New boardmember faces potential for removal
By Neil Nisperos
Staff Writer
CHINO--Former school administrator Charles Dickie is diving into the role of new Chino Valley Unified school boardmember, but several residents aim to have him removed and hope the County will approve a special election from their petition.
District critics and parents Peter Atwood and Bill Zeman are among residents petitioning for a special election. They say Dickie is unfit to serve on the board having little knowledge of the issues in the Chino Valley Unified school district, especially in a time of financial crisis and challenge.
"They picked Mr. Dickie precisely because nobody knows him," according to a flyer being circulated by petition supporters. "Never mind whether he's really up to the job. Up to now, he has never even attended Board meetings to educate himself. The Board clearly hoped that if nobody knew him then nobody would be against him. What's more, the people who know and can really do the job, who know the issues and can think for themselves, might challenge the Board's foolish decisions from within."
Dickie replaces Bill Klein, who resigned in July after citing medical difficulties from a serious fall on his head last April. Dickie expects to fill the seat until the November election in 2010 when the seat's term expires. He, Calta, and Na blasted the election petition as having the potential to waste valuable district funds.
"My thoughts are mainly that it's a tremendous waste of money that would be better spent on the classroom," he said. "(Spending) $460,000 is a large chunk of money for any school district."
Boardmembers said they had originally favored an election to fill Klein's old seat, but balked at the Registrar's estimated cost of $460,000 to hold an election.
Dickie, who won the seat by a 2-1 vote last week with dissent from Board President Sylvia Orozco, said he had only attended one Chino Valley Unified board meeting in the past and added he was relatively unfamiliar with district issues before applying for the position last month. Dickie gained the support of Calta and Na, and won the most points out of 14 candidates. Youngblood was absent from the appointment process, citing a family emergency.
Dickie is a retired educator and a former school administrator in Baldwin Park. After his retirement, the Minnesota native moved to Kenya with his wife to start a project helping orphans. They moved to Chino Hills four years ago. Board supporters say Dickie's experience leads him to be well qualified for the position.
He also defended his qualifications.
"My former job required me to go to hundreds of board meetings," he said. "My thoughts are mainly this (petition drive) is a tremendous waste of money that would be better spent on the classroom. $460,000 is a large chunk of money for any school district."
But Zeman said the cost is an election.
"I'm a proponent of democracy especially in a time like this where they've been so bad that they did not pick a candidate who clearly signaled a change," Zeman said.
"When you've got a part wrong with your car, you can pay the money to fix it now or pay for more expensive parts later. I don't see what's wrong with spending money on democracy or an election especially when there's been controversy."
The district in the past year has dealt with the loss of its former Superintendent Edmond Heatley to a similar position in Georgia, a severe budget crisis leading to the closure of three schools, and an accounting error that led to an extended school year for students, among other issues.
It will soon begin the process of finding a permanent Superintendent to replace Heatley.
neil.nisperos@inlandnewspapers.com
Hmmm. Let me see if I have this right. Mr. Atwood, Mr. Zeman, and other residents are petitioning to remove Charles Dickie from the school board because he has "little knowledge of the issues in the Chino Valley Unified School District, especially in a time of financial crisis and challenge". These residents would like to spend $460,000 for a special election to replace Mr. Dickie for a board position that will expire in 15 months. That doesn't make sense to me. I would think that anyone who wants to spend $460,000 on an election that would pick a candidate for such a shortened term doesn't understand the financial crisis CVUSD is facing. Have your candidates save their campaign money for next November's election.
Update: Atwood/Zeman dropped the petition based on the public not wanting to spend a half-mil $$ for the special election.
Thank you guys for finally coming to your senses!