Schools
Embattled PVUSD Trustee Is Now Subject Of Recall Campaign
Georgia Acosta faced mounting calls to resign after apparently trying to oust Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez without board approval.
WATSONVILLE, CA — A recall campaign targeting Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Georgia Acosta is in the works.
The campaign comes three months after she spearheaded the effort to oust Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez, who was swiftly reinstated to her post following public outcry about a lack of transparency in the decision. Acosta was removed from her role as board president, and hundreds signed a petition calling on her to step down or face recall.
Patch reached out to Acosta for comment.
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The Committee to Recall Georgia Acosta must first collect 20 signatures to provide Acosta with a notice of the intent to recall her, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. Acosta will have a week to respond before the recall campaign can begin the task of collecting 595 signatures from voters in her district over the course of 90 days, the paper reported.
"It's time to restore trust," the campaign posted on its Instagram page.
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Acosta was censured by her colleagues in a 4-1 vote last month, with Trustee Oscar Soto dissenting and Trustee Daniel Dodge Jr. abstaining. Soto and Dodge were among those who voted with Acosta to dismiss Rodriguez.
The resolution to censure Acosta condemned her failure to participate in board committees and attend district-funded mandated training on the state's open meetings law, which were held in response to an accusation that Acosta violated the law. Her colleagues decried her 26 absences, which totaled more than a year's worth of meetings, and noted that she continued to receive a stipend and full benefits for her family despite her poor attendance record.
Some have expressed support for the embattled trustee's move to dismiss Rodriguez, but Acosta has faced widespread public condemnation for her actions. Monterey County Supervisor Luis A. Alejo, who serves the Salinas area, is among those who have called for her resignation.
"Georgia Acosta's record is one of the worst I've seen in all my years in politics by any elected official," Alejo said last month. "I would also urge her to stop embarrassing herself and resign now."
The school board previously decided that the district will not be held liable for $16,000 in legal fees Acosta racked up without board approval. She approached Berkeley law firm Dannis Woliver Kelley for help facilitating the superintendent's dismissal.
Acosta broke the rules in her attempt to stop public comment on Rodriguez's removal at a special board meeting held to choose her replacement, Trustee Kimberly De Serpa said at a meeting last month.
She did not tell her colleagues that she planned to try and oust Rodriguez, but did seek advice from and share confidential information about her plans with a resident and former district employee, according to the resolution to censure Acosta.
As a PVUSD trustee, Acosta helps set policies that affect the education and care of some 20,000 students in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
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