INCUMBENTS ARE RETURNED TO LA MESA-SPRING VALLEY SCHOOL BOARD

By Bill Weaver

November 7, 2012 (La Mesa) — Incumbents Emma Turner, Psy.D. was re-elected, as was William "Bill" Baber, a local attorney, to the La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board. Both are Republicans and both have shown support for public education in their district.

Turner has been involved in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District since 1998. Her participation has included terms as a president and vice president of the school site council, a member of the district advisory council from 2002-2004 and PTA president and program director for the Mt. Helix Council PTA from 2003-2006. In addition, she served as a member of the citizens’ bond oversight committee for the district’s modernization bond from 2004-2006. Currently, Turner serves as a board representative on the District Budget Study Committee as well as representative to the Audit Committee.

Emma Turner is a Director-at-Large on the California School Boards Association, and is currently a member of CSBA’s Audit and Compensation Review committees, as well as the Leadership and Diversity Study Group and the Council of Presidents. Currently, Turner teaches diversity, communications and psychology classes to undergraduate students as an adjunct professor for the University of Phoenix. She and her husband have three daughters.

Bill Baber said, “The results show that our community has confidence in our School Board’s focus on improving test scores and protecting taxpayers.”

This year La Mesa-Spring Valley made the greatest improvement in student test scores in English and the second greatest improvement in Math of any major San Diego County school district. It was also the first district in the counthy to enact a bond measure that exceeds tough standards set by the County Treasurer and San Diego County Taxpayers Association, Baber said.

He added, “I am honored by the support of the voters.  I want to thank all the volunteers who walked precincts, donated money, signed post cards, and made phone calls for this victory. ”  September 5, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)-Since being in office since 2004 as president of the board, William Baber believes major achievement has been “the fiscal stability of the district with very prudent financial management.”

Born in Montebello, California and raised in Connecticut, Baber majored in political science at USC. He has worked in Washington D.C. for several years. He has gone to law school in San Diego, and has since practiced it since 1990. He has spent five years as an aide to the mayor of San Diego. He continues to practice law and do government work for members of the construction industry, and is working on his master’s in history at San Diego State University.

He has been married for 26 years and has four children, who have all been educated in the LMSV district. The oldest daughter goes to college in Washington D.C., the middle daughter is a junior at Helix High, the third daughter is at La Mesa Middle, and the youngest son is a fifth grader at Lemon Avenue Elementary School.

Jay Steiger, a parent who has been active in the PTA and had backing from the Democratic Party, placed third. 

Final results with 100% of precincts counted:

Emma Turner 37.29%, Bill Baber 35.22%, Jay Steiger 27.49%.