Election marked by dearth of candidates
Of 23 special districts, only 5 have enough hopefuls to get on ballot

August 31, 2002

By TOBIAS YOUNG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Petaluma - The November election is more than two months away, but in the Petaluma area -- as in much of Sonoma County -- there are numerous races that are lacking enough candidates to go to a vote.

The dearth of competition means several candidates will be elected without a vote, because they have no challengers.

In other cases, it means school boards -- or the governing boards for special districts -- will be looking for people to appoint to the unfilled positions.

Sonoma County officials said there are varying reasons for the lack of candidates, but the situation isn't unusual.

One reason is Sonoma County has more school and special districts than most counties. While Solano County has six school districts, Sonoma County has 44.

"We seem to be very attached to our 44 school districts, but it takes a lot to keep those school districts running and part of that is candidates," said Janice Atkinson, the county's assistant registrar of voters.

Of 23 special districts with seats up for election in November, only five have enough candidates to get on the ballot.

In some cases, the lack of challengers is a sign of stability.

"Sometimes it's just a statement by the voters that they're satisfied with the way things are going," Atkinson said.

But sometimes it is simply difficult to get enough people to apply for time-consuming volunteer posts, particularly when there are so many to fill.

"I know it's becoming increasingly difficult to find people willing to serve on these district boards and run for other public offices," said Supervisor Mike Kerns, who represents the Petaluma region.

The only special district in the Petaluma area with an election this fall is the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District, where five candidates are vying for three seats.

The candidates are incumbents Edward Gee and Carla Grube and challengers Patricia Voulgaris, Leland Fishman and Robert Rippin.

The Petaluma Health Care District won't show up on the ballot. The district has one candidate, Josephine Thornton, and two open seats. Thornton will be automatically elected and Kerns is seeking candidates for the other position.

Eight of nine school district races and the race for the Petaluma representative for the county Board of Education won't go to election.

In five school districts and for the Board of Education, the number of applicants matched the number of open seats. Those candidates are automatically elected. Their names won't show up on the ballot.

They are:

Sonoma County Board of Education -- incumbent Ray Peterson.
Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma-area opening -- incumbent Kathleen Doyle.
Petaluma Joint Union High School District -- incumbents Christina Kauk, Louis Steinberg and Carolyn Tennyson.
Dunham -- incumbents Ann Gilbert, John Sprenger and Mary Schafer.
Old Adobe Union -- incumbents Rick Parker and John Sedlander and newcomer Russell Wigglesworth.
Two Rock Union -- incumbents Ken Mazzetta, Julie Jacobsen and Kathleen Wilson.

In three school districts, not enough candidates applied to fill the seats.

Anyone who filed is automatically elected, and the districts make the remaining appointments.

Those automatically elected are:

Cinnabar -- Richard O'Hare. Two must be appointed.
Wilmar Union -- Lisa Tescallo re-elected to a two-year seat. Two must be appointed to four-year seats.
Liberty -- incumbents Diane Proteau and Christine Camozzi and newcomer Bob Keonitzer to four-year terms. One two-year board member must be appointed.

Only the Waugh School District, in which four candidates applied for three seats, is going to have an election.

The candidates are:

Incumbents Dave Bachman, K. Gordon Kirkland and Dorothy Sturdevant and challenger Julie Eitel.

You can reach Staff Writer Tobias Young at 762-9498 or tyoung@pressdemocrat.com.

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