By Los Altos School District
Bill Cooper
Challenger
Cooper garnered 2,038 votes or 18.2 percent, which was not enough to elect him to the school board.
“Needless to say, I am disappointed it didn’t turn out better for my part of the campaign,” Cooper said. “Having said that, we have a superb school district which I am privileged to have two children attending school within. Today, we still have three incumbents, three talented, capable, dedicated people. I know we are still in very good hands with their having been retained.”
Cooper said he would like to run for office again in two years.
“I figure I have another two years to pick up another 800 votes,” he said. “My goal hopefully will be to join Duane, Victor and Jay on the board.”
Jay A. Thomas
Incumbent
Thomas was elected with 3,256 votes or 29.1 percent.
“I am happy to be re-elected,” Thomas said. “I ran because I believe a lot in the schools and what I can do to move the schools along right now.”
Thomas was not surprised the incumbent board members were re-elected and said that the board of trustee’s focus will remain the same.
“For me it’s a continuous thing,” he said. “There is no reason to change any of our directions. We will continue to keep test scores high, have a good staff, a balanced budget and a continued focus on the construction program.”
Victor M. Reid, III
Incumbent
Reid was elected with 3,059 votes or 27.3 percent.
“Needless to say, I am quite pleased,” Reid said. “I look forward to the next four years and to the challenges that face the district, which we have discussed throughout the campaign.”
Duane Roberts
Incumbent
Roberts was elected with 2,848 votes or 25.5 percent. He was unavailable for comment at press time.
Cupertino Union School District
Pearl Cheng
Appointed Incumbent
Cheng was unanimously approved by the Board of Education in November 2000, but still had to run for office. She was elected with 9,540 votes or 25.4 percent.
“I am excited and pleased with the election results,” Cheng said. “I worked hard, walked precincts and talked to many people. I am very proud of my campaign. I am sincere in my convictions and will continue to serve all families and children in our communities.”
Cheng is also grateful to the volunteers that worked on her campaign, she said.
Ben Liao
Incumbent
Liao was elected with 8,449 votes or 22.5 percent.
“I am glad that the election is over, but I am refreshed about why I am on the board,” Liao said. “That is to renew my dedication to the education and to take care of all the children in our school district. I think there are a lot of things to do in the next four years. I am hoping we can work together for the betterment of our school district.”
Gary McCue
Challenger
McCue was elected with 7,974 votes or 21.3 percent.
“I ran a hard campaign and the election result was positive,” McCue said. “I think the voters chose me because they are interested in getting their fair sare of property taxes back from Sacramento and I am the most experienced of the nonincumbents.”
McCue also sites that he had a lot of community support. “I ran because I am interested in education. I don’t have any particular ambitions other than to do the best possible job for the school district for the next four years,” he said.
George K. Tyson
Challenger
Tyson garnered 6,956 votes or 18.6 percent, not enough to win a seat on the board.
“I think it’s great we had so many good candidates and so much parental involvement,” Tyson said. “Of course I am disappointed, but I have a lot of faith in the district and I will continue to be involved with the budget advisory committee.”
Tyson said he felt connected to the community through ringing over 1,000 Los Altos doorbells alone. Tyson added, he expects to run again.
John A. Claras
Challenger
Compiled by Sara Ballenger
The Los Altos and Cupertino Union school districts each had three seats on their governing board on the Nov. 6 ballot. With the official results recorded, some of the board of trustee candidates commented on their win or loss.
Claras won 4,578 votes or 12.3 percent, which was not enough to win a seat on the board.
“I was disappointed in some of the candidates’ breaking our promise to run a positive campaign,” Claras said. “On the positive side, a lot of people did vote for me and I want to thank them. The election was pretty darn close, especially for a newcomer.”
Claras said he learned a lot and enjoyed meeting people in the community and would not rule out running for the school board again in the future.
For more information about election results, contact the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, at 1555 Berger Dr., Building No.2, San Jose, CA, 95108, or call, (408) 299-8683. Election results are also available online at: www.scc.vote.org.
