The Las Lomitas Elementary School District has two new trustees after sudden departures left the K-8 district scrambling to fill board seats. Trustee-elect Jody Leng decided not to assume her seat and Jon Venverloh resigned his seat on Nov. 8 over his wife Mehredith's racist tweets about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

The board selected Molly Finn, who came in third for two open seats on the November ballot, and Cynthia Solis Yi, during a Friday, Dec. 18, meeting over Zoom. There were only three members on the five-member board: president Dana Nunn, Jason Morimoto — who was elected last month — and John Earnhardt. Trustees Diana Honda and Bill Steinmetz did not seek reelection and their terms ended this month.

Finn, a legal executive, is a 14-year resident and parent of two La Entrada Middle School students. She said that her priorities are teachers, preparing students for the future and meeting the needs of all students. In her application for the seat, she said the board could improve its communications.

"We can open additional channels for communication and increase engagement from the community," she wrote in her application. She also said that the school board needs to do more and/or different work around diversity, equity and inclusion.

Solis Yi, also a parent of two children who attend La Entrada, said in her application that she wanted to bring a diverse perspective to the board. Inclusivity, equity and diversity should be considered in decisions as a trustee, particularly now in this polarized political landscape, she said.

"I was born and raised by a single Filipina mother on the Lower East Side of Manhattan," she wrote. "I represent a minority here in this district that have managed through education to become members of a much different socio-economic class than which we were raised. We all have the duty of making sure our children become pillars of strength in this community and the others they become a part of. My personal intersectionality will be one that has likely not been represented in a meaningful way in this district. Because of this, I feel a duty to serve."

She also noted that her experience working with equity and diversity issues will likely be an asset to the board. A Menlo Park resident, she is the director of earned income at La Cocina, a nonprofit incubator in San Francisco focused on formalizing the businesses of female minority entrepreneurs.

She said she also has experience with residential and commercial construction projects, as well as many years of experience in a corporate financial setting.

The board interviewed three candidates: Finn, Solis Yi and Evan Reis, during a Dec. 15 Zoom call. Candidates returned for a meeting three days later, when the board announced its two picks. During the Dec. 18 meeting, Nunn said she had "serious concerns" about the conflict of interest presented by Reis being married to a district teacher. He would have to recuse himself from voting on teachers' contracts, Dunn said.

In November, trustees voted to pursue an appointment process for the two seats. They had to either order a special election or make provisional appointments within 60 days of the vacancies (on or before Jan. 7, 2021, for Venverloh's former seat, and Feb. 9, 2021, for the seat to which Leng was elected), according to the county.

A video of the interviews can be viewed here.

Recall effort

A change.org petition began circulating in November to recall Las Lomitas trustee Earnhardt. Parents supporting the recall effort say his comments in a local newspaper reacting to Mehredith Venverloh's insulting tweets about Vice President-elect Harris lacked sensitivity and warrant his removal.

District parents started the online petition, which has 135 signatures, after Earnhardt declined a request that he step down from the board. The parents took issue with statements he made to the Palo Alto Daily Post, calling Venverloh a "very diligent as a board member and impactful for the district" and noting the "controversy moved quickly because it spread through electronic media and parents are more engaged in the district than in the past" because board meetings are happening over Zoom.

An official recall petition would require signatures from a quarter of the district's registered voters in order to move forward.