Mayer, Zacharias, Carty, Frost lead in school board races
Editor’s note: The results in this story reflect the mailed-in ballots.
Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne is leading in the general election against her challenger James Mosby.
On Tuesday night, Ms. Osborne held 56.55% of the vote with 2,477 votes. Mr. Mosby holds 42.76 percent of the vote with 1,873 votes.
If Ms. Osborne is re-elected, it will be her third term as Lompoc mayor. Prior to being elected mayor in 2018, she served on the city council since 2016.
“I would expect it to continue to show a lead,” Mayor Osborne told the News-Press. “I appreciate the votes shown already. I am appreciative of everyone getting out to vote.
“I look forward to hitting the ground running and look forward to continuing the great work we have been doing with the council,” she said.
In other races:
Incumbents Marybeth Carty and Judy Frost were leading in the mailed-in ballots Tuesday night for Santa Barbara County Board of Education Trustees for Area 1 and 5 respectively.
Ms. Carty held 73.26% of the vote with 7,868 votes. Ms. Crawford held 26.42% of the vote with 2,837 votes.
Ms. Carty has served on the board since her appointment in 2013. Ms. Carty has a background in teaching and early childhood education and volunteered in Santa Barbara County Schools for over 30 years.
Ms. Crawford has 30 years of experience involved in education and is a member of The Coalition for Neighborhood Schools. She established and ran her own nanny placement service for over 30 years in addition to her career working for the state of California as a radiation protection specialist for the Department of Health.
In Trustee Area 5 on the county Board of Education, Judy Frost, president of the board of education, is leading her challenger Gabriel A. Morales in the polls. Ms. Frost holds 58.29% of the vote with 4400 votes. Mr. Morales holds 41.02% of the vote with 3,096 votes.
Ms. Frost has served on the board since May of 2018. She holds a bachelor’s in accounting from California State University, Long Beach and an M.B.A. in management from Pepperdine University. Ms. Frost also served as the managing director of the Pacific Conservatory Theatre of Allan Hancock College from 1991-2007.
In the Goleta Union School District, Dr. Richard Mayer and Emily Zacarias led Tuesday night in results for trustee areas 1 and 3 respectively.
Dr. Mayer, the incumbent, led Tuesday in the polls for Goleta Union School Board District 1 against challenger Caroline Abate. Dr. Mayer holds 61.78% of the vote with 2,022 votes. Ms. Abate holds 37.82% f the vote with 1,238 votes.
Dr. Mayer has served on the Goleta Union School District board for 40 years and is a professor of psychology at UCSB.
“I’m just waiting to see how the results come in,” Dr. Mayer told the News-Press Tuesday night. “I’m not taking anything for granted, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the votes add up. I’m just grateful for the support I have gotten and I appreciate all the people who voted for me. If re-elected, I intended to represent everyone, all the people who voted for me and didn’t vote for me and those who didn’t vote at all.”
Ms. Abate is challenging Dr. Mayer for the district 1 seat. Aside from her previous career as a registered nurse, she also has 13 years of part-time classroom teaching experience.
“I was hoping for a higher percentage of the vote however you want to look at registration and how you performed. I’m disappointed I didn’t get a higher percentage of the vote but I’m happy it’s slightly in terms of voter registration,” she told the News-Press. “This campaign had so many wonderful volunteers and amazing support and that is a victory in and of itself. People that stepped up to give voters a choice on their candidate and that is a victory and an important aspect of this campaign. What I’ve learned along this political journey is there is always a lot of speculation and attempts to predict the future. But I always wait patiently and see how things play out and go from there.”.
In District 3, Emily Zacarias led in mailed-in ballots Tuesday night ahead of her challengers Christy Lozano and Bert Haley for the seat on the Goleta Union School Board.
On Tuesday night, Ms. Zacarias held 63.11% of the vote with 1m336 votes. Ms. Lozano held 23.9% of the vote with 506 votes. Bert Haley held 12.52% of the vote with 265 votes.
Ms. Zacarias is a mother of two and currently works for the Santa Barbara County Education Office as a special education teacher at Hollister Elementary.
“I just want to congratulate all the people who have helped me,” Ms. Zacarias told the News-Press. “I am really excited to thank everyone for the hard work and help. I’m not going to put the car before the horse at this point. I just want to say a big thank you to all the supporters and volunteers that have helped make my campaign successful.”
Ms. Lozano has a 16-year-old daughter who attended Goleta Union District and has been a teacher for 18 years. Ms. Lozano also previously challenged Dr. Susan Salcido for Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools. While Ms. Lozano lost the election, she created a lot of momentum during her campaign.
“My expectations are that there are a lot of people that voted today,” Ms. Lozano told the News-Press. “Only about 2,000 out of 16,000 have been counted so far. So let’s just wait for them to tally it up. We will wait for the final numbers, and it’s always good to give people a choice besides the status quo and that is what I have done. When you leave it up to the voters, we have to do what the voters want.”
Mr. Haley is a local small business owner, the husband of an educator and the father of two children who are graduates of Goleta schools. Mr. Haley has owned and operated a local childcare and summer camp, coached numerous girls and boys youth sports teams, and volunteered in Goleta Union School District classrooms and on school field trips at Ellwood, Kellogg, and El Camino Schools. He has supported teachers and students locally for more than 25 years.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
