Snell leads Smith in Newport-Mesa school board race

Two incumbents and five newcomers battled Tuesday for three open spots on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board of education.

In one of the more controversial matchups in the election for the seven-member school board, appointed Trustee Vicki Snell led her opposition Steve Smith for Area 1, which represents the Estancia High School zone.

Trustees appointed Snell, a longtime community volunteer, in March to fill the seat vacated by former Trustee David Brooks, who sat on the board for nearly 16 years before retiring.

Snell ran for school board on a platform of student retention, hoping to improve public perception of Costa Mesa’s Adams, California and Victoria elementary schools, as well as TeWinkle Middle and Estancia High schools.

The appointed trustee has close ties to the zone and has focused on urging families to attend their neighborhood schools instead of seeking transfers to other districts, an issue in Newport-Mesa for more than a decade.

Smith, a writer and frequent school board critic, has centered his campaign on being a new voice for the zone — one that provides an alternative to the perceived complacency and “rubber stamping” that he says plagues the current board.

Retired Newport-Mesa principal Charlene Metoyer led in the race to represent Area 2, the Costa Mesa High School zone.

She faced off with former district Trustee Michael Collier, who lost his seat on the board to outgoing Trustee Katrina Foley in the 2010 election.

During his time on the board, Collier, a current Newport-Mesa parent, advocated for the district to create a magnet school focused on the arts. He brought the issue up again during his campaign this season to recapture his former seat.

Metoyer campaigned on improving the perception of schools in the Costa Mesa High School zone, as well as emphasizing college, career and technology education for students.

Walt Davenport, the only incumbent running for reelection, led in the polls against two Newport-Mesa parents, Lisa Manfredi and Fidel Mora, to represent Area 7, which includes several Costa Mesa elementary schools on the Westside.

Preliminary results show that Manfredi was the second-highest vote-getter, with Mora trailing.

Davenport has spent the past eight years on the board. This is the first time his seat has been contested. His now-grown children attended Newport-Mesa schools, and his wife was a teacher at California Elementary.

During his campaign, Mora emphasized his experience in the Latino community that makes up a large portion of the city and said a priority would be improving parent involvement in their children’s education. He was endorsed by the teacher’s union.

Manfredi, a community volunteer and stay-at-home mom, focused her campaign on improving the signature academies that the district plans to implement across each zone.