The Anaheim Elementary school board is considering relieving Trustee Mark Lopez from his duties after he was elected to a local community college board and is serving in the two roles simultaneously.
Tonight at a special 6 p.m. school board meeting, board members will vote on a resolution declaring Lopez’s seat vacant, which he’s held since 2018.
The meeting can be attended in person or streamed live on YouTube.
Before the meeting, Lopez said that the state Attorney General would have to review if the two school board positions are incompatible before he could be removed from his seat.
“If there’s a question of incompatibility of these two unrelated districts, it needs to be determined by the Attorney General and a judge,” Lopez said in a text message.
“The school board does not have the power to determine incompatibility and remove me,” he added.
The rest of the Anaheim Elementary School District Board of Education members did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Maritza Bermudez, an organizer with Orange County Congregation Community Organization and a parent in the district, said the two roles Lopez is serving in are not a conflict of interest and believes he is being targeted.
“I feel like there’s a lot of energy, time and resources being put into this matter, and I don’t think there’s any foundation to it,” Bermudez said in a Monday phone interview. “The North Orange County Community College District has no issue with Mr. Lopez being on the elementary board.”
She also said that the effort to remove Lopez is rushed and not transparent.
“This seems like a very hush, hush, rushed process to not really have engagement from the community,” she said. “I don’t like this kind of stuff.”
It comes after a majority of board members censured Lopez in January for being elected to the North Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees in November while still holding his seat on the school board.
[Read: Orange County Sees More Elected Officials Get Censured]
A majority of school board members argue that Lopez serving in both positions is a violation of state law that forbids an elected official from holding “two public offices that are incompatible.”
According to the law, offices are incompatible if one of them holds supervisory or audit power over the other, if there is a possibility for a clash of duties, or “public policy considerations make it improper for one person to hold both offices.”
Bermudez said Lopez’s role on both boards as well as working as a High School teacher will benefit students because he brings perspective from different levels of government.
By voting to remove Lopez, the school board would then decide if they would hold a special election to the open seat or simply appoint someone new, having 60 days to decide.
Hugo Rios is a Voice of OC reporting fellow. Contact him at hugo.toni.rios@gmail.com or on Twitter @hugoriosss.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
