3 school board candidates seek a public vote on trustee term limits

Three candidates for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board took their proposal for trustee term limits to the trustees themselves Tuesday night in hopes that they will put it to a public vote in the Nov. 8 election.

Leslie Bubb, Amy Peters and Michael Schwarzmann asked the seven-member board to put the issue on the agenda for consideration at its July 12 meeting.

“A total of three terms is ample time to effect change on the board,” Bubb said Tuesday. “Without term limits, ties grow too close to the district and the ability to act as a true overseer becomes compromised.”

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Trustee Martha Fluor said Wednesday that the proposal “merits discussion” but that placing it on the agenda is contingent on how much is already planned for that meeting.

“There’s a process, and she’s followed that process,” Fluor said. “There’s a lot of nuances to the question, and that’s why it might take longer to decide.”

Fluor, board President Dana Black and trustee Vicki Snell are up for reelection this year.

In a letter to the editor published Sunday in the Daily Pilot, Bubb, Peters and Schwarzmann wrote that of the seven current board members, none has children attending Newport-Mesa schools and three have served 20 to 36 years.

“They are simply out of touch with the learning community they serve,” the letter stated.

Bubb is a parent of a current student and a recent graduate of Newport Harbor High School. Peters has three children who attend Newport-Mesa schools, and Schwarzmann has two.

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Alex Chan, [email protected]

Twitter: @AlexandraChan10