In a small corner of the election, there are four candidates running for three seats on the Culver City Unified School Board. All of the incumbents are running for re-election, and there is another candidate in the contest as well. Voting smart is keeping all three incumbents in office.
All of the current school board members have strong support, and likely no one is stepping down. But because of Culver City’s history of racism, and in particular, the way that people of color on the school board have often been defeated after one term, it will be worth noting.
There has been ‘backfield chatter’ online, not overtly racist slurs, but the kind of low profile ‘dog whistles’ directed mostly at Triston Ezidore. Ezidore, who took office as the youngest elected official in the state of California, has been a stalwart supporter for students of color on CCUSD’s campuses. Results have been notable – graduation rates have increased, critical test scores are up, and most importantly, morale is up. The kids know they have someone standing up for them.
While Stephanie Loredo might be seen as being equally vulnerable, she has run a powerhouse campaign. As a Filipina, she does not run up against the same racism that Ezidore does, but there is still some pushback. Like Ezidore, her time spent during the last term has shown solid positive results for the district. Her astute financial skills and diplomatic talents have kept many challenges from boiling over into bigger problems.
Brian Guerrero, who seems to be in everyone’s good graces, has been out at events supporting labor, supporting immigrants, and flying the flag of his heritage proudly. But he seems to have escaped any racist rumblings from the republican-style chatbots. Is all this animosity really about someone’s complexion?
The outside challenger is Darrel Menthe, who also ran for the school board in 2022, and lost. He ran for City Council, in 2020, and lost. And again, before that. Menthe, who is the head of the Downtown Business Association, and has served on several city committees; he is currently on the Planning Commission and will term out there in June 0f 2027. He has kind of an odd hobby of running for elected positions. It seems no matter how many titles he has, he feels that it’s not enough.
He is also one of the founders of the Culver City Democrats United Club, launched in 2023 after repeated attempts to win a leadership role at the Culver City Democratic Club, which was founded in 1952. ( I never think of CC Dems United without movie Life of Brian popping up in my head – what the Judean People’s Front and the People’s Front of Judea have against each other is equally absurd.)
Menthe is also one of the authors of Measure AA, putting him in the embarrassing position of being touted as a candidate by people who are campaigning against the measure. The ultra-right-wing group ‘Protect Culver City ‘urges you to vote for Menthe, but vote against Measure AA. That’s the scrambled message coming across here.
Vote for Ezidore, Guerrero and Loredo. It’s the next school board election in 2028 that will see change.
Judith Martin-Straw
