OXNARD : Education Board Honors Trustee

Bedford Pinkard, a trustee of the Oxnard Union High School District who was recently elected to the City Council, has been honored by his school board colleagues for his 18 years of service.

Pinkard, a 61-year-old retired recreation supervisor, was presented with a plaque during the board’s meeting Wednesday night.

“We all appreciate your efforts and contributions and all the things you’ve done to serve youngsters,” Supt. Bill Studt told Pinkard. “Just don’t forget your roots, or where you learned to be a politician.”

Pinkard, the first black to be elected to the Oxnard City Council, expressed mixed emotions about leaving the school district. He said the main reason that he decided to run for the council was to improve strained relations between the district and the city.

Pinkard was referring to the city’s reluctance to lend its support to the district’s plans to relocate Oxnard High School on farmland outside the city’s northwest boundary. After much prodding and assurances from the district that the school would not spur new development in the greenbelt area, the City Council agreed to provide sewer and other services to the school site.

Pinkard will be replaced on the school board by Fred A. Judy, founder and chairman of the board of the Zoe Christian Center for the homeless in Oxnard. Judy, elected to the board Nov. 3, will assume his new post in December.