Boylan elected but won’t serve

Despite withdrawing from Tuesday’s election to the board of the Mother Lode Unified School District (MLUSD), Dr. Richard Boylan was picked by voters anyway, receiving 25.81 percent of the vote.

Boylan ended up second in the vote tally despite his announcement on Oct. 22 that he was leaving the race for personal reasons.

Both full and short-term positions were up for grabs on the MLUSD board of trustees. Boylan was running for a full term.

Bill Schultz, Recorder-Clerk/Registrar of Voters, said he had met with Boylan on Tuesday and they discussed his options. Schultz said he advised him to contact either his lawyer or counsel for the school district. “Whatever he does, they (the board) will have a chance to either appoint someone or hold a special election. It’s up to them,” said Schultz.

After talking it over with election officials, Boylan said he decided the best way to handle the situation is “to attend the meeting where officials are sworn in, honor those who voted for me, and then resign and have the board declare the seat vacant so they can either fill it through an election or appointment.”

Boylan said he hopes the next highest vote getter, which is Gene Bist Sr., gets the job but that is up to the board of trustees.

“There is no shortage of candidates for the job,” he said.

John Parker, who is President of the MLUSD board of trustees, said new board members will be sworn in at their December meeting. “Once we know his intentions, the board can decide whether to hold a special election or appoint someone,” he said.

Five candidates ran for full term board positions with John Nordquist garnering the most votes.

Asked why voters chose him despite his withdrawing from the race, Boylan said he had run a strong campaign up to that point and is very active in the community.

Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or dhodson@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter.