Burbank Elects 3 New Trustees

Two newcomers won seats on the Burbank Unified School District board in a runoff election this week -- joining a third newcomer elected in February -- because voters held the incumbents responsible for mismanagement and wanted change, the district’s superintendent said Wednesday.

“People expressed dissatisfaction with the way things were handled and they wanted a change,” said Supt. Greg Bowman, referring to a $3-million accounting snafu last year. “I think voters felt even if [board members] didn’t know about it, they should have.”

In the Burbank City Council race for two open seats, incumbent Jef Vander Borght was reelected and newcomer Todd Campbell won a seat. Campbell replaces CouncilmanDavid Laurell, who chose not to run.

The new school board members are attorney Paul Kerkorian and retired teachers Dave Kemp and Ted Bunch.

“Change is inevitable and I’m looking forward to working with the new board,” Bowman said.

In Tuesday’s election, Kerkorian, with 30.7% of the vote, and Bunch, with 28.7%, were elected to a first term on the school board. In the Feb. 25 general election, Kemp won the first of the three open seats by garnering 53%.

Ousted were Elena Hubble, who had been on the board for 12 years, and Richard Raad and board President Mike McDonald, both four-year members.

Incumbents Connie Lackey and Trish Burnett were not up for reelection this year.

The co-president of the Burbank Teachers Assn., which represents the city’s 850 elementary, middle and high school teachers, said he was pleased with the change. But he added the board faces many challenges, most notably dealing with the looming state budget cuts.

“We are going to lose about $4 million in funding” from a total budget of about $100 million, Kim Allender said. Because about 85% of the state funding goes toward salaries, Allender said, “We could be losing up to 100 teachers and staff.”

Newly elected board member Kerkorian, a Santa Monica attorney who lives in Burbank, said with the budgets cuts, public education throughout the state will be hit hard. The role of the board, he said, is to ease the effect of any cuts on the quality of education.

Kerkorian, 43, said he will encourage the board to look into nonprofit organizations and businesses to help find alternative funding for after-school enrichment, day-care and other programs.

“We need to keep the cuts as far away from the classrooms as possible,” he said.

Besides the budget woes, the board also needs to improve morale of school district employees, said new member Bunch, who taught in Burbank for 36 years.

“Trying to keep people motivated and rebuilding confidence in the board are major goals for us,” said Bunch, 64. “We are in a situation where it is vital to function properly to provide our children with the best possible education.”