ELECTIONS / OUTLYING AREAS : Rural Candidates Can Win With Very Few Votes

Candidates for school boards in six districts that ring the Antelope Valley don’t need high-priced media consultants, fancy brochures or slick ads to win public office.

Often, they don’t even need many votes.

One candidate won office in 1987 with only 189 votes, and no one got close to 1,000 in the last elections. It promises to be pretty much the same Nov. 5 when residents in the valley’s rustic recesses trek to the polls.

Twenty-nine candidates are competing for 12 school board seats, two apiece in six elementary-middle school districts that range from Westside Union with 4,550 students drawn from an area spread over 365 square miles of high desert to Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union with 470 students and only one school.

These are places where volunteering at your child’s school can be the best campaign strategy. And new faces are bound to be elected since incumbents often depart after a term or two.

Turnout is expected to be low, in the neighborhood of 10% to 15% of the districts’ registered voters. The elections are off year and don’t include any City Council or state or national races, which typically bring more people to the polls. The boards all have five members.

* In the Westside Union School District, which covers the largest area of any elementary-middle school district in Los Angeles County, one incumbent and two challengers are vying for two seats to represent the west Lancaster, Quartz Hill and Antelope Acres areas.

School board President Gwen Farrell, the top vote-getter in 1987 with 965 votes, is seeking a third term. The other candidates are Scott Gmur, a teacher at a county probation camp in Lancaster, and Christine LeBeau, a teacher at Littlerock High School east of Palmdale.

Incumbent David Doddridge did not file for reelection to a four-year term, leaving his seat open. A third seat was open because incumbent Norm Gookins did not seek to finish the remaining two years in his term. So the only person to file for that office, Leon Swain, a Palmdale city engineer, will be appointed.

Thus far, the campaign, like most of the others, has been relatively quiet.

The Westside Union district, with a $15-million budget, has six elementary schools and one middle school, plus two more campuses under construction, school officials said. The district has 14,498 registered voters.

* In the Keppel Union School District, which covers the southeast end of the valley, one appointed incumbent and four other candidates are competing for two board seats. The district includes the communities of Littlerock, Pearblossom, Valyermo, Llano, Sun Village and part of Lake Los Angeles.

Christina Arklin, whose husband owns Antelope Valley Rubbish, one of the valley’s largest trash-hauling companies, is facing her first election after being appointed last year. Another well-known candidate is Ruth Ann Bones, a teacher whose husband manages the public water agency for the Littlerock area.

The other candidates are Jerry Freeman, a businessman and former school board member who was defeated in 1989; Ron Greene, a retired sheriff’s deputy who spearheaded a building campaign for his local school, and Evan Postal, a teacher.

Incumbent David Beardsley did not file for another term, leaving an open seat.

The district has about 3,035 students, six schools, a budget of about $11.3 million and covers a 307-square-mile area, officials said. The district has 6,762 registered voters.

* In the Eastside Union School District, which covers the northeast end of the valley, two incumbents are facing two challengers for a pair of seats on the ballot. Board President Willard Ritchie and colleague Ida Ward are both seeking new four-year terms.

Ritchie is an electronics technician who has served 16 years, while Ward is a 12-year veteran who drew the most votes in 1987 with 342. They are being challenged by Debra Branch, a school library technician who used to work for the district as a library aide, and Elaine MacDonald, a district computer aide.

The post-election school board will have to pick a new superintendent to replace Robert Wakeling, who resigned recently after being arrested by sheriff’s deputies for allegedly masturbating in a park restroom. He pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace and was fined $1,090 this month.

The district’s classified workers union has endorsed the two challengers, although district officials deny that they are having a dispute with the union. The district also is one where board members have voluntarily forgone their $240-a-month salaries, although they do get district-paid health insurance.

The Eastside Union district has about 1,800 students, three schools and a $6.4-million budget this year, officials said. It covers about 249 square miles near the Kern and San Bernardino county lines, and has 4,950 registered voters.

* In the Soledad-Agua Dulce Union School District, which covers Acton and Agua Dulce, a proposal to create a unified school district by adding a high school is a major issue in the election for two school board seats.

Incumbent Martin Barofsky, a Hughes Aircraft manager whose wife is a district instructional aide, is seeking a third term. Appointed incumbent Fred Fate, a former sheriff’s deputy, decided not to seek election, leaving an open seat. Two unification proponents are among the other four candidates.

They are Joyce Field, a leader of the unification committee and a PTA board member, and Rebecca Small, a member of the unification committee and a parent advisory committee member. Proponents hope that the state will permit district voters to decide on a unification ballot measure next year.

Also seeking election is Robert Daley, a film producer and the only candidate to live in the Agua Dulce portion of the district. David Perez, a Los Angeles city firefighter, is on the ballot but has withdrawn from the race.

The present school board has been neutral on the unification issue, which has been promoted by parents, officials said. But if district voters approve unification next year, it would mean a new election for the entire school board. If not, the board selected in this election would remain.

Charles Edwards, an appointed incumbent, will be appointed to serve the remaining two years on a third board seat because he had no challengers.

The district has 1,525 students, three schools, a $5.5-million budget and covers about 200 square miles. It has 4,915 registered voters.

* In the Wilsona School District, which covers the east end of the valley centered on Lake Los Angeles, two incumbents are vying with four challengers for two school board seats. The incumbents are Maurice Kunkel, a real estate broker, and Gayle Duns, who was the top vote-getter in 1987 with 189 votes.

The challengers are Christina Behringer, a parent who has young children about to enter the district; Dave Brandt Sr., a civil engineering consultant; Mack Lewis, maintenance director for the Keppel district, and Marc Sas Sr., an aerospace technician at Rockwell International.

The district has 2,150 students, three schools, an $8.5-million budget and covers about 100 square miles. There are 3,309 registered voters.

* And in the Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District, which covers those two communities and the Green Valley area at the west end of the valley, six candidates, all challengers, are competing for two seats. Appointed incumbents Steve Nemback and Frank McCarahan did not seek election.

The candidates are David Landes, a disabled mechanic; Wayne Prindle, a former board member who ran unsuccessfully in 1989; Rick Sill, a pawnbroker-jeweler who owns three stores, and Charles Slay, a Palmdale High School teacher who was elected in 1987 but resigned last year.

The other candidates are Michael Taylor, a manager for Walt Disney Pictures & Television, and Judy Toothaker, a local community activist whose young son will soon attend the district’s one school. Appointed incumbent Stanley Packer was the only one to apply for a short two-year term and thus will be reappointed.

The district has a $1.7-million budget, covers 208 square miles and has one school. The district, which was forced to combine its superintendent and principal jobs to save money, has 1,705 registered voters.