Today’s newsletter is presented by Harriet Tubman Village Charter School.
Hello, La Mesa!
On election night, while other people were watching the senate flip on Steve Kornacki’s data map, a few of us had eyes closer to home. Activists and other local journalists watched whether outraged community members and a teachers union would be able to shake up the entrenched power on the Grossmont Union High School District board.
Early results were incredibly tight, so much so that I didn’t want to preemptively report on winners until we saw more votes roll in. A week later, I can somewhat confidently say, two of the three candidates backed by the teachers union will join the board in January. That breaks a 4-1 conservative supermajority on the board. While two conservative members remain on the board, they won’t have the same unilateral voting power.
Steve Mull, a retired Lakeside Middle School principal, seemed like the easiest bet of the three candidates put forward by the teachers union. Instead of facing off against an incumbent, Mull ran to fill the seat vacated by Rob Shield, who recently attempted to censure fellow board member Jim Kelly after he allegedly leaked confidential information to outsiders. After 20 years, Shield chose not to run again. Mull, with support from the teachers union, will replace him.
Kelly, however, handily won another four-year term. By the time the next election in 2030 rolls around, he will have been in office 28 years.
But to me the big shocker occurred in Area 3. Jeneé Littrell, a retired school counselor and administrator, unseated board member Gary Woods, after he spent the last 18 years in office.
I caught up with Littrell about how she pulled it off, Mull on the hardships of running for office, and a Valhalla High School teacher who led the union’s efforts to usher in a new board in our top story.
One can hope that when the new members take office in January, there will be fewer tears, screaming and accusations of breaking the law going forward.
Drew Sitton
La Mesa Courier newsletter host
La Mesa story spotlight
After years of strife, Grossmont teachers union flips board supermajority in election stunner
By Drew Sitton • Times of San Diego
In a repudiation of Grossmont Union High School District’s troubled governance, East County voters flipped two board seats and unseated an incumbent.
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