School board appointment renews recall rumblings in west county

The West Sonoma County Union High School Board of Trustees appointed Sebastopol resident Patrick Nagle as a new trustee at a special meeting Wednesday night.

Nagle, who briefly attended Analy High School and works now as a sales manager for Mission Foods in Santa Rosa, was sworn in immediately after three of the four board members voted to appoint him to a spot vacated by another board member in July. His term will run through December 2022.

"I truly believe I can help bring the community back together,“ Nagle said. ”I think I have the ability to listen and work with all kinds of different people.“

Few people came to the in-person meeting Wednesday, but west county residents tuned in through the school district’s YouTube channel, trading opinions on social media. Several residents of the far west county, including Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, expressed discomfort and anger about Nagle’s appointment, citing the fact that all other board members are also from the Sebastopol area and stating Nagle supported the controversial consolidation of Analy and El Molino high schools last year.

“An opportunity for geographic representation was missed tonight,” Hopkins said in a Facebook post. “What’s worse, an opportunity to bring the community together by empowering a rural voice on the Board was missed. The result is a deepening of the hurt and frustration already felt by many rural families.”

The group that tried without success to recall three school board members earlier this year said in a statement it is “looking into the necessary steps to circulate a recall petition to remove Patrick Nagle from his appointed position.”

Nagle said he was “disappointed” to hear talk of recalling him within hours of his appointment.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to prove myself as to whether or not I represent their interests,” he said. “I get that I don’t live there, but that doesn’t mean I won’t advocate for every kid equally and take their concerns seriously.”

Nagle, who spent six years growing up in county-provided housing in Gualala while his father worked for the Sonoma Sheriff’s Office, said he can relate to the perspectives of residents in far west county, despite living in Sebastopol now.

“I understand the west county, I never left the west county other than when I was in the military,” he said.

But representation for the more remote regions of the district, by a current resident, continues to be a sticking point. The school board is in the process of moving from an at-large model to a by-trustee area composition and is working with a demographer to determine boundary lines in the coming months.

Julie Aiello, the only trustee to vote against Nagle’s appointment, raised that concern before the vote.

"I am concerned with equal representation,“ she said. ”Not that anybody couldn’t represent all areas. That’s absolutely possible. However, I think the perception of equal representation is important as well.“

Steve Griffith, a Forestville resident and parent to two El Molino alumni, was the only applicant from a river community to apply for the open seat. William Olzman, a former El Molino and Analy teacher, also applied. He is a Sebastopol resident.

The school board interviewed all three men in a round-robin format, asking the same five questions to each.

Board Vice President Jeanne Fernandes, who nominated Nagle after the interviews concluded, pointed to his experience working with budgets as an important asset.

"I just felt that that was really a huge plus for our district, (that) being ... one of our greatest issues — our budget,“ she said.

Nagle confirmed that while he was a member of the superintendent’s budget committee last year, he came to support the idea of consolidating the two high schools. The consolidation was proposed last year as a potential solution to the district’s projected $1.2 million structural deficit.

“I looked at it saying we might be able to get through the 2021-22 school year without consolidating, but it might do more damage to go that route than if we just went ahead and consolidated,” Nagle said. He wanted to make sure programs such as music and drama were not cut, he said.

That perspective, though, is a breaking point for some residents who still aim to restore El Molino in the future.

Voiding a board appointment requires far fewer signatures than recalling an elected member: Organizers would need to collect 541 signatures in 30 days to remove Nagle and trigger a special election, according to Deva Proto, county clerk and registrar of voters. The cost to the district for that election could range from $90,000 to $162,500.

For now, Nagle and some of his critics plan to meet and talk about things. He said he hopes those conversation will lead to an agreement to work together rather than run to file for recall.

“I’ll answer the questions. I’m not one to evade or talk around it,” he said. “I’m not trying to do anything other than what’s best for the kids.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct the date Nagle’s term on the school board expires. His seat will come up for reelection in November 2022.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.