A different way of thinking

Andrew Edwards

There are arguments people expect to hear from school board

candidates, and then there is Norm Westwell.

The Ocean View School District candidate shares some common ideas

with his opponents. He supports class-size reduction and speaks of

the need for fiscal responsibility. But not all of Westwell’s ideas

are mainstream.

“I’m in favor of privatizing all the schools, and that’s going to

sound radical to you and probably most people,” he said. “Ever since

government has gotten involved with education, our education system

has dropped.”

Westwell, 45, is an outspoken Libertarian whose SUV sports a

bumper sticker that declares, “I’m pro-choice on everything.” He

opposes the specter of big government wherever he finds it.

A familiar sight at school board meetings, Westwell manufactures

custom swimwear when not engaged in the maelstrom of local politics.

His company, truWest, was founded in Huntington Beach in 1979.

Westwell’s children, Matt and Alexis, are both students at Ocean

View schools, respectively attending Marine View Middle School and

Hope View Elementary Schools. Westwell is not satisfied with the

quality of education his children are receiving and believes

classwork at Ocean View schools and across California has gotten to

be too easy.

“In all the classes, the school work just seems to be so easy and

there is hardly any homework coming home,” he said. “It’s like a

cakewalk.”

Westwell is the only candidate in his race running solo. Incumbent

Barbara Boskovich is running with Planning Commissioner Tom

Livengood, and challengers Debbie Cotton and Michael Haskin are in

the midst of a tandem campaign.

He lives across the street from Cotton in what he jokingly called

“the most political neighborhood in Huntington Beach.”

Westwell is also different in that he is running simultaneously

for a trifecta of offices. He is also aiming for a City Council seat

and is the Libertarian candidate for the State Assembly.

He is not running for three offices out of sheer ambition, various

friends in and around the Libertarian Party asked him to make the

effort, he said.

His wife, Kris, also encouraged him to run for the school board.

He has the enthusiastic support of James Gray, an Orange County

Superior Court judge running as the Libertarian candidate for the

U.S. Senate.

“In plain language, he has his head on straight,” Gray said. “He

is enthusiastic. He cares about children. He can get to the heart of

fiscal matters.”

If elected, Westwell promised to make his voice heard on the

school board, whether or not his ideas are in the mainstream.

“I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear,” he said. “I’m

going to tell you what you need to hear.”