A flurry of lawsuits challenging the ballot statements of about half the candidates running for the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Education were filed in Orange County Superior Court on August 16.

San Clemente resident James Eichenbaum has filed a lawsuit challenging the ballot statements of Ken Lopez Maddox, Ellen Addonizio, Anna Bryson and Larry Christensen. Another voter, Jaime Holt, filed a separate lawsuit challenging San Clemente Trustee Mike Winsten’s statement, while Republican activist Greg Powers filed still another suit challenging San Clemente resident John Alpay’s ballot statement.

Winsten is facing a recall; Alpay is running for that office if Winsten does not have voters’ support.

The law says the 200-word statement must stick to a candidate’s qualifications and education and not attack other candidates. Each of the lawsuit parses the statements and debates many of the points, such as whether trustees can raise taxes, have fought to keep class sizes smaller, and in the case of Ken Lopez Maddox and Winsten, what names they can use on the ballot.

The cases will be heard quickly to meet the printing deadline of the ballot pamphlets. The statements can be amended or left alone, based on the judge’s decision. When former Trustees Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke faced a recall, political supporters of the current board filed a similar lawsuit, and those trustees went without ballot statements rather than risk attorney’s costs.

See the lawsuits at the Beyond the Blackboard blog at www.danapointtimes.com