Veteran school board member to attempt another run
Eleven would-be candidates have begun process of running for school, park board, city council
A total of 11 candidates have begun the process of running for open seats on the Hesperia City Council, Hesperia Unified School District school board or the Hesperia Recreation and Park District board.
School board
Eric Swanson served five years on the school board (the election date was changed during his term to line up with other elections held in Hesperia) before coming in fourth in 2006 a race where only the top three finishers would win a seat on the school board. Friday, Swanson picked up the papers from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters to begin the process of seeking a seat alongside the three who unseated him -- Robert Kirk, Hardy Black and Lee Rogers.
Hesperians Bruce Henson and Frank Rich also picked up papers to run for the school board. No further information about either man was available at press time.
They join Anthony Riley, who works for the San Bernardino County economic development department, as likely candidates for the available two seats. Incumbents Bruce Minton and Helen Rogers are not expected to run for reelection.
City council
Four men and one woman have also started the process for running for seats on the Hesperia City Council.
Planning Commissioner Paul Bosacki picked up papers to run for city council on Monday. Bosacki ran for city council in 2006, coming in fifth.
Rochelle Garner, who begun her campaign for the Hesperia City Council earlier this year on social networking Web site MySpace, picked up her papers on Tuesday.
They join the three men who picked up papers last week: Mayor Mike Leonard is seeking a second term. Former Hesperia planning commissioner Russ Blewett, who currently serves as the county planning commissioner for the 1st District, is also seeking a return to public life: He was formerly the mayor of Baldwin Park. Mark Kirk, the son of school board president Robert Kirk, also works for the County of San Bernardino, as the chief of staff of Supervisor Gary Ovitt. Incumbent councilman Tad Honeycutt has said he will not run for a third term.
Park board
Incumbents Bob Chandler and Jack Hamilton are the only people as of Friday afternoon currently looking for the two seats available on the Hesperia Recreation and Park Board.
Would-be city candidates must have their completed paperwork returned to the office of the Hesperia City Clerk (for city council candidates) or the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters (for school or park board candidates) by August 8 at 5 p.m. The deadline is extended until August 13 if one or more incumbents on a governing body choose not to run for re-election.
For more information about the city council candidacy process, call 947-1027. For more information about the school or park board candidacy process, call (800) 881-8683.
Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.
