Glendale education board candidates have a final say before primary election day
The Glendale Women’s Civic League on Thursday hosted eight candidates vying for two seats on the Glendale Unified school board and two seats on the Glendale Community College board of trustees in the March 3 primary election.
In addition to a three-course lunch, a look at a proposed education-related initiative was served during the event at the Glendale Elks Lodge & Club.
The moderator asked the five candidates vying for the Glendale Unified school board seats whether they support the November ballot initiative billed as Schools and Communities First by proponents.
The initiative would tax large commercial and industrial properties based on their market value rather than the original purchase price. It’s expected to generate $11 billion annually with 40% distributed to school districts and community colleges. The proposal changes the 1978-approved Proposition 13.
The three candidates vying for Trustee in Area A — recent local graduate Joy McCreary, middle school administrator Jeremy Spurley and current Glendale Unified board president Jennifer Freemon — agreed in their support for the initiative.
McCreary said, “We need to look at a comprehensive plan to attack and combat [under funding], and that means that we need to be passing initiatives like Schools and Communities First that support educational funding for our schools as a state.”
Spurley said he couldn’t think of a more important priority than better funding for education.
“We have done ourselves a great disservice in education in that we could get more achievement and do more with kids with minimal amounts of money that shouldn’t be humanly possible,” said Freemon.
Although there are measures like Proposition 9 in place, legislators continue to provide the minimum funding, according to Freemon.
Glendale Council PTA’s executive vice president Neda Farid-Farhouman, who is running against current board member Nayiri Nahabedian for trustee in Area E, also supported the initiative.
Farid-Farhouman said, “Any opportunity to create resources for our students with little consequence to the community at large is an opportunity that we have to seize.”
In agreement, Nahabedian added the school board has been creative in looking for alternative funding through grants and magnet programs while they wait for long-term funding resources.
The forum’s second half consisted of Glendale Community College candidates. When the moderator asked the same question about the ballot initiative, the three candidates unanimously said they don’t support it.
Harry Leon, president of the Crescenta Valley Town Council, is pitted against Desiree Portillo Rabinov, the town council’s treasurer, for College District No. 1, which consists mostly of La Crescenta-Montrose.
Leon said he refuses higher taxes and stated fiscal responsibility is very important in his agenda.
Rabinov said she has owned a commercial industrial property for 30 years and would be affected by the initiative.
“The way the issue is written I challenge because I don’t think it’s fair in the way it’s presented. As [the initiative is written], it means harming a part of our society, which I don’t want to do. I don’t want to harm our tenants,” said Rabinov
Sevan Benlian, a Woodbury University alumnus and architect, is running unopposed for the other vacant Glendale Community College seat.
“I don’t think we need more taxes when it comes to the property portion. In California, we probably pay the highest property tax in the country,” said Benlian.
The Glendale City Council was also split on the ballot initiative during a forum in early February.
Several other topics were also addressed, including school safety, magnet versus neighborhood schools, charter schools, supporting the superintendent, and affordable living for staff and students on community college campuses.
