Egan brings promise of a moderate voice

Deirdre Newman

Tom Egan may not have stepped up to the plate on his own, but with

the support of his fans, he rounded the bases and beat Wendy Leece on

Tuesday in the only upset of a Newport-Mesa Unified School Board

incumbent.

The Westside resident’s supporters said they expect his election

to bring a more moderate voice to the board and increase the

trustees’ productivity.

“I think Tom’s a good choice,” said Cyndie Borcoman, Newport Beach

resident. “He’s a conservative person that will reflect on all the

issues. Wendy also said that, but she’s a lot more extreme.”

Egan received 53% of the vote, Leece 48%. The morning after his

victory, Egan said that he’s ready to put his problem-solving skills

to work on complex challenges facing the district such the state’s

budget woes.

“They’re going to try to balance the budget on our backs and on

the backs of cities, so it will be difficult to even do business as

usual,” Egan said.

While Leece was a gracious loser on Wednesday, she expressed

frustration about how difficult it was for her to run against what

she characterized as an intense effort to oust her.

“It would have been a lot easier to not file and to bow out

gracefully because I know what [the people who wanted me out] are

capable of doing to get rid of a conservative, independent voice, and

not allow that one out of six to represent the community,” Leece

said. “I knew the cost to me personally and emotionally would be

great.

“But I chose, rather than taking the easy way out, to continue one

last time to represent a viewpoint that I’m sorry will no longer be

represented,” she said.

Egan was among a select number of persons asked to run by some --

including outgoing trustee Jim Ferryman -- who wanted to unseat

Leece, Egan said. Leece publicly chastised Ferryman after he was

convicted of drunk driving last fall.

Egan said that his victory proves more that he was chosen than

that Leece was rejected.

“My opponent has disappointed an awful lot of people, and so a lot

of people were looking to get someone who could be more productive

and contribute more,” Egan said. “You just don’t run an empty suit

against an incumbent and win. You don’t easily dislodge somebody like

that.”

Ferryman expressed his satisfaction with Egan’s triumph over

Leece.

“I thought [Egan] put on a good campaign,” Ferryman said. “I

thought the voters made a statement and think they supported more of

[his] viewpoint than Leece’s.”

Now that the campaign is over, Egan wants to concentrate on

improving teachers’ productivity by investing in more technology. He

also wants to see Costa Mesa schools match the resources and

achievements of Newport Beach schools.

Egan said he was impressed with what Principal Sharon Blakely has

done at Whittier Elementary School, where parents take literacy

classes at the school.

“That’s a model we might be able to expand upon and polish and

export to other schools, and we might be able to overcome the natural

difficulties of the Westside and the demographics.”

Ultimately, he wants to give public education in the area more

respect, he said.

“Public education seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield in politics,

and I really want to change that,” Egan said. “I want to improve the

way public schools are perceived in this district ....I want this

district to be so good that people move to the district for the

schools.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.