Thomas Arnett and Pamela Torrisi will vie for the vacant seat
Published in the March 16- 29, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek and Robert Airoldi
Pamela Torrisi
Thomas Arnett
Two candidates stated they will run in the June 7 election race to fill the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees seat left vacant after Trustee Amy Porter Jensen resigned in October.
Pamela Torrisi, a 34-year special education teachers’ aid for the MHUSD as well as a local Service Employees International Union president for 10 years, and Thomas Arnett, a research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation in San Mateo, both filed papers March 10 with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
Torrisi said she has received endorsements so far from community leaders including City Councilmember Larry Carr, former board member Don Moody, former board member Julie Zintsmaster, and the group Citizens For Positive Governance, including members Roger and Janie Knopf. Arnett said he has received no endorsements yet.
Porter Jensen’s term would have ended in December so the winner of the June 7 election is filling an interim seat. The candidate who wins the November election will then fill the seat for a term of four years. Two other seats, now filled by school board president Bob Benevento and board trustee Rick Badillo, will be open in November.
Morgan Hill Life file photo
From left, Morgan Hill Unified School District board members Bob Benevento, Ron Woolf, Gino Borgioli, Rick Badillo, David Gerard and Gino Borgioli listen to speakers at a recent meeting. Residents Thomas Arnett and Pamela Torrisi have filed papers to run for Amy Porter Jensen’s (not pictured) vacant seat.
The June election will be district-wide while, because of a recent change, the November election will be divided into seven trustee areas. Torrisi lives in the same district as Porter Jensen so, if elected in June, she would be the incumbent in the November election. Arnett lives in Trustee Ron Woolf’s district.
Torrisi attended middle school in Morgan Hill and graduated from Live Oak High School. She said one reason she is running is because she sees a fractured board, with factions made up of Board President Bob Benevento and trustees Wolf and Donna Ruebusch versus trustees David Gerard, Rick Badillo and Gino Borgioli.
“I felt it’s important to be involved after going to the board meetings and seeing the discord that is going on. I think I can be a peacemaker,” Torrisi said. “I don’t always vote the party line on things, so I’m hoping I can get on there and bring some reason to it, some calm and some reason, and try to get people working together.”
Arnett grew up in Morgan Hill and graduated from San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School, Britton Middle School and Live Oak High School. He has a child in Charter School of Morgan Hill. He has had a career in education working with a school on the East Coast “implementing some innovative summer school programs.” He’s a researcher who studies how to “create the circumstances where innovation can unfold and be successful for personalizing instruction for students’ individual learning needs.”
He said he was reluctant to share with Morgan Hill Life until the week of March 14-18 (which is after our deadline) his opinion on issues that motivated him to run for the school board. “This is my first time running so I’m trying to figure things out as I go. It was a pretty quick decision to throw my hat in,” he said. “Some of the people that are working with me and helping me said, ‘No, you should spend some time really figuring out exactly where you stand on a bunch of issues before you talk.’ I’m afraid I’m just going to have to say I decline to talk this time around.”
Roger Knopf praised Torrisi as a longtime leader of the school district community, one reason she received the endorsement from Citizens For Positive Governance, he said. She represents the group’s viewpoint of bringing civility to the board, he said. When Knopf and others found out she was starting the process to run, they contacted her, interviewed her and decided she represents the group’s values, he said.
“She’s totally committed to civility and commonly accepted behavioral norms,” he said. “She understands what discussion and collaboration and appropriate decision making are. We’re just thrilled with her.”
Torrisi also received approval for her leadership skills from former co-workers, Knopf said.
“Every teacher who we talked to who had contact with her had the greatest respect for her,” he said. “Her peers elevated her to the position of president of her SEIU union and she was in that position for many years. She attended almost every board meeting during her tenure of president of the union. She understands board governance. She understands the responsibilities of a trustee in the Morgan Hill Unified School District.”
Arnett said he and his wife discussed the idea before making the decision for him to enter the race. At this time, he said he’s not involved with any group.
“I’m an independent candidate. I have spoken with Armando (Benavides, spokesperson for Parents For Positive Change), but I’ve spoken with others in town as well.”
At Arnett’s request, Morgan Hill Life sent an email to the candidate with eight questions asking him to state his positions on various education issues. Arnett answered only one of them: What are your thoughts on the atmosphere of “discord” now pervading the school board and what might you do to change that?
His emailed answer: “Sadly, many people seem to view this race as a struggle between political factions attempting to sway power in their favor. As I’ve reached out to various members of the community to share my interest in running for the board and to hear their thoughts, many have been quick to make assumptions about where they think I stand on divisive issues and then categorize me into a particular camp before taking time to find out my views. This prejudice is incredibly unfortunate because it undermines our democratic process and our ability to find solutions.”
The June 7 election came into play because, at a special board meeting Dec. 8, trustees were unable to come to a consensus on appointing a new member to fill the vacant seat left by Porter Jensen. The six trustees ended the meeting in a 3-3 deadlock between finalists Adam Escoto (favored by trustees Gerard, Borgioli and Badillo) and Mary Ann Groen (favored by trustees Benevento, Ruebusch and Woolf).
Porter Jensen resigned in October after she received “harassing” emails and phone calls from a member of Parents For Positive Change, which was upset by the board’s decision to move sixth graders to middle schools. The group started a recall movement against Benevento, which prompted a series of emails among Trustee Gerard and members of the group making unflattering comments about board members Benevento, Porter Jensen, Ruebusch, Woolf, Superintendent Betando, and MHUSD staff members.
