Nov. 5 is a big day for local elections in Santa Clarita Valley.
These odd-year elections will include ballots for Saugus, Sulphur Springs and Newhall School District board members, as well as Newhall County Water District board members.
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Candidates from each district emphasize to community members the importance to vote on Tuesday’s elections.
Candidates from Saugus, Sulphur Springs and Newhall School Districts and Newhall County Water District met at SCVTV studios in October for a live question-and-answer session, with questions provided by a panel of local journalists.
To watch the candidate forums, click the links below:
Saugus Union School District Candidate Forum
Sulphur Springs School District Candidate Forum
Newhall School District Candidate Forum
Newhall County Water District Candidate Forum
Saugus Union School District incumbents include Doug Bryce, Paul De La Cerda and Judy Umeck, who are challenged by Stacie Allegra and Chris Trunkey.
Among the issues discussed by the candidates at the forum was the removal of Stephen Winkler from the school board.
Trunkey questioned the current board members’ actions in handling Winkler’s removal, but the incumbents believed they did all that could be done.
Although Umeck admitted the current members “should have sought out district attorney information,” she concluded that the school board did what was “the most correct thing to do” in the long run.
Sulphur Springs School District incumbents Kerry Clegg, Michael Hogan and Lori MacDonald face a single challenger, Ken Chase.
Chase discussed how he thinks the board members’ planning should be “more proactive versus reactive” in regards to the state budget.
Newhall School District ballot will include incumbents Phil Ellis, Christy Smith and Brian Walters, and challenger Sandra Bull.
At the forum, the candidates mentioned the district’s high API scores, despite having a number of free lunch students.
“The way we continue to push that paradigm is through innovation and collaboration,” incumbent Christy Smith said. “Collaboration is a very important part of everything that we do.”
The candidates also discussed charter schools, but the incumbents and challenger all agreed that there isn’t a need for charter schools in the Newhall School District.
Newhall County Water District candidates include returners B.J. Atkins, Maria Gutzeit and Kathy Colley. The challenger for this election is Carl Puckett.
Candidates cleared up the topic of a water odor due to chloride.
They also discussed how Castaic Lake Water Agency board members were suspected of purchasing water out of their boundaries.
There will not be elections for the remaining three school districts in Santa Clarita Valley due to the lack of challengers each school board faces.
To find the nearest polling place, visit the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk website.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.
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