LCF School Board member residency up to the District Attorney

Regarding David Boyd’s letter of Sept. 5 (“Residency issue not in best interest”), the La Cañada school board was briefed on school board member Joel Peterson’s move to Glendale when it came to our attention in 2011. While it is true that we were briefed, it is incorrect to say that Peterson’s residency situation was determined to be a non-issue.

I had two take-aways from the briefing. First, Peterson expected his residency in Glendale to be temporary. Temporary is a relative term. According to county property records, Peterson sold his primary residence in La Cañada in September 2010. Has he lived in Glendale since then, which is three of the four years of his current school board term? Second, the school board has no authority to adjudicate the residency issue of a fellow school board member. Basically, we had no choice but to drop the issue.

Further, the school board does not rule on residency issues related to candidates. During an election, the correct process is to bring a residency question to the attention of the District Attorney’s office and to ask the DA to conduct an investigation. That is exactly the process that is underway now. It’s unfortunate that Boyd finds this system distasteful but this is how democracy works.

At this writing, we are waiting for the results of the investigation from the District Attorney’s office. In the meantime, please get to know all the school board candidates and their positions on the issues. You will be asked to vote for up to three candidates on Nov. 5.

Cindy Wilcox
La Cañada

Editor’s Note: Wilcox is a former member of the La Cañada Unified School Board, 2003 – 2011. She is a member of the LCUSD Parcel Tax Committee.