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GISD Recall Succeeds: 4 New Board Members.
 Voter turnout was not heavy but it was sufficient to oust Gadsten Independent School District Board of Trustees. Voters recently went to the polls in 4 districts to vote on whether or not to recall four board members. The path followed for the resolution of problems at the Gadsten Independent School District has been quite lengthy and heated.
GISD has gone through extreme turmoil since May of 2005 when the Board voted to place Superintendent Ron Haugen on administrative leave. He was later officially fired.
Board members would not disclose the reason for placing Haugen on administrative leave. Official statements from the District indicated that it was a personnel matter.
At that time a recall effort began because many residents believed that Haugen has been a great superintendent. According to some residents there was the belief that the district was not being run with the best interests of the children in mind.
The recall effort gained support and petitions sufficient to initiate a recall were signed and turned into the officials of the district.
Up for recall were four board members: Luz Vargas-Troncoso (District 1), Gregg Martinez (District 2), Fred Garza (District 4) and James “Dino” Anastasia (District 5)
One of the problems throughout the recall process was the fact that the board members fought the recall effort in court. One recall supporter complained that the board was using their children's money to pay for their legal battle. “We don’t like it when they use the district’s money to fight the recall”.
The District Court and later the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the recall and the recall vote was held on November 15, 2005.
All four of the targeted board members were recalled with moderate to high voter turnout. The margin of defeat was a landslide ranging from 71% to over 80% in favor of the recall according to unofficial records.
Because of the number of board member seats needing to be filled, state officials installed the new board members.
The new board members are: Charlie Gonnbel, Elsa Porras, David Castillo and Jennifer Viramontes. Calls to the new board members and to Interim Superintendent Agueda Mora were not able to be reached.
The fate of Ron Haugen is still uncertain. It is possible that he will be reinstated.
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Editor, Upper Valley Beacon
(Photos: Brax - Valley Publishing Company)
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