Measure A, to Appoint Schools Supt., Losing 3-1

A battle-scarred proposal to appoint rather than elect the county superintendent of schools appeared headed for another massive defeat Tuesday night, according to early, unofficial vote returns.

The early tallies showed that Orange County voters by a more than 3-to-1 margin favored electing the county superintendent. Ten years ago, voters defeated a similar proposal 4 to 1.

Measure A, which gave voters an elected or appointed option, drew little public attention in the fall campaign. Supporters of change said they had no money to educate voters.

“We did the best we could by calling people on the telephone, but our organization did not have money to put out a mailer or any other type of campaign,” said Valerie Ransom, president of the Grand Jurors’ Assn. of Orange County. Several grand juries in the past 20 years have urged a change to an appointed superintendent of schools.

Schooling for Handicapped

The superintendent heads the $50-million-a-year County Department of Education, which provides schooling for about 800 handicapped children. There was a flurry of interest in the department this fall when a bus shortage stranded many students. Some Orange County Board of Education members criticized Supt. Robert Peterson’s handling of the problem; the board would have had more direct control over the superintendent under Measure A.

Peterson, who has been elected to the post for the past 22 years and was the sole public voice opposing appointment, had predicted the measure’s overwhelming defeat.

Voters in both Yorba Linda and Placentia were giving overwhelming approval to a proposed merger of the small Yorba Linda Elementary School District into the larger Placentia Unified School District. Yorba Linda school officials have for years sought the merger in order to get more money from the state.

Efforts by teacher unions to oust some incumbents and elect union-endorsed slates in local trustee races appeared to be having mixed results. In Tustin Unified School District, early returns showed the two incumbents with big leads over union challengers.

One Tustin Unified candidate, Dr. Harvey E. Kershnar, was finishing in last place for a seat where an incumbent was not seeking reelection, according to the early tallies. Kershnar initially had the teacher union’s endorsement, but the union withdrew it and took a neutral stance on the pediatrician’s candidacy after public disclosure that Kershnar had been arrested on lewd conduct charges in 1979 and 1986. The 1979 charge was not prosecuted, and Kershnar pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace in the second incident.

In Capistrano Unified School District, three of four teacher-union-backed candidates were trailing far behind incumbents they sought to oust, according to the early tallies. Marlene Draper, a union-backed challenger, held a narrow lead over incumbent Charles H. Ward.

In Saddleback Community College District in south Orange County, incumbents were holding large leads over union-endorsed challengers.

Early returns showed veteran Rancho Santiago Community College District trustee Hector G. Godinez trailing union-backed challenger Brian E. Conley, with the other three incumbents comfortably ahead.