NEWPORT BEACH : Trustee Quits School Race; Health Is Cited
The senior trustee on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board has dropped out of the November election citing health reasons.
“It’s a slight heart irregularity that could be managed or handled with medication, but I just felt that I really didn’t want to get into the pill business,” said Rod MacMillian, who has served as a trustee for 28 years. “I felt it was better just to reduce the stress.”
MacMillian, 67, was a trustee of the Costa Mesa Elementary School District in 1965, when the Newport-Mesa district unified. He joined the Newport-Mesa board at that time and has served seven terms.
The resignation does not assure the election of Wendy Leece, the only other declared candidate in Trustee Area 7, said Beverly Warner, supervisor with the county registrar of voters. Write-in candidates may challenge Leece by filing declarations of candidacy with the registrar’s office by Oct. 25. They need not gather nomination signatures.
Ballots for the November election have already been printed, so MacMillian’s name will still appear.
“As far as we’re concerned, he can’t withdraw,” Warner said. Warner added that candidates sign promises not to withdraw from the election at the filing deadline in September.
“If he cannot hold the office and he should win it, he would have to submit a letter of resignation to the district and they would decide what they wanted to do about it,” she said.
The board would have the option of appointing a new member to fill MacMillian’s seat or holding a special election.
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