Chico Unified School District elections (2014)
2016 →
|
 |
Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
Chico Unified School District Butte County, California ballot measures Local ballot measures, California |
 |
Three seats on the Chico Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 4, 2014.[1] At-large incumbents Eileen Robinson and Kathleen E. Kaiser ran for re-election against candidates Gary M. Loustale and Cynthia Van Auken.[2][3]
Despite attempting to remove herself from the race, candidate Cynthia Van Auken's name still appeared on the ballot on November 4, 2014.[3] Loustale, Robinson and Kaiser won the general election.
About the district
Chico Unified School District is located in Butte County, California. The county seat of Butte County is Oroville. Butte County was home to 222,090 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[4] In the 2011-2012 school year, Chico Unified School District was the 119th-largest school district by enrollment in California and served 13,646 students.[5]
Demographics
Butte County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 24.0 percent of Butte County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.5 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Butte County was $43,339 compared to $61,400 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level for Butte County was 20.6 percent while it was 15.3 percent statewide.[4]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Chico Unified School District Board of Education consists of five members elected at-large to four-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Three seats were up for election in 2014, and two seats will be up for election in 2016.[1][2]
School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period. The filing period began July 14, 2014, and ended August 8, 2014. To vote in the 2014 general election, voters had to register by October 20, 2014. Voters could request vote-by-mail ballots from October 6, 2014, through October 28, 2014.[7]
Elections
2014
Candidates
At-large
- Eileen Robinson
- Incumbent
- Retired educator, Chico Unified School District
- Kathleen E. Kaiser
- Incumbent
- Graduate, Florida State University and Duke University
- Professor, California State University at Chico
- Gary M. Loustale
- Graduate, San Joaquin Delta College and Chico State University
- Businessman/Career advisor
- Cynthia Van Auken
- Educator
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Gary M. Loustale |
28.6% | 15,068 | |
| Nonpartisan | Eileen Robinson Incumbent |
28.2% | 14,844 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathleen E. Kaiser Incumbent |
24.3% | 12,824 | |
| Nonpartisan | Cynthia Van Auken | 18.5% | 9,728 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.5% | 248 | |
| Total Votes | 52,712 | |||
| Source: Butte County Registrar of Voters, "General Election - November 4, 2014, Official Results," accessed December 22, 2014 | ||||
Endorsements
The Butte County Democratic Party and the California Labor Federation endorsed incumbent Eileen Robinson and challenger Gary M. Loustale.[8][9]
Campaign finance
Candidates had to file contribution reports within 24 hours of receiving an aggregate total of $1,000 or more from a single source. The first scheduled pre-election report filing deadline was October 6, 2014. If candidates raised or spent less than $1,000 during the 2013 and 2014 calendar years, they had to file Form 470 at that time. If candidates raised or spent more during that time, they had to file Form 460 by the pre-election report filing deadline.[10]
Candidates required to file Form 460 also had to file a second pre-election report on October 23, 2014, and they had to file termination reports by December 31, 2014. If a termination report was not filed, candidates had to file a semi-annual report by February 2, 2015.[10]
Reports
Candidates did not report any contributions or expenditures to the Butte County Registrar of Voters as of October 24, 2014. Only incumbent Eileen Robinson carried an existing balance of $134.97.[11][12][13][14]
| Candidate | Existing balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen E. Kaiser | N/A | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Eileen Robinson | $134.97 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $134.97 |
| Gary M. Loustale | N/A | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Cynthia Van Auken | N/A | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012
2010
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Issues in the election
Candidates discuss charter schools, master plan and art education at forum
Incumbents Eileen Robinson and Kathleen E. Kaiser and challenger Gary M. Loustale gathered at a candidate forum on September 25, 2014, to discuss a number of issues in the Chico Unified School District. Challenger Cynthia Van Auken did not attend the forum, but she urged the audience to listen to the candidates and choose wisely on election day.
The three candidates agreed on most issues. They were all in favor of the state's new local funding formula as well as the district's open enrollment options. They also agreed on arts education, wanting only to expand on what the district had. Robinson said she hoped the money coming in from a recently passed bond measure would help such programs flourish at the elementary school level.
When asked about charter schools, Kaiser said they worked best when they were "wedded" to their community. She was happy to say that the district has a number of those and that they "glow." Kaiser added that she did not think charter schools thrive well if they are added to a community without that support in place. Loustale agreed that the district has some very good charter schools that fit a need in the community. Robinson considered charter schools an indicator of a need that is not being met by other schools in the district. She said the board needs to study the successes of charter schools in order to implement those same strategies in other schools, maintaining a relationship of cooperation between all schools in the district.
One question presented to the candidates addressed concerns that the board's master plan went far into the future and dealt with money beyond the amount the recently passed bond measure had given to the district. Loustale said that passing the bond measure gave the district the opportunity to fully evaluate its needs. He explained that the master plan reflects all those needs and gives the board the opportunity to decide which changes need to be made and in what order. Robinson said that the good news was that the bond allowed the district to grow its middle school program. "What happens after that needs to be revisited," she said.
Kaiser reminded the audience that the bond money is only available to the district in increments. She emphasized the district's decisions to build sustainable, energy efficient buildings, which have allowed the district to received money back from the state. "What we do, we want to do well," she said.[15]
Candidate still on ballot despite removing herself from race
Voters were able to choose between four candidates for the three seats up for election on the Chico Unified School District Board of Education on November 4, 2014, even though one of those candidates excused herself from the race. Cynthia Van Auken contacted Butte County election officials to remove her name from the ballot in early September 2014, but as election information had already gone to the printers, her name remained on the ballot.[3]
If Van Auken had been able to fully leave the election, she would have left the race for the three seats to three candidates, essentially guaranteeing them each a spot on the board. Because her name could not be removed, Van Auken could technically have won the election but still came in fourth.[3]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Chico Unified School District election in 2014:[10][16]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 14, 2014 | First day for candidates to file nomination documents |
| August 8, 2014 | Last day for candidates to file nomination documents |
| October 6, 2014 | First day to request vote-by-mail ballot |
| October 6, 2014 | First pre-election report due |
| October 20, 2014 | Last day to register to vote |
| October 23, 2014 | Second pre-election report due |
| October 28, 2014 | Last day to request vote-by-mail ballot |
| November 4, 2014 | Election Day |
| December 31, 2014 | Termination report due |
| February 2, 2015 | Semi-annual report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2014
This election shared the ballot with municipal elections and other school board elections, as well as general elections for several state executive offices, one U.S. House seat, one state Senate seat and two state Assembly seats.[2][17] Two countywide ballot measures on medical marijuana were also on the November 4, 2014, general election ballot.[18]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Chico + Unified + School + District + California"
See also
- California
- Chico Unified School District, California
- California school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Butte County, California ballot measures
- California ballot measures
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chico Unified School District, "Board Members," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election," accessed August 18, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 ChicoER, "Candidates for Chico school board still need to get votes," September 4, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 United States Census Bureau, "Butte County, California," accessed May 5, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Past Elections," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Summary of November 4, 2014, General Election Calendar," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Democratic Party, "2014 Butte County Democratic Party Endorsements," accessed October 21, 2014
- ↑ California Labor Federation, "November 2014 Endorsements - Butte Glenn," accessed October 21, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 4, 2014," accessed August 19, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Viewing filing activity for Kaiser, Kathleen," accessed October 24, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Viewing filing activity for Robinson, Eileen," accessed October 24, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Viewing filing activity for Loustale, Gary," accessed October 24, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Viewing filing activity for Van Auken, Cynthia," accessed October 24, 2014
- ↑ Chico Enterprise-Record, "Candidate Forum - Chico Unified School District," September 25, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Calendar of Events: General Election November 4, 2014," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Primary Election - June 3, 2014, Butte County, California - Official Results," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ Butte County Registrar of Voters, "Local Ballot Measures," accessed September 2, 2014
| 2014 Chico Unified School District Elections | |
| Butte County, California | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | • Incumbent, Kathleen E. Kaiser • Incumbent, Eileen Robinson • Gary M. Loustale • Cynthia Van Auken |
| Important information: | • What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
