ELECTIONS / BURBANK SCHOOL BOARD : Candidates Cite Doubts Over Trustees’ Record

In the race for three school board seats, four of the six candidates say lingering doubts about the trustees’ effectiveness is what propelled them to run in the Feb. 28 primary election.

The two remaining candidates are incumbents seeking reelection. They defended the five-member board’s record and its attempt to pass a $100-million bond measure, which failed to garner a two-thirds majority of votes in April.

Many Burbank residents have said the board itself is to blame for not adequately promoting the measure and its intended effect.

“Again, the basic reason it failed was the public didn’t understand where the money would be spent, dollar for dollar. There’s a possibility the presentation was not done effectively,” said Henry Hunt, a former board member and head of the district’s School Facilities Committee.

“The other key thing was it was difficult for them (board members) to remember where the cost was going to be.”

Competing for board seats are incumbents Elena Hubbell and William Abbey; former pro football players Mike McDonald, of the Los Angeles Rams, and Steve Tannen, of the New York Jets; small-business owner David Nos, and Malcolm Kelman, who sells home security systems.

While the new candidates are quick to praise the board’s efforts, they complain the trustees are too thin-skinned when it comes to criticism, insensitive to the public and unable to push the Burbank Unified School District in the proper direction.

“The people on the board want to do what is best for kids. However, I don’t believe they are mature enough,” Tannen said. “They are deeply annoyed when people don’t agree with them.”

As Nos put it: “Each, in their own way, is doing the best job they can do. But there is a prevailing lack of trust. It’s something that slowly happened over the years. I can’t blame it on any individuals.”

The depth of distrust can be seen in the race for two Burbank council seats, where political veteran Mary Lou Howard has said she wants to keep the school district’s rebuilding efforts out of the board’s hands.

Burbank’s public schools are in such need of repair that toilets fail to flush, windows do not open and $10,000 worth of donated computer equipment sits idle at Burbank High School for a lack of working electrical outlets.

“The bad thing about the (Northridge) earthquake in Burbank,” Hunt jokes, “was the schools didn’t fall down.”

Incumbents Hubbell and Abbey defended the board’s record, saying the trustees did the best they could with available money and in urging the public to vote in favor of continuity.

“It’s hard for me to understand why they’re blaming this board,” Hubbell said. “I don’t think they can fairly talk about this board.

“There’s no direct benefit to us for all the work we do. When I hear people say, ‘You don’t care,’ I do care.”

Abbey offered other explanations for the bond measure’s failure.

“Let’s face it, people don’t want to pay more taxes,” he said. “People have to be convinced . . . The vast number of bond measures that pass only do so on the second, third, fourth try. It takes a couple of campaigns to get people educated.”

Burbank residents can cast one vote for each of the three school board seats. Any candidate with more than 50% of the votes automatically wins. If nobody wins, all six candidates move on to the April 11 general election.