The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce just announced they are ending their efforts to recall LBUSD School Board Member Michael Ellis.

 

The full text of the Chamber’s statement is below:

 

The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s objective regarding the Long Beach Unified School District has been to maintain the highest education standards, the integrity of the district, and support of its great teachers. “It is for this reason we have been a strong proponent of the recall of School Board member Michael Ellis who has consistently shown highly questionable judgment, is the poorest example leadership, and is willing to put the desires of special interests ahead of the school children and the overall well being of the district,” said Dave Neary, Chamber Political Action Committee Chairman. 

 

With the re-election, with strong chamber support, of School Board members Felton Williams and Jon Meyer, it’s clear the School Board has two great education leaders at the helm.  The Chamber will suspend its recall effort with the confidence that the School Board is in good hands and the electorate has spoken on the type of leadership it wants to head the third largest school district in the state: leadership that has resulted in the school district’s unprecedented nomination for the fourth time for the Broad prize for education excellence given to the best urban school districts in the country.  Long Beach won the prize in 2003.

 

During this latest election cycle, The Chamber determined it was imperative that we do everything possible to assist Felton Williams and Jon Meyer with their elections and maintain the majority on the school board. The Chamber’s Political Action Committee directed its efforts to support both of their election campaigns. This all-out effort included numerous direct mail pieces, telephone calls, precinct walking and direct contributions to the campaigns.

 

“The Chamber is very pleased with the results of the school board election and proud we were able to assist in ensuring the School District continues on the path of excellence it is currently on.

 

“The re-election of Felton Williams and Jon Meyer provides the Chamber with time to consider various other options that are less costly and disruptive to the school board than a recall effort. This also allows the majority on the board to maintain its effectiveness in spite of Michael Ellis’ ineptitude,” said Randy Gordon, President and CEO of The Chamber

 

“The Chamber believes that Michael Ellis is unfit to continue to hold office due to his reprehensible behavior,” said Matt Kinley, Chairman, Long Beach Chamber of Commerce.  “However we know that maintaining the majority on the School Board and the integrity of the School District must come first. We realized during the election that if we didn’t put all our focus and attention behind the re-election of the two incumbents, the current majority could very likely be unseated with TALB controlling the school district and the recall of Michael Ellis would all be for not. We will consider all options in the future to ensure our school board members provide the leadership and ethical responsibility that the students and school district deserve.”

 

Disclosure: lbpost.com Publisher Shaun Lumachi is a consultant to the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.