OC Blog

Jordan Brandman for AUHSD Fundraiser

Now that the court has ordered OC Superintendent of Education Bill Habermehl to end his ludicrous attempt stop counting the Anaheim Union High School District special election petition signatures, it's off to the races for the Feb. 5 special election.

Jordan Brandman is already running hard for the seat, with a  big name-heavy fundraiser set for November 7 at JT Schmid's in Anaheim.

The bipartisan host committee for the young Democrat includes:

• Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle
• Orange County-Clerk Recorder Tom Daly
• Anaheim Councilwoman Lorri Galloway
• Former Secretary of Education Marian Bergeson
• Anaheim Union High School Trustee Anna Piercy
• OC Board of Education Member Alexandria Coronado
• Former Cypress Mayor Mike McGill
• Former OC Supervisor Bill Steiner
• Former Assemblyman Tom Umberg
• Buena Park Councilman Art Brown
• Former Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer
• Former La Palma Mayor Kenneth Blake

Impressive.

Court Orders Habermehl To Call AUHSD Special Election

I just heard from Mark Rosen that OC Superior Court Judge Dennis Choate today ordered OC Superintendent of Education Bill Habermehl to call a special election to fill the vacancy on the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees. An election has to be called within 130 days of the judge's order. This is a big victory for the grassroots coalition that sprang into being when the AUHSD Board responded to the untimely death of Trustee Denise Mansfield-Reinking by appointing the controversial Harald Martin to fill her seat.

Martin resigned a few weeks later in the face of the movement, which led Habermehl to verifying petition signatures because he thought Martin's resignation rendered the special election drive moot. You can read more about the back story at our archive of stories on this topic.

Here's Judge Choate's ruling:

 

AUHSD Special Election Qualifies

I spoke to OC Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley a few minutes ago and learned the petition drive to force a special election to fill the vacancy on the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees has qualified.

Neal said his office finished verifying the signatures yesterday and turned them over to the OC Department of Education for certification. Special election proponents easily amassed the approximately 2,600 signatures necessary to force the special election.

Judge To Habermehl: Keep Verifying Signatures

Kudos to Judge Gregory Lewis for ordering OC Department of Education Superintendent Bill Habermehl to continue verifying signatures in the AUHSD special election petition drive.

Here is Judge Lewis' order:

UPDATE (1:37 p.m.): I just spoke with Garden Grove Councilman Mark Rosen, representing the plaintiffs. Rosen said Habermehl is ordered to complete the count and verify by Sept. 19 if there are enough valid signatures. Then the parties will come back to court and  -- assuming there'll be enough valid signatures -- the judge will decide whether or not to hold the special election.

That places a great deal of pressure on the judge. Since more than 60 days have passed since Denise Reinking-Mansfield's death, the AUHSD Board of Trustees can't change course and call a special election. That means only the judge can call a special election -- barring some change of heart by Habermehl.

Local judges are skittish about interfering in elections, and I just can't see any local elected judge spiking this petition drive and courting all that voter anger on the basis of Habermehl's sketchy rationale.

Bill Habermehl should do himself and everyone else a favor by doing nothing more to contest this petition.

UPDATE (4:27 p.m.): The OC Register has this web story up.

Court Hearing On AUHSD/Habermehl Counting Halt Tomorrow Morning

The initial court hearing in the effort to force OC Superintendent Bill Habermehl to resume verifying the AUHSD special election petition signatures is set for tomorrow morning.

The hearing is at Superior Court in the Civic Center. It will be heard by Judge Lewis in Department 27 on the 8th floor at 8:30 a.m.

Habermehl Needs To Keep Counting Those Signatures

Readers may have heard, on Friday the OC Department of Education stopped the verification of the 5,000 signatures turned in to force a special election to fill the seat of late AUHSD trustee Denise Reinking-Mansfield.

The petition drive was sparked by the AUHSD Board of Trustees tone-deaf decision to fill the vacancy with former Trustee Harald Martin, who'd been rejected by AUHSD votes in 2002 and 2006.

According the the OC Register article, the OC Department of Education, i.e. Superintendent Bill Habermehl, decided the point is moot because Martin resigned last week.

I don't think that is for Habermehl to decide. The voters of that district want a special election to fill that vacancy. California law designates the county department of education as the agency in charge of verifying the signatures and calling the elections.

Video From AUHSD/Harald Martin Petition Drive Kick-Off

Yesterday morning's Los Amigos meeting also served as a kick-off to the petition drive to force a special election to fill the seat of late Anaheim Union High Scool District Trustee Denise Reinking-Mansfield -- and undo to appointment of Harald Martin.

I brought along the Red County UnSteadiCam for video the various speakers, and I'll post it as I edit and upload to YouTube.

For starters, here's Los Amigos president Amin David discussing the petition drive -- fundraising, help from professional circulators, etc:

This Morning's AUHSD Special Election Drive Event

The grass-roots effort to force the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees to rescind Harald Martin's appointment and fill the board vacancy with a special election continues to build momentum. There was a press conference/kick-off event this morning at an achingly early 7:30 a.m. at Jagerhaus in Anaheim.

I rolled in about 7:50 a.m. but hadn't missed much.

It was part of a Los Amigos of Orange County meeting, so the avuncular Amin David presided, along with Al Amezcua and Jesse Araujo.

There was quite a range of personages and politics present: