With no election candidates, Vallejo school board to fill vacancy

VALLEJO – The Vallejo school board is scheduled to begin the appointment process to fill an upcoming vacancy on the five-person board after no one registered to run for the office in November’s election.

The board will meet during a special workshop Wednesday to discuss its next steps to fill the board seat for Trustee Area 1, which represents most of West Vallejo and Mare Island.

This year’s election would have been the first for the area since the Vallejo City Unified School District switched from city-wide elections to local area elections in 2019. But with no candidates, the appointment will be left up to the board.

Special coverage: November 2022 Solano County election

A general election will be held on Nov. 8, 2022, with local elections for three Vallejo City Council seats, two Benicia city council seats, Vallejo school board and more.

The Vallejo SunJohn Glidden

The district is planning to release a public notice about the Trustee Area 1 vacancy on Thursday. Residents of area 1 must file applications by Oct. 7 and the board will interview candidates on Oct. 19.

Meanwhile, the other trustee areas up for election this fall are also in unusual circumstances. Parent Glenn Amboy was automatically appointed to the school board when he was the only person to submit candidacy paperwork to represent Trustee Area 3, which includes North East Vallejo and the Hiddenbrooke development.

Amboy will replace longtime school board Trustee Tony Ubalde, who decided against another term.

The only trustee area that will be on the ballot in November is Trustee Area 5, which has three candidates battling to represent the South East part of town, including two incumbents. Current trustees John Fox and Tony Gross, both elected in 2018 before the district moved to trustee areas, are both running for the seat and challenged by Ajit S. Bhandal, who is listed on the ballot as a naturopathic practitioner.

November’s election will be the second to feature local area elections, which requires trustees to live in the area they represent.

Christy Gardner defeated two challengers in November 2020 to represent trustee area 2, which includes a portion of North Vallejo. Gardner was appointed to the board in 2019 after the resignation of Trustee Marianne Kearney-Brown. Also during the November 2020 election, Latyna Young defeated incumbent trustee Robert Lawson to represent trustee area 4, which spans north central Vallejo.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the board will consider a $611,000 contract with the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD) which will provide after school and summer programs from August through to June 2023.

The programs will be available at 12 schools throughout the district including elementary, K-8 and middle schools.

The Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Education is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m., Wednesday, inside the Governing Board Room, located at 665 Walnut Ave. on Mare Island.

The meeting will be live streamed through the district’s YouTube page.