School board incumbent will run again
Jeanne Broberg has strong family ties to La Cañada Unified. That bond made the decision to run for reelection to the district’s Governing Board in the Nov. 8 election easy.
All eight of Broberg’s children attended La Cañada public schools and four of her grandchildren are currently enrolled in the district’s elementary, 7/8 and high school levels. One more grandchild is soon to follow the family tradition.
“I want to provide the quality education that my children had for my five grandsons,” Broberg said. “All of us grandparents whose children grew up with such fine schools have a loyalty to the school district and want our community to continue to have the high quality schools that we had. I am well qualified to help with that.”
Broberg knows there will be plenty of challenges posed to the board in the coming year. Supt. Jim Stratton is handing over the reins to Wendy Sinnette, the current assistant superintendent, at the end of this school year and the board will most likely have to make more cuts when the state finalizes its budget.
“I know I am needed as our district transitions to our new superintendent and as we continue to face challenges at the state level,” Broberg said in a news release.
Governing Board President Susan Boyd said Broberg’s experience would be a “benefit” when it comes time to hammer out the district’s budget.
“When you have those kinds of decisions that need to be made in the near future, I think it would be difficult for someone who doesn’t have that experience,” Boyd said. “It will be a very steep learning curve and Jeanne’s experience would be a real asset.”
Scott Tracy, school board vice president, said it’s important for the district to have experience and a set of fresh set of eyes and ideas on the board.
“The community always looks for great people to serve on the board, whether they have experience or they’re new,” Tracy said. “We need new blood but at the same time we greatly value experience.”
If elected, Broberg would serve her second consecutive and fourth overall term on the board. She was a member of the board from 1993 to 2001 and took a few years off when she moved out of the country.
“It’s certainly unusual for someone to run for as many as four terms,” Tracy said. “[Broberg] has been a dedicated, committed and valued board member for a long time and she has really deep ties in the community that span generations. She brings a lot to the board.”
Broberg returned to the board in 2007 after running unopposed with Cindy Wilcox for two board seats. Broberg doesn’t expect it will be that way this year, saying she’s “sure there will be an election.”
The candidate-filing period for the Nov. 8 school board election doesn’t begin until July but Wilcox already announced in March that she won’t be running for her seat again. Potential newcomer to the board, Ellen Multari, threw her hat into the ring for the upcoming election last week.
Broberg recently served as school board president and in 2010 represented the district as the president of the Five Star Coalition, a consortium of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, South Pasadena and La Cañada school districts. She also serves on the Joint Use Committee, working with the city of La Cañada Flintridge toward upgrading school facilities for community recreation, and on the Community Prevention Council.