Clean Sweep

It is 5:12 am. With over 85% of the ballots counted, it looks like a clean sweep. Steve Lilly, Elizabeth Jaka and Angela Chunka appear to have an unbeatable lead. I am finding it difficult to type. I do not want to jinx the outcome, but I cannot see how any of Guffanti's gang can make up the ground on our Pro-public education candidates. Guffanti in fourth place trails Chunka in third by over 3700 votes. Amazing!

Many, many thanks to all of VUSD's Education Heroes who saved our district. Congratulations to the students and staff of VUSD! You have a PRO-PUBLIC EDUCATION MAJORITY FOR AT LEAST FOUR MORE YEARS!

We now appear to have a 4 to 1 school board majority of trustees who will get the new high school built and put educating our children as the number one priority. Fringe issues, stalling new school construction, purposeless obstruction, and putting personal political views over the welfare of our students, are all finished in VUSD for the foreseeable future.

These next four years for our newly elected trustees will be very tough. Guffanti and Gibson incessant delaying tactics and stubborn refusal to support a third high school managed to waste somewhere between 16 and 25 million dollars of our Prop O school bond funds. The LindaMood Bell program has taken millions more from our school site councils and district funds. The California budget is billions in debt. I see virtually no chance that the state can bail out our district. We will all have to tighten our belts. We need to support our new Pro-education trustees in the upcoming difficult financial decisions forced on them by Guffanti and Gibson's irresponsibility. I do not envy our four brave and good board members their jobs or the agonizing decision they will have to make.

But still, I am so happy! In the difficult financial times ahead, our district will be lead by four decent and rational people who will make the "Sophie's Choice" decisions ahead with wisdom and compassion.