The Decay of Political Norms in our Elections

Two years have passed since my five-year term had ended as a Governing Board Member of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. It was an honor, a privilege, and my pleasure to serve our community.

Over the past several years this community has witnessed the decay of political norms especially during school board elections. Norms are defined as a standard, especially of social behavior, that is typical or expected of a group. We don’t fully appreciate the power of norms until they are violated on a regular basis. As a nation, we collectively look no further than the presidential election. Locally, we need to look no further than our current race for school board.

Beverly Hills School Board member Mel Spitz wrote a recent editorial entitled “Spitz’s Board of Education Endorsements” in which he endorsed candidates Mary Wells and Donna Tryfman. Spitz wrote “Donna and Mary will continue an essential dynamic on the board.” Not so coincidentally, current board members Isabel Hacker and Rachelle Marcus have also endorsed both Wells and Tryfman. What Spitz did not tell you in his editorial is that the “essential dynamic” he desires to “continue” is maintaining a voting majority for Marcus, who has two more years left on her term. Marcus is actively campaigning for Wells and Tryfman. Marcus even went as far as writing her own editorial endorsement of Wells and Tryfman.

When sitting board members coax the electorate in favor of their candidates, voters should question their motives. Hacker, Spitz, and Marcus should be reminded that the California School Board Association (CSBA) does not endorse individual candidates for elected office in any local races. They should not either.

Breaching political norms also produces a cascading effect. As one person breaks with tradition and expectation, behavior previously considered inappropriate is not only normalized but also replicated by others. Recently, Beverly Hills PTA Council Presidents, Rose Kaiserman and Lorraine Eastman wrote an editorial that was entitled “PTA Presidents on the BHUSD Board of Education Election.” Both Kaiserman and Eastman signed their editorial by using their official PTA President Council titles. PTA leaders are explicitly prohibited from using their titles when engaging in any political activity.

In their editorial, Kaiserman and Eastman wrote “we have been consistent in being active in school board and city council elections.” It should be pointed out that that both Kaiserman and Eastman are also on the campaign steering committees of Wells and Tryfman. PTA leaders who choose to enter the political arenas in their private (i.e., non-PTA) capacities, are strongly urged to avoid even the appearance that their private activities have, in any way, the endorsement, approval, or support of the PTA.

A Facebook post by Tryfman shows both Kaiserman and Eastman standing behind the candidate, campaigning on school grounds, holding a sign in support of Tryfman. Another campaign Facebook post shows Eastman handing out Wells’ lawn signs during her drive by campaign kickoff. The PTA Presidents then continued to breach political norms by hosting a Zoom campaign function for Wells, even after they had used their official PTA titles in their editorial discussing the current school board election.

The California State PTA sets an even higher standard for PTA leaders. As the official spokespersons of the PTA Council, Kaiserman and Eastman should use extreme judgment when they privately endorse a candidate as their endorsements could negatively affect a future relationship with the school board, should other candidates win a seat.

More disturbing, however, is the overt appearance of coordination between the campaigns of Tryfman and Wells. Both the Wells and Tryfman campaigns share several of the same campaign steering committee members. Identical endorsements or supporters amongst campaigns is common, however when campaigns have the same internal campaign steering committee members, they are violating election norms.

Campaign coordination is worrisome for local politics for numerous reasons. Members of a steering committee oversee the candidate’s campaign strategy, formulate platforms, advocate for a candidate, solicit contributions, determine timetables for events, and design campaign messaging and literature. Steering committees also review donor lists and they lend their names to the campaign. Campaign information, strategy, and data should not be known between candidates, unless they are running as a slate. If so, then the candidates should disclose to the voters they are running as a slate.

In the race for school board, if Wells and Tryfman are not running as a slate, then it certainly appears Tryfman is hitching her wagon to Well’s campaign. In a recent advertisement in a local newspaper they have their campaign ads side-by-side. Campaign coordination is highly questionable at best and demonstrates a candidate’s lack of vision at worst. Voters should give serious consideration to those candidates who are not running as a slate, or on the coat tails of another candidate, but rather running on their own merit.

At last months Los Angeles County Democratic Party (LACDP) endorsement meeting, a troubling revelation came to light. Several Beverly Hills Education Association (BHEA) teachers and California Teachers Association (CTA) members proclaimed that Tryfman had sent them vulgar, malicious, and threatening emails and communications over the course of several years. A pillar of Tryfman’s campaign is “Getting to know the real Donna.” According to those teachers that Tryfman now aspires to oversee, the "real Donna” has “bullied teachers,” “harassed teachers,” and “disclosed personal information about students.” Tryfman, a Los Angeles Public Defender by trade, has defended herself by referring to just one email also signed by other parents. However, those teachers that spoke against Tryfman were referencing numerous other communications that were sent to teachers by Tryfman. The teachers have publicly asked us, the voters of Beverly Hills, to “consider the character of the people we are putting into positions of power.” Based on this new information the LACDP ultimately pulled Tryfman's endorsement recommendation.

As Rep. Adam Schiff recently stated, "Do not wait until after the election to learn who the candidate is, because if you do wait, you will share the burden and responsibility for the chaos that comes.” There are seven candidates in the race for school board, and you have three votes, cast them wisely.