Illustration by Cody Angell

While the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board doesn't directly affect UA students, those who notice it on their ballots should realize this non-partisan office is very important to K-12 education in Tucson. Four people are running for this non-paid position ÷ Adelita Grijalva, Bruce Burke, Cindy Schiesel and incumbent Rosalie Lopez. Voters must fill two seats from this list.

While I hate to recommend a vote "against" any candidate, Rosalie Lopez absolutely merits two solid votes for any candidates who can beat her. Since taking office four years ago, she has been the center of some of the most bizarre and unreasonable antics in the history of local politics in Tucson.

She rarely wastes opportunities to publicly attack other board members. The Arizona Daily Star has reported several times in editorials how Lopez has sent threatening e-mails to teachers and put so many requests for information to Superintendent Stan Paz that it's amazing she gets anything else done. A huge number of e-mails and correspondence she sends include complaints about fellow board members.

Kendrick Wilson

Budgets are always tight for TUSD, and when applicants were being interviewed for Paz's current position as superintendent, Lopez demonstrated her complete ignorance of how the budget actually works. She claimed that it was irresponsible to pay several hundred dollars to provide lunch for the applicants and demanded they serve her homemade bologna sandwiches instead. She wasn't joking! I can only imagine what the applicants would have thought about our district and the caliber of people on our governing board. Thankfully, realizing that several hundred dollars would make almost no difference in the grand scheme of the budget, the other board members denied her request.

Who can forget the time she decided to run for county supervisor against Raul Grijalva in 2000, who is now the frontrunner in the District 7 race for Congress? She insisted that it was not a conflict of interest for her to hold the school board seat as well as a county supervisor seat. After making her initial campaign headquarters in the office of the Southern Arizona Homebuilders' Association, she claimed to support environmental protection. If you believe that, I have some Florida swampland to sell you.

She continued to mount a bizarre campaign against Grijalva, whose popularity was enormous. She repeatedly made unfounded claims that Grijalva was overly anti-business and not representing the people of his district. She should have taken a look at how much money Grijalva was able to funnel into his district during his time on the board before making such statements. Fortunately, the voters didn't fall for Lopez and re-elected Grijalva by a sweeping majority.

Back on the TUSD Board, Lopez has tried to position herself as a Hispanic activist, but has actually managed to alienate just about everyone in the process. During a board meeting in which a group of Hispanic student activists were waiting to speak in favor of continued funding of Mexican-American studies programs in schools, there was standing room only. A security guard was interested in hearing the meeting and stood to listen. The sight of a security guard still in uniform was enough to send Lopez on a mission. She had him thrown out of the meeting because she took his presence to mean he was trying to "protect" the board members from the Hispanic student activists.

Were all her stunts helpful to the students in TUSD? When we have the type of attention to obscure details that Lopez has demanded of the superintendent and other TUSD staff, the monumental issues facing the district cannot be addressed. Lopez can take much credit for the infighting that takes place on the board. Other members are not saints, but for her to publicly criticize them at every opportunity breeds nothing but ill will.

Teachers are not getting much-needed pay raises, classes are overcrowded, and disparities between the rich and poor schools abound. How can she possibly justify these personal and childish maneuvers?

For all her good qualities, Cindy Schiesel, a former teacher, does not appear to stand much chance. Her signs are spray-painted by volunteers, and the word does not seem to be getting out. Adelita Grijalva, Raul Grijalva's daughter, is running a strong campaign that will do well to unseat Lopez. Grijalva is young, but it's hard to question the need for a fresh, idealistic voice on this bitter school board. Bruce Burke is also running a strong campaign and has demonstrated a commitment to students.

It's time to clean up the TUSD Governing Board so long overdue progress on the issues facing our schools can move forward. On Nov. 5, elect Adelita Grijalva and Bruce Burke.