Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member Will Smith said Wednesday that he’s not worried about keeping his job, despite the recall movement that’s afoot.
Smith, who was elected to the five-member board in November 2010, said he has full confidence that he’s fulfilling his duties as a board member by raising valid issues about what he describes as excessive district spending, buildings that aren’t seismically sound and the need for a Spanish interpreter at board meetings to serve the district’s growing Hispanic population.
Smith’s remarks came the day after more than 50 district parents, staff members, teachers and other community members met in the Santa Maria Public Library’s Shepard Hall to rally support for recalling Smith, a former district teacher who resigned as part of a settlement with the district.
Local teacher and parent Glenn Goldin, who’s leading the recall movement, asked for 10 registered district voter signatures and addresses at the meeting Tuesday night, so he could deliver and file a notice of intention to recall. He got 14.
“This coalition, they didn’t come up at all and go for a recall when the board took out fraudulent loans,” Smith said Wednesday. “It’s not about me, as (Goldin)’s indicating. We don’t need to incur any more debt. It’s not about self-serving Will Smith dealing only with his own agenda. It’s about me doing what I was elected to do.”
Smith does not deny that he was suspended from his teaching position eight times, but he refutes the reasons that are stated in public documents. The stated reasons include the use of corporal punishment, serious misconduct, dishonesty, misuse of a district computer and intimidation of a student.
He described the reasons as allegations, and said they were never proven as outright reasons for suspension.
Smith said that contrary to information presented at Tuesday’s recall meeting, he only has one lawsuit against the district, and that’s because he said the district has not adhered to the settlement agreement that both parties signed when he left the district. The district is fighting the case, arguing that Smith breached the agreement by running for the school board and by speaking publicly about the agreement’s terms.
The recall movement “came out of nowhere,” Smith said. “That’s the least of my worries.”
Smith said he’s concerned that Santa Maria-Bonita officials are passing out resources to help the recall effort.
The district had no comment about the recall movement, and a spokeswoman said the district is not permitted to send out information supporting a recall.
Board President Linda Cordero could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The next steps in the recall effort, according to Goldin, include notifying Smith and getting the petition design and wording approved by the Santa Barbara County Elections Division.
For a recall to succeed, 20 percent of registered district voters, approximately 7,000 to 8,000, would have to sign the petition within four months. Goldin told supporters the goal is 10,000 signatures to ensure that the petition qualifies for the ballot.
The time-consuming process makes a recall election that coincides with the Nov. 6 general election unlikely. As a result, a special election would probably have to be held.
The county Elections Division could not estimate the cost of a special recall election, which would be charged to the Santa Maria-Bonita district as the government agency whose official is being recalled.
Determining a cost is an involved process and is based on various factors, according to county elections officials, including the number of registered voters in the district and the timing of the special election.
