The obscure agency charged with overseeing school district election maps is trying to win its legal battle with the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) by running out in the clock and forcing acceptance of the voting district map it adopted.
The Orange County Committee on School District Organization (OCCSDO) and the OCBE are in a court fight over whose voting district maps will be used to elect OCBE members in the June 2022 primary. The OCBE adopted a map in early December 2021. The OCCSDO historically approves such maps as a matter of routine, but in this case, selected a map that had been rejected by the OCBE.
As it turned out, that map was submitted by teacher union activist Billie Joe Wright and was drawn with the help of a professional Democrat redistricting expert. One of Wright’s political allies is a member of the OCCSDO (which is dominated by teacher union allies); that person moved to have his map adopted over the objections of the OC Board of Education.
READ: Voter Party Affiliation A Key Factor In Drawing Controversial County School Board Elections Map
Both the OCCSDO and OCBE transmitted their respective maps to Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley, who stated he would use the OCCSDO map unless directed otherwise by the court – and stated that would have to happen by the opening of filing on February 14.
Both parties were entitled to one peremptory challenge to the judge assigned to the case. The OCBE’s attorney requested removal of the first judge, David Hoffer. A new judge, Derek Hunt was assigned to the case on February 4, and a hearing scheduled for Thursday, February 10 at 1:30 p.m.
The OCCSDO’s legal team waited a week, until a few hours before that hearing, to use their peremptory challenge and have Judge Hunt removed. The case was reassigned to Judge Gregory Lewis.
This last minute maneuver made it effectively impossible for the court to hear the OCBE’s ex parte application before candidate filing opened: Friday, February 11 was a court holiday, and Judge Lewis does not hear ex parte proceedings on Mondays.
The hearing was re-scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, February 15.
READ: OC Board Of Education Fights Two-Front Battle Against Union-Backed Foes
Jonathan Brenner, an attorney representing the OC Board of Education, sent a letter to the Orange County Counsel’s office on February 11, requesting that the ROV postpone any action regarding the OCBE district maps until after the court renders a decision at February 15 hearing.
“On behalf of the Orange County Board of Education (the “Board”) we write to you in your
capacity as counsel in the above-referenced case for the defendant and respondent, the Registrar
of Voters for Orange County,” wrote Brenner.
“Accordingly, we request on behalf of the Board that the Registrar of Voters wait until the afternoon of February 15, 2022, before taking any further, final, or irreversible action on implementation of new district boundaries for the Board’s trustee areas for purposes of the June 7, 2022 election, to ensure that the Court has a full and fair opportunity to consider the application and rule on this important matter,” Brenner continued.
There is some precedent for this.
In 2014, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to combine the elected Public Administrator office with the OC District Attorney – even though candidate filing had already opened and several candidates had filed to run for the office. The Board’s action meant those candidates had no office for which to run.
