Aghajanian Wins Pasadena School Seat

Alex P. Aghajanian, a construction litigation attorney, has won a decisive victory over gadfly Rene Amy to fill a vacant seat on the Pasadena Unified School Board.

Meanwhile, a special state Senate election in the Inland Empire is heading for a runoff.

In Tuesday’s elections, Aghajanian, 43, a father of three, garnered 4,925 votes to 4,156 votes for Amy, an outspoken critic of the 24,000-student district. Voter turnout was estimated to be below 10%.

Throughout the campaign, both Aghajanian and Amy portrayed themselves as catalysts for drastic change within the district that serves Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. And Aghajanian, whose disgust with public schools led him to transfer his children to a parochial school, said he considers his election a mandate for action.

“I am a reformer and we’re going to have some positive changes,” Aghajanian said late Tuesday. “I plan to devote more resources to the classroom, [make] school sites more autonomous and create stronger principals.”

Amy, a fixture at board meetings, said Aghajanian has talked like a reformer, but now must deliver.

“We have to hold him accountable for what he said he would do,” said Amy, whose two children are in the district. “I think it is a disappointment that the only people on the board with school-age children have them in private school.”

Results for write-in candidate Pete Soelter will not be available until today at the earliest. There were fewer than 500 write-in votes.

In the 32nd state Senate district, rookie Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona), 73, will be in a runoff against Republican businessman Rob Guzman, 45, of Fontana.

Neither had a majority. Soto received 48.39%, or 19,173 votes, and Guzman 39.56%, or 15,673 votes. Far behind was Fontana Mayor David Eshelman, a Democrat, with 12.05%, or 4,173 votes.

The conservative-leaning, predominantly Democratic district, which stretches from Pomona in Los Angeles County to San Bernardino, is considered a bellwether of voters’ sentiments in presidential election years. The seat had been held by Democrat Joe Baca of Rialto, who won election to Congress in November.

Eshelman had argued that the district, which lies mainly in San Bernardino County, should be represented by someone from that county rather than a Los Angeles County resident like Soto, a former Pomona councilwoman.

Soto said she has no hard feelings toward Eshelman. With her Republican opponent picking up less than 40%, she called Tuesday’s election a “very good result” for Democrats. “I’m very confident I’ll win the runoff,” she said.