Under the gaze of family and friends, three incoming Morgan Hill Unified School board trustees took the oath of office and assumed their place on the school board dais Tuesday evening at district offices, located at 15600 Concord Circle.
The changing of the guard came on the heels of a controversial November election when then candidate Amy Porter Jensen – who previously bowed out of the race – nabbed third place out of six hopefuls.
Porter Jensen publicly announced in early October her decision to withdraw and also notified the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters – but her name still ended up on the ballot.
“The process was more than I had anticipated, and with time restraints, I decided it best not to campaign,” explained the 33-year-old Live Oak High School alumna whose daughter is a sophomore at the school. “But I was elected and I am going to accept.”
MHUSD Superintendent Wes Smith cited the event as “democracy at work.”
“I think it’s encouraging that we have a very strong board that comes to us without an agenda and looking to help,” he said.
The three seats, which are four-year terms, became vacant after trustees Peter Mandel and Kathy Sullivan decided not to seek re-election after two terms each. Trustee Bob Benevento’s appointed term is expiring.
The November candidates included Rick Badillo, Bob Benevento, Marty Cheek, Stephen Klem, Brenda Cayme and Porter Jensen.
An agriculture planner by day at Sakata Seeds in Morgan Hill, Porter Jensen decided to run because she “cares about the students, parents and staff of MHUSD.”
“As a parent,” she continued, “I know that we may not always feel we are heard and our needs are being met in regards to our children’s education, and I would love to have the opportunity to work as a liaison between parents and the administration to assure that the main focus is on our children’s education and success.”
In what turned out to be a tight race Badillo, Benevento and Porter Jensen edged out their competitors to join current trustees Don Moody, Shelle Thomas and Ron Woolf on the seven-member board.
Final tallies capped off at 5,906 votes for Badillo; 5,421 for Benevento; and 5,103 (18.13 percent) for Porter Jensen.
The unexpected appearance of Porter Jensen’s name on the ballot muddled the process somewhat for voters and candidates alike, Benevento agreed.
“It is unfortunate, because who knows how the results may have turned out otherwise,” he previously told the Times.
Morgan Hill is no stranger to topsy-turvy elections. In past races, two candidates who previously withdrew their hats from the ring were still elected to the dais.
According to the Santa Clara County registrar of voters, a candidate who no longer wishes to run must withdraw their name before the Aug. 10 close of the nomination period. Porter Jensen withdrew in early October.
After the newcomers were sworn in and seated Tuesday, outgoing Board President Ron Woolf passed the gavel to newly appointed Board President Don Moody. Originally appointed to the dais in 2004, Moody led the board as president in 2009 and most recently served as vice president.
Trustee Shelle Thomas assumed the title of vice president. Eager to lead, Thomas agreed to continue as a representative for Morgan Hill with the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization, a position she “greatly enjoyed.”
At a decade and counting, Thomas is the longest serving board member and has acted as board president and vice president during her lengthy tenure. She was first elected in 2002 and reelected in 2010.
She is now joined by novice trustee Badillo, who won by a margin of 288 votes. The 41-year-old Navy veteran is the father of two Jackson Academy of Music and Math students and works for his family-owned construction business, R. Badillo & Sons.
After encountering “rough seas” during the five years his children have attended Jackson – Badillo is also on the school site council and sits on the District Advisory Committee – “I thought I could make a difference, rather than complain,” he reasons. “I figure I could either be a part of the problem, or a part of the solution. And I choose to matter. I want to hear people’s concerns. I want to know what the problems are so we can try and fix them.”
Incumbent Benevento finished second with 5,288 votes out of more than 27,000 cast in Morgan Hill, San Martin and South San Jose.
Benevento was appointed to the board in 2010 and is a small business owner of Lobo Enterprise. He and his wife have four children from a blended family; three are in college and one daughter is a junior at Sobrato High School this fall.
Benevento is looking forward to seeing the $198 million Measure G bond – which the MHUSD board unanimously voted to place on the November ballot – work its magic. The new revenue stream will pay for needed facility upgrades, but even better, says Benevento, are the pending benefits to student instruction. He’s gung-ho on improving classrooms, installing new laboratories and bringing the district’s technology infrastructure out of the dark ages.
