Moseley, Gardner win CUSD By MATT KAPKO Half Moon Bay Review November 3, 2004 Signaling an unceasing support for the Cabrillo Unified School District's plans to build a new middle school at Wavecrest, the status quo appears to be holding firm. In the most hotly contested and divisive campaign on the coast this election season, John Moseley and Charles Gardner came out ahead, eking out more votes than Jonathan Lundell. Moseley got 4,397 votes, Gardner obtained 4,130 and Lundell picked up 3,650. Moseley and Gardner will now join the Cabrillo Unified School District Board of Trustees Dec. 9. "I will take that to the bank," Moseley said amidst a lively crowd at a celebration party in Princeton. "Sometimes in a political campaign it's hard to be in the extreme middle," he said. "I want to build a middle ground that's based on issues important to our community." Gardner was also excited by election results. "I'm coming in with my eyes open," he said. "But, I'm not going to come in and try to change the world, either." He said one of his biggest goals is to "get the middle school behind us" and move forward with other issues. "I'm going to make myself available to the various groups," he said. The campaign pitted interests for and against the proposed Wavecrest Village project. Since 1996, the CUSD board has pursued the construction of a new middle school on the property, although environmental agency concerns have kept it from ever getting off the ground. Most recently, a report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the development would permanently harm two federally protected species and irrevocably degrade animal habitat. "I think we're all frustrated about the stagnation," Moseley said of the Wavecrest delays. All three candidates have ideas about balancing the budget, improving test scores, and reaching out to the community, but the most dominant issue during the campaign has been Wavecrest and the new middle school slated to be built there. Gardner, 48, and Moseley, 49, ran a joint campaign focusing on their support of the Wavecrest development and new middle school, which has been hinged to the development proposal since 1996. They've consistently said their goal is to build a new middle school now, regardless of the constant delays and information that's proven to be inaccurate. Lundell, 55, took a different tack throughout the campaign. He remained the sole voice criticizing the methodology by which the school board made the decision to build at Wavecrest and says the years of delays and false enrollment-growth assumptions have proven that the time has come to review the district's facilities planning. But the campaign went beyond facilities. There are plenty of other issues that will undoubtedly press the minds of school board trustees over the next four years, and the candidates weren't short of ideas on how to take them on. Gardner focused his campaign on the new middle school, saying his experience as a civil engineer and project manager would help expedite the process. He believes that a centralized middle school would help to promote more challenging curriculum and extra-curricular programs for the students. Moseley proposed tapping private financing to better fund schools. He also wants the board to reach out to other governing bodies on the coast to incorporate more expertise and advice into district policies. At his first school board meeting next month, he wants to create subcommittees comprised of various players on the Coastside including city councilmembers, developers, regulatory agencies and members of advisory boards to develop a more inclusive master plan for schools. Lundell has been an outspoken critic of the board for years. He ran a campaign focusing on more open meetings, responsiveness to opposing viewpoints and a review of facilities planning. He wants the board to rethink its path, and at least be willing to research smaller neighborhood schools, which he says would reduce traffic and improve students' academic progress. Moseley also says he wants to change the way things have been decided at school board meetings. "The board will have to be more proactive. I think in the past the superintendent has made the agenda," he said. "We can no longer just come to these meetings and rubber- stamp what the superintendent gives to us," he said. Moseley and Gardner will be sworn in at their first school board meeting Dec. 9. Home