June 9, 2010 --It is still very early, but the race for four seats on the Board of Education is already starting to take shape. Three incumbents and two challengers say they are in the competition. And there is a fundraiser taking place on Sunday for the benefit of one challenger’s campaign as well as the campaign of an incumbent City Council member who is facing a tough election challenge.

A meet and greet is taking place on Sunday at a private home to support the campaigns of Council member Gleam Davis, who was appointed to her seat last year and faces her first election as an incumbent in November, and longtime education activist Laurie Lieberman, who is running for a seat on the Board of Education.

“The school district is facing a tremendous challenge, and I feel that I can help the district and the board develop what I think needs to be a well thought out plan for the challenges we now face,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman co-founded the local education group LEAD (Leadership Effectiveness Accountability Direction) and has been on various commissions and committees with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. An Attorney who used to work for the City, she is married to development lawyer Chris Harding, who involved in education activism. They have two children, one who recently graduated from Santa Monica High School and another who is still there.

“I have a lot of relationships in this community,” she said. “I’ve worked here, lived here a long time. I’m a lawyer by training, but I’m also a parent … I’m hoping along with my professional personal skills, I can bring a whole host of bright people in this community, that are not involved in the community at this point.”

As to why she is doing an event with Davis, Lieberman said, “Gleam and I have been involved in school issues for a long time. In my humble view, Gleam has been a tremendous advocate for school issues. It has been tremendously important that someone like her who understands the school issues in this town is a representative on the council.”

Another challenger who has decided to see a seat on the board is Nimish Patel. A former CPA and current lawyer, Patel is a father of two elementary school students and a member of the SMMUSD’s Financial Oversight Committee. His involvement in SMMUSD happenings began about two years ago when he joined the site governance council.

“The more I get involved, the more I feel like I want to do more,” Patel said. “I think our district is in a crisis and I believe I have the skill set that will help the district navigate through this time.”

Patel said overall the current board members have done a good job. It is the State, he said, which has caused a lot of the problem due to its reduction in education funding. But he would like the district to begin doing more than reacting to situations.

“We have to get in front of the problem,” Patel said. “Measure A, we worked so hard for that campaign, but when it failed, we really didn’t have a game plan as to what else we would do to come up with solutions.”

Patel is fairly new to the scene and will not have the familiar face that many people are used to, including the incumbents. He said this will actually work to his advantage in a campaign.

“I think people are looking for fresh faces,” he said. “I think they are looking for people who are not going to have the same conventional thinking as we have done in the past.”

Three of the four incumbents whose seats are up for renewal in November said they plan to run. They are Kelly Pye, Barry Snell and Ralph Mechur. Oscar de la Torre, who has considered a City Council run, said on Monday he has not decided which seat he will pursue. De la Torre made himself a candidate for the seat made vacant by the death of Ken Genser. That seat went to Terry O’Day after seven rounds of voting. De la Torre got one vote from then-Council member and current Mayor Bobby Shriver.

Snell, an accountant, said he feels like he has “unfinished business to do”

“With my four years on the board, I think I’ve really learned an awful lot and also brought a lot to the board in my discussions and my thought process to unify the district.”

Mechur is an architect who was appointed to the board in 2007 to fill the seat vacated by Emily Bloomfield when she moved from the district. He had to run in the November 2008 election to complete the term, but there was no opposition. Mechur said he wants to run for his first full term because he wants to continue doing the work.

“I feel I have the experience, many years with the school district and feel like I can help the district through stormy times.”

"The school district is facing a tremendous challenge, and I feel that I can help the district and the board develop what I think needs to be a well thought out plan for the challenges we now face,"
  Laurie Lieberman

 “The more I get involved, the more I feel like I want to do more,”
         Nimish Patel

“With my four years on the board, I think I’ve really learned an awful lot and also brought a lot to the board in my discussions and my thought process to unify the district.”
          Barry Snell

“I feel I have the experience, many years with the school district and feel like I can help the district through stormy times.”
        Ralph Mechur