Sausalito Marin City school district has winner - Marin IJ 12/1/06 by Don Speich

Sausalito Marin City school district has winner
Don Speich
Article Launched:12/01/2006 11:33:58 PM PST

More than three weeks after the election, Mark Trotter was declared Friday the winner of a seat on the Sausalito Marin City School District board, defeating incumbent George Stratigos by 87 votes.
With all absentee ballots counted, Trotter, 53, received 2,023 votes to 1,936 for Stratigos, reported Elaine Ginnold, county registrar of voters.

Trotter held a narrow lead over Stratigos since the Nov. 7 election, ranging from a low of 24 to the final tally as absentee ballots were counted.

All other elections in the county were decided either on Election Day or soon after in what Ginnold said was a record 58 percent absentee vote.

The previous high was 57 percent in June.

Almost 74 percent of Marin's registered voters cast ballots in November, which Ginnold said "was pretty much in the ballpark" for general elections. In the 2004 presidential election, the turnout was 89.5 percent.

Also winning seats on the Sausalito Marin City board were incumbents Shirley Thornton, Whitney Hoyt and newcomer Elizabeth Todd-Gallardo, who defeated incumbent Robert Fisher.

The election was to a large extent a referendum on the efforts of the current board to turn around a 40-year history of academic failure in the 280-student district.


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A majority of students in the district are minorities from Marin City.
Led by Stratigos - who was elected in 1998 as part of a campaign to recall several board members - trustees over the past two years have initiated a reform effort.

Trotter argued during the campaign that what has been done is not good enough and that part of that is due to the board being secretive and out of touch with the communities it serves.

He was critical of the board's decision, prompted by Stratigos, to hire a public relations consultant on a $3,000-a-month retainer.

"It is inappropriate to cut spending on education programs to bring in a PR guy," he said.

Specifically, he said the district has a library but no librarian.

"Not having a librarian, but having a PR person, doesn't make sense to me."

Stratigos, traveling in Greece, was not available for comment.




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Contact Don Speich via e-mail at dspeich@marinij.com