Morgan Hill Unified School District’s board of education will welcome two new faces and one familiar one with first-time challenger Mary Patterson and incumbent Thomas Arnett leading their respective races in the Nov. 8 election.
Unopposed candidate Teresa Murillo was already a lock in Trustee Area 7 and was not on the ballot, although she joined in on the election night excitement with several other school and city candidates gathered at Jimmy P’s Pizzeria on Monterey Road just south of downtown.
However, the Morgan Hill eatery did not serve up any winners on election night.
In Trustee Area 6, Patterson, a 16-year San Jose resident who remained in her far north Los Paseos neighborhood with family and friends to watch the results crawl in, garnered more than 43 percent of the votes after all 10 precincts reported, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office.
“When you are out there trying to make a difference every day in your job, in your kids’ school and just out on the street, it comes back to you,” said Patterson, a director with The Health Trust who had endorsements from Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate and State Senator Jim Beall. “People remember. People know your heart and you establish a good connection that they are going to trust you with this huge job. I am honored.”
The parent of two MHUSD students tallied 860 votes in the three-candidate race that included challenger Albert Beltran Jr. (559 votes, 28.3 percent) and incumbent Rick Badillo (556 votes, 28.15 percent). Beltran remained home with his young family on election night, while Badillo was at Jimmy P’s with his supporters.
“Given the current board composition, it’s very important that the community have a say and that whoever is selected listens to the community,” said Badillo, who served one tumultuous four-year term that saw him spar with several of his colleagues on the board.
This was the first year that MHUSD’s board of education seats were broken up into trustee areas rather than holding an at-large election. Candidates must reside in specific trustee areas to run for office. Voters must also live in those areas to partake.
In Trustee Area 5, Arnett, who was coming off a victory in a consolidated June election to fill out the remaining months of former Trustee Amy Porter-Jensen’s seat, accumulated more than 65 percent (1,523 votes) of the 12 reporting districts.
“I’m obviously looking forward to working with the other board members to set a positive tone,” said Arnett, who also remained home with his family. “There’s a lot of things to be done and I’m excited to be part of it.”
Arnett raised more money, to the tune of $20,355 ($16,000 coming from the Leadership for Educational Equity), than any other school board candidate in each of the three races.
Challenger Angelica Diaz, who was endorsed by the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, received about 34 percent of the votes (788 votes). The Live Oak High School alumna was on hand at Jimmy P’s with her family.
“We need to go back to putting students first and addressing the needs of the students,” Diaz said. “I still want to be involved. I’m from here. I’ve lived here my whole life and I care about this community.”
Arnett is also a graduate of Live Oak High School and Diaz said the two opponents shared a mutual respect.
Arnett, Patterson and Murillo will join Trustees Gino Borgioli, Ron Woolf, David Gerard and Donna Ruebusch on the school board.
