Funds May Be Lacking, but School Board Has Full Slate of Candidates

Although the statewide crisis in education funding would seem to make running a school system a more thankless task than ever, the coming election for the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Trustees has attracted an unusually large field of candidates.

Fifteen candidates will be competing for four spots on the board on Nov. 5.

“I don’t think there’s ever been this many candidates,” said school board President Peggy Goldwyn, the only board member seeking reelection. “Last election . . . nobody ran except for the incumbents. It’s very encouraging that this many people are willing to serve.”

Normally, three of the five board seats would be up for grabs, but Fred Stern resigned in June, freeing another seat. He was two years into his third four-year term.

Two other incumbents, Frank Fenton and Betty Wilson, have chosen not to run again. Goldwyn had also announced that she would not run again but changed her mind at the urging of her family and members of the community.

“To have just one experienced board member during a critical time is not a good idea,” Goldwyn said. “I hated to just walk away from it.”

The following candidates met the Aug. 14 filing deadline:

Running for four-year terms are: Lori Chapman, publisher; Steve Dahlerbruch, regional sales executive; Michael B. Flesch, lawyer and businessman; Phillip Harris, business executive and scientist; Dan Himelstein, businessman; Walter Maynard, physician; Anna McLinn, school principal; Richard Stone, attorney, certified public accountant and former mayor of Beverly Hills; Victor Weiner, businessman, and A. J. Willmer, computer consultant.

Running for the two years remaining in Stern’s term are: Jack Cohen, lawyer and mathematician; Michael Karlin, attorney; Lillian Raffel, educator and registered nurse; Trisha Roth, pediatrician, and Phillip Scheid, business executive.

Board members are elected at large. The top three vote-getters among candidates for the four-year terms will be elected, as will the top finisher among those seeking to fill Stern’s unexpired term.

District officials and residents say the following issues will probably be discussed at candidate forums during the campaign:

* How should the district deal with budget problems that are likely to persist? Which programs should be cut, and how can the district make its best effort to provide a quality education?

* Should the district sell or develop land it owns to raise money?

* Should one of the four existing elementary schools, all of which run from kindergarten through eighth grade, be converted to a middle school?

* Are students in the district scoring as well as they should on standardized tests?

Dana Tomarken, the only board member whose seat is not up for reelection, said the district faces hard times.

“It’s almost unbelievable to accept that Beverly Hills has been having financial problems,” Tomarken said. “This board has done a good job of making people aware of the financial deprivation of education today, and that Beverly Hills is funded like every other school in California.

“I think the board has done a good job of educating the community that just saying you support education is not enough,” Tomarken said. “You have to get really involved.”