No major upsets in school board races; Pacific Grove parcel tax fails.

Incumbents and newcomers alike emerged victorious from the Nov. 8 school board elections, while tax-hiking ballot measures had mixed results.


Measure V, a $60 annual parcel tax designed to bring in roughly $450,000 per year for the Pacific Grove Unified School District, couldn’t quite muster the two-thirds majority it needed to pass. The school improvement bond would have replaced an existing $35 annual parcel tax that’s due to sunset in 2013. 


But Pagrovians voted in favor of Measure U, which will allow motel owners to remodel existing rooms and add new units in the lodging corridor between Lighthouse Avenue and Asilomar Conference Center.


Measure T, the Bradley Union School District bond measure, passed handily with 68 percent approval.


Voters in the Carmel Unified School District narrowed the six-person field Tuesday, choosing incumbent Annette Yee Steck, Carmel business owner Rita Patel and financial advisor Richard Kreitman for the three open board seats.


But there’s a wild card in this race: Former Carmel High Principal Karl Pallastrini launched a write-in campaign for a board seat last month, and the results won’t be available from the county Elections Department until later in the week. It’s possible Pallastrini could edge out Kreitman for the third seat.


Jon Hill, a veteran school teacher and administrator who moved to Monterey less than a year ago, led incumbent Richard Glenn by 22 votes for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District’s Trustee Area 3 seat. 


“I’m delighted to have this opportunity, and humbled by the work ahead,” Hill said when the semi-official results were released Nov. 9.


In Trustee Area 1, current MPUSD Board President Diane Creasey held on to her seat, fending off challenger Tom Jennings. Creasey had faced criticism of her controversial vote in April to approve salary raises for MPUSD Superintendent Marilyn Shepherd and her staff.


Hartnell Community College voters stuck with one incumbent, Bill Freeman, who trounced his opponent, Johnny Gray, in Trustee Area 2. They chose Demetrio Pruneda over Manuel Osorio in Trustee Area 1, an open seat. As of 10am Nov. 9, Rosemary Ybarra Fickas was leading Elia Gonzales Castro by just 16 votes in the Area 4 race. 


Old Monterey Business Association President Rick Johnson bested Monterey Peninsula College professor Robert Savukinas for MPC’s Trustee Area 3 seat by fewer than 40 votes.


Ron Panziera coasted to victory in the Monterey County Office of Education Trustee Area 5 race, garnering nearly twice as many votes as his challenger, community organizer Tony Acosta. 


The Trustee Area 4 race was neck-and-neck, but as we go to press, retired teacher Francisco Javier Estrada appears to have edged out political consultant Brian Higgins.