MIDWAY THROUGH FILING PERIOD, MOST EAST COUNTY OFFICES HAVE NOBODY RUNNING

By Miriam Raftery

July 26, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – The filing period to run for local offices opened on July 16 and closes August 10.  But so far, no candidates have pulled papers to run, let along qualified, in most East County or other inland San Diego County races listed on the Registrar’s site for school boards, water boards, fire boards and community planning groups. In others, only incumbents have filed.

For instance, in the Grossmont Union High School District, heated controversies and lawsuits have erupted over alleged bond misappropriation, failure to build an Alpine High School, and efforts to shut down popular charter schools.  Yet so far, incumbents Jim Kelly, Robert Shield and Dr. Gary Woods have all pulled papers to seek reelection, but nobody has filed to run against them.

Note: City council and mayor candidates apply through cities and will not be listed until after the filing deadline has closed. ECM has requested info from East County cities on those races.

Below are other local races in East County, including names of any candidates who have pulled papers to run (though not yet qualified).

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Alpine Union:  No candidates yet.

Borrego Springs Unified School District:  No candidates yet.

Cajon Valley Union:  No candidates yet.

Dehesa School:  Three candidates have filed for three seats, so far running unopposed:  incumbents Karl Becker and Cynthia White, and school architect Christina Becker.

Grossmont Union:  Incumbents Robert Shield, Jim Kelly and Gary Woods have pulled papers, thus far running unopposed.

Jamul-Dulzura Union: There are there seats up for election; only incumbent Jim Dowling has filed.

Julian Union High: No candidates yet.

Julian Union School:  Three seats are up for election and five candidates have filed so far:  Incumbent Elaine Bicanic and challengers Robyn Schellenberg, Susan Slaughter, and Nicole Vanderburg, who have not yet provided their occupations/ballot designations.

La Mesa-Spring Valley:  There are three seats on the ballot and two candidates have filed so far:  incumbent Steve Babbit and challenger Gerald Lecko.

Lakeside Union:  There are three seats on the ballot and only two candidates so far – small business owner Holly Ferrante and Andrew Hayes, who has not provided his occupation/ballot designation.

Lemon Grove School: No candidates yet.

Mountain Empire Unified School District: No candidates yet.

Poway Unified School:  There are two seats up.  Terry Norwood, an educator/military advocate is the only candidate so far in area C and nobody is running in area B.

Ramona Unified School District: Three seats are up, but only two candidates have pulled papers:  incumbents Dohn Rodger and Bob Stoody.

Santee School:  Seats 1, 3 and 5 are on the ballot.  So far, one candidate has filed for each district:  incumbents Barbara Ryan, Dustin Burns, and Kenneth Fox.

Sweetwater Union:  No candidates yet.

Vallecitos School:  No candidates yet.

Warner Unified School:  No candidates yet.

FIRE BOARDS

Alpine Fire Protection:  There are three seats. So far, three candidates, all incumbents, have filed for reelection: Jim Easterling, Martin Marugg, and Patrick Price.

Borrego Springs Fire:  No candidates yet.

Julian-Cuyamaca Fire:  No candidates running yet.

Lakeside Fire: There are three seats up and so far, incumbent Bob Robeson is the only candidate.

Lower Sweetwater Fire:  No candidates yet.

San Miguel Consolidated Fire:  No candidates yet.

Valley Center Fire Protection:  No candidates yet.

Wynola Water District:  No candidates yet.

Yuima Municipal Water District: no candidates yet.

WATER DISTRICTS

Borrego Water: There are three seats on the ballot. So far, two people are running:  Dave Duncan and Jacqueline Larsen.

Campo-Lake Morena:  No candidates yet.

Canebrake Water:  There are three seats on the ballot. So far, Kathy Steuermann is the only declared candidate. She has not yet provided her occupation/ballot designation.

Cuyamaca Water: No candidates yet.

Descanso Community Water: No candidates yet.

Helix Water:   There are three seats up this election. So far, Deana Verbeke, incumbent, is the only candidate in district 2 and nobody has filed in districts 1 or 4.

Lakeside Water:  There are 2 seats up.  Incumbent Pete Jenkins has filed for division 2 and farmer/businessman Frank Hilliker has filed in district 3.

Otay Water:  There are two seats on the ballot. So far, only civil engineer/teacher Tim Smith has filed in division 1, with nobody in division 3.

Padre Dam Municipal Water:  There are three seats and so far, incumbents Doug Wilson, Bill Pommering and James Peasley are running unopposed.

Pauma Municipal Water:  No candidates yet.

Rainbow Municipal Water: No candidates yet.

Ramona Municipal Water: There are two seats. So far, James Zenovic, a contractor and appointed incumbent Jim Robinson are running unopposed.

Rincon Del Diablo Water:  There are three seats on the ballot. Incumbents Erin Lump and James Murtland, as well as small business owner Gregory Quist, are running so far.

Vallecitos Water:   There are two seats on the ballot; incumbents James Hernandez and Craig Elitharp are running unopposed.

Valley Center Municipal Water:  There are three seats up and so far, incumbent Randy Paskell and Daniel Holtz, who has not provided an occupation/ballot designation yet, are the only candidates.

HEALTHCARE DISTRICTS

Grossmont Healthcare:  No candidates yet.

Palomar Healthcare:  There are four seats. So far, there is one candidate for each seat: registered nurse Linda Carol Greer, banker Cody James Ryan, Ehab Shehata and Hans Christian Sison, who have not provided their occupations/ballot designations yet.

COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUPS

Alpine:  There are seven seats on the ballot; so far, three candidates have filed:  incumbents Glenda Archer and James Easterling, as well as Jenifer Swanson, who has not yet provided her occupation/ballot designation.

Boulevard: There are three seats on the ballot and so far, two incumbents have filed for reelection: Donna Tisdale and Earl Goodnight.

Crest:  No candidates yet.

Dehesa: There are two seats; so far Christina Becker, a school architect, is the only candidate.

Granite Hills:  No candidates yet.

Harbison Canyon: No candidates yet.

Jamul-Dulzura:  No candidates yet.

Julian Community Services: No candidates yet.

Julian Community Planning Group: No candidates yet.

Lakeside: No candidates yet.

Majestic Pines Community Services:  No candidates yet.

Pauma Valley: No candidates yet.

Pine Valley: No candidates yet.

Potrero: No candidates yet.

Rainbow:   There are five seats up and so far, incumbents Jerri Arganda, Martin Kurland and Frederick Louis Rasp are running, leaving two seats with no candidates.

Ramona:  There are seven seats on the ballot, but so far only Robin Joy Maxson has filed.

Rincon: No candidates yet.

Spring Valley:  There are seven seats on the ballot. So far, three candidates have filed: incumbents Robert Eble, Lora Lowes and Chris Pearson.

Sweetwater:  No candidates yet.

Valle de Oro: There are seven seats on the ballot but so far, only Kouwthar Muhssancookie, a student, has filed.

You can view a full list of candidates in the running so far for all local and statewide races here, excluding city races:  http://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/2932-Nov18/2932-Candidate-List.pdf

Thinking of running for office?  There is no fee to run for local offices, but there are other requirements to meet.

You can find out how to file as a candidate here:  http://www.sdvote.com/content/dam/rov/en/election/2932-Nov18/2932-Candidate-Filing-Guide.pdf 

Note: although the deadline is August 10^th, the Registrar recommends filing as early as possible in case there are questions or changes needed to your application.