Last week’s media coverage of discussions leading to the firing of Santa Clara County Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan have shifted focus from Dewan to county school board member Grace Mah, who is seeking re-election.
An Oct. 15 Mercury News story pointed to two recent investigations into board conduct, revealing that Mah, of Palo Alto, was not careful about use of her personal email to conduct board business, and was allegedly flippant about following the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law.
“If I don’t go to jail for violating the Brown Act, I don’t care if I break the law,” Mah is reported to have said.
Jessica Speiser of Los Altos, Mah’s opponent for the Area 1 seat in the Nov. 5 election, picked up on Mah’s Brown Act quote.
“The Brown Act was put in place to ease corruption and institute transparency in local governing bodies,” Speiser, on the Los Altos School District board, said in a statement. “I consider it my job to follow the law and lead by example, and I take it very seriously. In contrast, my opponent does not, and, in fact, encourages breaking the law.”
Reached late Monday, Mah told the Town Crier the reported comments “were not verbatim and are also not in context.”
“I absolutely respect the rule of law and especially the Brown Act,” she said. “In board retreat in July, I repeated a statement made by an ethics trainer at a previous Brown Act Training who said that ‘No one has ever gone to jail for violating the Brown Act.’ … I was making the point that there needed to be more enforcement of the Brown Act by quoting this trainer. I am disheartened that my quoting this trainer was reported to be my thoughts on transparency and the Brown Act.”
That wasn’t the only concern, however. The Mercury News quoted investigators claiming Mah was overstepping her bounds in her role as a board member, leading one investigator to remark that “she wanted to be superintendent.”
Mah wondered if the latest revelations were a case of playing politics.
“Perhaps one should question the timing of these inflammatory allegations coming just as voters are receiving their ballots,” Mah said. “In my 17 years. I have never had any allegations against my service to the 260,000 children of Santa Clara County until now – two weeks before my re-election.”
The drama over Mah overshadowed the news that Superintendent Dewan was not getting her old job back soon, if ever.
A county Superior Court judge Oct. 16 denied her lawyers’ request for a temporary restraining order against the board as board members went to appoint a new interim superintendent the same day.
Charles Hinman, a former superintendent in various Southern California school districts, will serve until a permanent replacement is found.
Dewan was terminated without cause by the county board on Oct. 3. Trustees Maimona Afzal Berta, Joseph Di Salvo, Mah and Don Rocha voted in favor of firing Dewan while Victoria Chon and Tara Sreekrishnan dissented. Raeena Lari abstained.
The board has not provided a public statement on why she was fired.
Dewan supporters held two public displays of support outside county Office of Education headquarters, calling the firing unfair and the result of board politics.
Throughout her tenure, Mah has established herself as a strong supporter of charter schools. She was one of three board members who voted for a seven-year unconditional charter renewal for Bullis Charter School. The board, on a 4-3 vote opted Aug. 27 for a five-year, conditional renewal. Bullis officials are challenging the decision.
