Election Wrapup : 2 Public Safety Workers Elected to School Board

ANTELOPE VALLEY — A sheriff’s captain and a deputy probation officer who have promised to make campus safety a top priority have been elected to the Antelope Valley Union High School Board of Trustees.

Tony Welch, commander of the Antelope Valley sheriff’s station, was the top vote-getter in the high school board race, receiving nearly 21% of the 72,092 ballots cast, according to preliminary election results provided Wednesday by the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk’s office. Welch, 50, said establishing a safe, crime-free learning environment is his top priority. He intends to accomplish that goal through the assistance of volunteers.

Bill Olenick, 42, is a deputy probation officer who, like Welch, considers campus safety his top priority. Olenick was elected to a four-year term on the high school board in 1985 but lost in 1989.

Olenick and Welch become the second and third trustees with law enforcement backgrounds on the school board. They join current trustee Bill Pricer, a former narcotics deputy who runs a local anti-gang organization.

Sue Stokka, 50, the third candidate elected, served on a local elementary school board from 1979 to 1989.

Fourteen candidates, including one incumbent, were vying for three high school board seats.

Antelope Valley Community College

The policies and priorities of the Antelope Valley College board will probably remain unchanged with the reelection Tuesday of all three incumbents.

Betty Lou Nash, 69, was elected to a second term; James Valentine DuPratt Jr., 49, was elected to his third four-year term; and Herman Kicenski, 75, will retain his seat after already serving 20 years on the college board.

Five candidates unsuccessfully challenged the three incumbents for the three seats.

Palmdale School District

All three winners in Tuesday’s Palmdale School District Board of Trustees race have previously served on the board together.

Although Sheldon Epstein was not an incumbent in this year’s election, he served on the Palmdale School District Board of Trustees from 1989 to 1991. Epstein, 47, received the most votes Tuesday. Two incumbents and four challengers were seeking three seats.

Also elected were incumbents Velma Trosin, to a third term, and Frederick Thompson, 49.

Lancaster School District

With a pool of 11 candidates seeking the three seats on the Lancaster School District board, voters chose the two incumbents and one newcomer.

Incumbents Melinda White, 47, and Richard White, 66, were both reelected. They will be joined on the board by Greg Tepe, 26, an administrator with a local anti-gang organization.

Eastside Union School District

In the Eastside Union School District, where three incumbents and two challengers vied for three seats, incumbents Martha Delores Johnson, 53, and Larry Lake, 63, were both reelected. Also elected was Willard Ritchie, 66, who previously served nearly 20 years on the board before losing his 1991 reelection bid.

Keppel Union School District

Two incumbents and a newcomer were selected Tuesday as trustees on the Keppel Union School District.

Incumbents R. Michael Dutton and Valorie Gorny, 38, were successful in their joint reelection bids. Maxine Griffin, 37, was also elected from a candidate pool that included three incumbents, three challengers whose names appeared on the ballot and one write-in candidate.

Results for write-in candidates will not be available before Monday, said county officials.

Wilsona School District

Two incumbents and a newcomer were chosen in this school board race, which had four candidates.

Sharon Marlo Toyne, 46, upset incumbent Luis Easterwood. Incumbents Michael Brown, 36, and Frank Donaldson Sr., 43, were successful in retaining their seats.

Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District:

Just three candidates, including two incumbents, filed candidacy papers for the three available seats in this one-school, west Antelope Valley district. One candidate, newcomer David Bowen, later withdrew his name. Incumbents Lola Skelton Mantooth and Peter Stolken retained their seats, while the board appointed Joseph Monticone to fill the third seat.