Revamped school board in the offing

Molly Shore

Fresh from his election victory Tuesday, school board member-elect

Dave Kemp is not letting any grass grow under his feet.

Kemp, who says he has a lot to learn about being a board member,

will meet with district Supt. Gregory Bowman next week to begin his

studies.

“I know quite a bit about the schools,” Kemp said. “But I need to

learn intricacies of board policy, including how [board members] work

with the Brown Act.”

Kemp, the only outright winner in Tuesday’s primary election,

received more than half of the 10,259 total votes, qualifying for one

of the three available school board seats.

Attorney Paul Krekorian, who took 38.7% of the vote, is one of the

four candidates in the April 8 run-off election.

Like Kemp, Krekorian also stands ready to tackle the budget

problems that have plagued the district.

“Clearly, the results of the election were a mandate that the

voters wanted a change in leadership in the school board,” he said.

With 29.6% of the vote, Larry Applebaum placed third in Tuesday’s

race. “I think that with the [Burbank Teachers Assn.] endorsement, I

did better than I would have done. It gave me momentum,” Applebaum

said.

Kim Allender, co-president of the Burbank Teachers Assn., said he

is pleased with Tuesday’s results, and thinks the voters agreed a

change was needed.

“We have two more candidates that we’re going to work very hard to

get elected,” he said, referring to Krekorian and Applebaum who,

along with Kemp were endorsed by the association.

Ted Bunch, 64, received 28.7% of the vote, and advances to the

run-off election.

“All of a sudden, I’m getting people who want to support me,” he

said, explaining that several people have offered to host candidate

coffees for him, work at telephone banks and post yard signs.

Incumbent Mike McDonald squeezed into the runoff with 18.3% of the

vote, and said he was surprised fellow board members Elena Hubbell

and Richard Raad did not make the final cut.

The vote percentages from the final count released Friday differed

from Tuesday’s percentages. The new numbers are based on the total

number of votes cast, whereas Tuesday’s were based on votes cast only

for the school board race, City Clerk Margarita Campos said. The

change does not affect which candidates advance to the general

election.

Hubbell and Raad will serve out their terms until May 15. Both

said they are pleased with accomplishments during their tenure.