October 26, 2004
Campaigning has been a new experience for most of the parents competing for three open seats on the Mesa Unified School District governing board.
Of the five candidates, only David Lane has experience in a contested race.
He ran unsuccessfully in 2002 against two incumbents vying for two open seats.
Election night jitters will even be new for governing board president Cindi Hobbs, who ran unopposed four years ago.
This time around, she has had to post roadside signs and take other steps to increase her name recognition in Mesa.
Her son, Matthew, has helped the campaign by maintaining his mother’s Web site.
Three other candidates — Lynn Burnham, Carmen Guerrero and Richard Crandall — have also posted roadside signs.
Burnham said he decided to take that step after he saw what the other candidates were doing.
All five candidates have children in the district and say they are running because they care about quality schools.
"I have the time, the ability and the desire to serve my community," Guerrero said.
None of the five candidates has complained of dirty politics.
"I consider that there are five pretty good people running for the board," Crandall said. "No one is running on a specific agenda. No one has an ax to grind."
The current governing board includes four residents in the Mountain View area, and Lane said other parts of Mesa need representation.
Tom Rhodes and Suzanne Davis, who are not seeking reelection, both live in the Mountain View area.
"I would like to see a representative on the school board who is from an area of the district that has not been represented in the past," Lane said.
Guerrero and Burnham live in the Westwood High School attendance area, Hobbs lives in the Dobson High School area, Lane lives in the Mesa High School area and Crandall lives in the Mountain View High School area.
