal investigation into his former wife’s allegations that he had assaulted her. Charges were never filed and his wife later recanted her story.

The candidates who will fight for two seats in the Lancaster School District are James T. Jeffra, a deputy sheriff; Barbara McDonald, a community worker; Andy Visokey, an aerospace analyst, Valverda (Val) Holt and Martina Grable.

Two seats are also up for election in the Palmdale School District. Incumbents Sheldon Epstein and Larry D. Ott are being challenged by Helen Acosta.

Six candidates are vying for two seats on the Wilsona School District board. Incumbents Gayle Duns and Maurice Kunkel are being challenged by Dave Brandt Sr., a civil engineering consultant; Mack Lewis, a director of maintenance; Marc S. Sas Sr., an aerospace technician, and Christina Behringer.

In the Westside Union School District, incumbent Gwen Farrell will be challenged by teacher Scott Gmur and Christine Le Beau for two seats.

Other School Districts

Two seats on the Las Virgenes Unified School District in Agoura are being sought by incumbent Amy Berns and Harry B. Knaster, a physician.

Incumbent Ruth M. Ralphs and appointed incumbent Steven Coleman Sonder are running unopposed for two seats in the Gorman School District.

In the Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District, David Landes, a mechanic; Rick M. Sill, a pawnbroker-jeweler; Judy Toothaker, a parent; Charles E. Slay, Wayne Prindle and Michael Taylor will compete for two seats.

City Councils

In Westlake Village, where election campaigns traditionally have been gentlemanly affairs, only one person will compete with Mayor Kenneth Rufener and Councilwoman Berniece Bennett for the seats they hold. Businessman Daniel J. Murphy, 47, filed his candidacy papers about 4:40 p.m. Friday.

Neighboring Agoura Hills extended its filing deadline to Wednesday because longtime Councilwoman Vicky Leary did not file for reelection. Although Leary, elected during the city’s first campaign in 1982, announced some time ago that she would not seek reelection, city rules require a five-day extension of the deadline if an incumbent does not file.

By Friday, Mayor Louise Rishoff and two other candidates had filed their intentions to run. They are Planning Commissioner Joan Yacovone, supported by Leary to succeed her, and businessman Paul G. Mueller, a businessman who ran unsuccessfully in 1989.

Community Colleges

In races for community college boards, eight candidates are competing for three seats in the Santa Clarita Community College District.

* The race for Office No. 2 will pit incument Michele R. Jenkins against James L. Feyler, an electronics designer, and Andy Martin, an earthquake insurance agent.

* Office No. 4 incumbent William J. Broyles is being challenged by businessman Bruce D. Fortine.

* Office No. 5 incumbent Richard D. Peoples faces challenges from Kurt M. Freeman, a public administrator, and Dan Brown.

In the race for two seats on the Antelope Valley Community College District board, incumbents Earl J. Wilson and Donald M. Ross are being challenged by Felix S. LeMarinel.

Water Districts

Voters also will decide among more than two-dozen candidates who are competing for seats on water district boards.

The most competitive race will be in the West Valley County Water District in the Antelope Valley, where nine candidates are competing for three seats. They are incumbent Steve Rener, appointed incumbents Glyndon E. Fry, Michael Chandler Graham and Jerri L. Stoyanoff; Paul M. Ciruso, an account specialist; Carl S. Koch, an attorney; James Luetger, a state traffic officer; Frances Maas, a homemaker, and Valentine Ramirez, a quality assurance manager.

The candidates for two seats on the Green Valley County Water District are appointed incumbents David Phillips and Jim Zerillo; Jim Billesbach, a fire captain; Philip Brazier, a retired engineering manager; Terry L. Kaldhusdal, a news reporter; James D. Steele, a rancher, and Douglas Mull.

A contest for two seats on the Quartz Hill Water District will be among incumbent Lee R. Richardson; Ben Harrison Jr., a general manager; John B. Mason, a retired civil servant, and Craig D. Yoder, a land development manager.

In the race for Division 3 and 4 of the Palm Ranch Irrigation District, incumbents Wayne D. Nygaard and Phillip L. Counts are running unopposed.

In the race for three seats on the Palmdale Water District board, Division 1 Director Leslie O. Carter and Division 4 Director John Sidwell are running unopposed. Division 3 Director Joe J. Sage is being challenged by retired aircraft worker Jay Freeman.

Staff writers Tracey Kaplan and Aaron Curtiss contributed to this story.