Glendora Unified School Board Election: Meet the Candidates

In the midst of a budget crisis and funds to K-12 education in constant uncertainty, the race for seats on local school boards is heating up.

Four candidates are vying for two seats on the Glendora Unified School District school board. This Nov. 8 School Board Election, voters will choose between two longtime incumbents –Doug Ferrell and Doris Blum – and two newcomers – Cory Ellenson and Irene Miller.

Glendora Patch sent questionnaires to each of the four candidates covering their experience and current views on education. The following summaries are based on their answers. The order of candidates listed is based on alphabetical order of the candidates’ last names.

Doris Blum

In 1969, Doris Blum moved to Glendora with her husband and two young children specifically to attend Glendora schools. Blum began her involvement with the school district with Cullen Elementary School’s PTA and served as officer or chair for Goddard Middle School and Glendora High School. Blum, 78, currently serves on the boards of three PTA’s. She supported the passage of both Measure G Bonds and for more than 15 years she has been a representative on the Board of Directors of the East San Gabriel Valley ROP. Blum says she is running for school board to maintain continuity in the leadership established at Glendora Unified. She believes the most important issues facing the school district are strategic allocation of scarce resources, providing classrooms with state of the art technology and continue oversight of ever-shrinking revenues.

“In this very uncertain time for our California schools I believe that experience and stability are needed to best serve our community,” said Blum. “The current board provides proven leadership and my re-election will help to preserve the unity of purpose that is so vital in continuing Glendora’s pursuit of excellence.”

Cory Ellenson

Cory Ellenson, 25, is a lifelong resident of Glendora, whose family has lived in the city since 1957. Ellenson attended Sellers, Goddard and Glendora High School before attending and graduating from USC and receiving his law degree from UCLA School of Law. Ellenson was a guest teacher at Glendora High School last year where he taught 12th grade government students the fundamentals of constitutional law, civil law and criminal law. Ellenson says he is running for the school board because he believes the district needs a board member with “a fresh perspective and new ideas.”

Ellenson said he would address four issues as a school board member: “Better preparing our students for life after high-school beginning at the elementary level,  re-incorporating trade and vocational programs,  striking a balance between supplementing low enrollment with non-Glendora students and remaining loyal representatives of the taxpaying residents of Glendora, and working more closely with teachers.”

“We need to elect people with the skills to help our district adapt to the changing economic climate we face today. Our district needs to be pro-active in making structural adjustments to ensure our long-term fiscal security,” said Ellenson. “I have experience auditing budgets and investigating how taxpayer money was spent. As a law-school graduate, I can read and understand complex pieces of legislation and advise our district on how to exercise our fullest amount of discretion within the bounds of the law.”

Doug Ferrell

Doug Ferrell, 57, has lived in Glendora for 50 years. Having gone to Glendora schools as a child and graduating from Glendora High School, Ferrell returned to Glendora with his wife after graduating from BYU and serving a two-year LDS mission in Ecuador. He and wife raised their four children in Glendora, each of whom attended Glendora Unified schools. Ferrell and his wife were members of the PTA and volunteered with the GATE program and the Swim Boosters at GHS.

Ferrell says he is running for the School Board because of his experience and his commitment to make positive contributions to the board. Having been on the board through various advancements including Pre-School, AVID, Teen Summits, College Nights, Block Scheduling, and a new Water Polo team, Ferrell believes consistency on the board is crucial. Consistency is also key during a budget crisis in Sacramento as the district deals with declining per-pupil funding, and declining enrollment, says Ferrell. Ferrell credits District of Choice for saving the district from devastating drops in enrollment.

“[Mrs. Blum and I] are the experienced and best team to continue leading the district for the next four years. Our challenger says he has fresh ideas and he is basically me twelve years ago. Twelve years ago I was 45, had four kids in the district, owned a home and two businesses in Glendora and ran against a great woman who admitted she really didn’t want to run again,” said Ferrell.  “We are running a modest, mostly self-funded campaign against a well-coached machine, including fundraising dinners with partisan political headliners. We are honest, vested, Glendora people who will represent only the best interest of our employees, parents, and above all, the kids.”

Irene Miller

Irene Miller, 41, has lived in the Glendora area since 1999. She volunteered with Oak Knoll in Charter Oak and served in the parent advisory committee for four years. She says she is running for school board to bring financial accountability and transparency to the board. Miller believes the district must be proactive when dealing with the fiscal uncertainties of the state and “not wait until we are facing a financial crisis to balance our spending with our revenue.”

As a CFO and business owner, Miller believes her experience in making difficult financial decisions, as well as her accounting and auditing background gives her the ability to find “waste and duplication in the system.”

“If we would plan ahead and not overspend, but create a reserve fund for the ups and downs, we will have the money in the down times,” said Miller. “This of course would mean spending on the needs of the schools and not the wants.”

* Editor's Note: In a previous article which stated that Ellenson worked "as" a tax attorney, Ellenson clarified this statement by stating he was not a licensed tax attorney, but performed the duties of one during his internships and externships with the California Attorney General in 2009, the United States Senate in 2010 and the United States Department of the Treasury in the summer of 2010.

"I did not state that I 'was' a tax attorney because I was not," said Ellenson. "I did the work of a tax attorney: advising clients, drafting briefs and motions, and writing legal opinions."