SMBUSD Board Trustee Target of Possible Recall | News

By Keith Carls - email

SANTA MARIA - Organizers of a possible recall campaign against Will Smith say his alleged belligerent and combative style and personality toward fellow school board trustees and the public has made it virtually impossible for the Santa Maria Bonita Unified School District to conduct business in a timely and efficient manner. 

Organizers held an informational meeting at the Santa Maria Public Library for parents and residents about the possible recall. 

"We as a community are fed up with his inability to be a constructive member of our school board", says school district parent on meeting organizer Glenn Goldin. 

Those who showed up for the meeting were asked to sign in as they entered the room and then were given informational flyers on why organizers feel Smith needs to be recalled. 

"We feel that among other things he's got a hidden agenda which is isn't benefiting our students", Goldin says, "ultimately we as parents and those that adamantly support our school district really feel strongly that he's just not the right man for the job."

Trustee Smith had supporters of his own among those in the standing room only crowd. 

"One thing that's consistent with the Santa Maria Bonita School District, its always everybody else's fault, always", says parent and local activist Ernest Armenta, "I've come here to support Mr. Smith, I voted for him, he won fair and square and if there is going to be any kind of recall, let's put the whole board on recall." 

In a recent interview with Central Coast News, Will Smith acknowledged he's become a focal point of criticism for his work on the school board. 

"When I look in that crowd, knowing a lot of the individuals, there's a lot of special interests people in the middle of that crowd", Smith said, "As I tell them at the board meetings, I don't care if they jeer, I was elected by all of the people to represent everyone and I'm going to speak the truth to what is going on and if they don't like it I just have to respectfully agree to disagree with them and keep on pushing for the right things." 

Organizers of tonight's informational meeting say if they move forward with a recall campaign against Smith, they will need at least 10,000 signatures of registered voters in the school district boundary to qualify the recall for the ballot, a number they say is achievable.