Three candidates have filed to run for two seats that will be vacated by termed-out board members on the Redondo Beach Unified School District Board of Education, while incumbents for two City Council seats, city clerk, and city treasurer are running unopposed in the upcoming March 8 election. The filing deadline was Dec. 10.
Candidates running for the seats of two-term school board members Carl Clark and Arlene Staich include longtime PTA activists Anita Avrick and Laura Emdee and Clark’s wife, Arda Clark.
In her candidate’s statement, Avrick lists her occupation as community volunteer and cites business and law degrees and 25 years experience in contract negotiations and budgetary oversight as vital experience to serve as a school board member. She also notes that she has spent 18 years involved with the local PTA. She served as president of Beryl Heights Elementary, Adams Middle School, Redondo Union High School, and Redondo Beach Council PTA.
“I care so deeply about Redondo Beach, I want to use my skills and experience to give back to our community,” Avrick wrote in her statement.
Emdee likewise cites 18 years of involvement with Redondo schools, youth soccer, and Boy Scouts. She has held various PTA leadership positions and currently serves as PTA mentor, mediating disputes in Redondo and throughout L.A. County, according to her candidate statement. Emdee has a master’s degree in Business Administration and has run her own marketing firm for the last 15 years.
“Our school district is a cornerstone to our quality of life and I am passionate about the success of our children,” Emdee wrote in her statement.
Clark is a real estate agent and writer who has been involved in the school district for 30 years, according to her candidate’s statement. She has a B.A. and a master’s degree in English and comes from a long line of educators, including a great-grandfather and a sister who served as college professors, her grandmother, who was a teacher and a writer, and her father, who was a teacher and school board member.
“I believe, with all my heart, in public education,” she wrote in her statement. “Well-educated children grow into informed citizens who contribute to an enduring democracy.”
City Councilmen Pat Aust and Matt Kilroy will serve second terms, as will City Clerk Eleanor Manzano. City Treasurer Ernie O’Dell will serve his fifth four-year term. ER
