One Poway Unified school board race winner was clear, while another had the top two candidates flip positions on Monday evening, nearly a week after Election Day.
What was known was that the five-member board is getting two newcomers with the defeat of incumbent Cindy Sytsma in the Trustee Area E race.
The other, Trustee Area A, had two newcomers as candidates after Darshana Patel decided to run for the 76th Assembly District seat instead of re-election to her board seat. Patel was poised to win her Assembly race as of Thursday morning.
On Thursday morning, Tim Dougherty had 55.07% of the votes, with Devesh Vashishtha trailing with 44.93%.
“I’m excited and think it’s great as I have a lot of value to add to the district,” Dougherty said earlier in the week. “Now that (the election) is behind us, I have to get to work. I have a lot to learn and relationships to build in the district, on the board and through outreach with the community to solve some of these (district) problems.”
Area A covers parts of 4S Ranch, Del Sur, Torrey Highlands and Rancho Peñasquitos.
Since the first results were announced on Election Night, Sytsma remained third among three candidates in the Area E race.
The leader until Monday evening was Craig Pond, who saw the 250-vote lead he had on Election Night over David Cheng shrink to 72 votes by Monday morning.
“I think the positive is that we will see change on the board due to Cindy’s defeat. We can look forward to some positive change,” Pond said on Monday, knowing his lead might not hold.
When the Registrar of Voters Office released its latest tallies on Monday evening, for the first time Cheng was in the lead by 92 votes. On Thursday, Cheng had 38.42 % of the votes, ahead by 140.
“I am encouraged by the latest results, but there are still more votes to be counted,” Cheng said earlier this week. “If I do end up winning the election, I look forward to having the privilege of serving the children and families in PUSD.”
Area E covers parts of Poway and Sabre Springs.
“I know I put my best foot forward and held students as my number one priority,” Sytsma said shortly after the initial vote counts were released on Nov. 5.
Sytsma, 49, was elected to the PUSD board four years ago. She teaches in the special education department at the University of Massachusetts Global and has been a Poway resident for 22 years. Her children have attended Poway campuses and she has been a school volunteer for many years.
When asked about accomplishments she had on the PUSD board, Sytsma said one of the latest of which she was most proud was getting the Unified Sports program into the district. It makes it possible for students with and without intellectual disabilities to participate on the same teams.
“I’m a firm believer in equity and giving all kids an opportunity to be successful and able to compete,” Sytsma said.
Pond, 64, is a software engineer and a first-time candidate who has lived in Poway for 33 years. He has also volunteered in the community. All of his seven children graduated from PUSD schools.
Pond said his early lead was due to several factors, including “I put in a lot of effort, walked a lot of neighborhoods and worked on my message.”
He said his top priority, if elected, is to “better support students in the district” and to “support the parents and families with a listening ear and action on their concerns.”
Pond also said addressing the district’s budget problems with new solutions is a priority for him.
“The prevailing solution is to float another school bond, but that is not going to go over (with voters),” Pond said. “We need new ideas to fix things.”
Cheng, 48, is a consumer advocate attorney, 14-year resident of Sabre Springs and parent of children in the district.
In September, Cheng said he was “concerned and disappointed” the district experienced another scandal in addition to its continuing budget crisis, referring to the firing of Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps.
“With a shortfall of $28 million, the PUSD Board needs more than good educators,” Cheng wrote in a candidate statement. “We also need experienced leaders with financial and legal expertise to guide PUSD through these challenging times.”
Dougherty, 50, said his three priorities will be fiscal responsibility, academic excellence and the safety and wellness of students.
Dougherty is a supply chain executive, engineer, educator and community volunteer with children in the district. He said there are “huge gaps” in the district’s budget that need to be addressed that are exacerbated by declining enrollment. He also said test scores have been declining in recent years.
This is his second bid for a PUSD seat. Dougherty said his unsuccessful 2020 bid in response to post-COVID dissatisfaction helped him meet people and get grassroots support this time.
“I am eager to work with the existing board and the new member on the challenges in front of us to help the community,” he said.
Vashishtha, 32, is a community health center physician and medical director who also lives in Rancho Peñasquitos and has children in the district. He could not be reached for comment.
