After three members of the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education were served with a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition on Dec. 13, the effort is now deemed abandoned for failure to pursue. Board President Noah Margo, Vice President Amanda Stern, and Mary Wells each received a notice from proponents of the recall, who are reportedly advocates for former high school wrestling coach, Ryan Faintich. In November, Faintich was fired by BHUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy after video surveillance footage surfaced that showed him pushing another student on campus. Since then, Faintich supporters have publicly pleaded that his termination be reconsidered. Board members Rachelle Marcus and Judy Manouchehri did not receive a notice.
“We are certain that the proponents made a wise choice to discontinue further efforts on the recall of the school board members,” Stern told the Courier. “We continue to support the wrestlers and the other students who were impacted by the incident of November 2, 2022. Furthermore, we are confident that the action taken by the Superintendent and the administration was appropriate.”
California Elections Code 11006 provides that “proponents begin the recall of an elective officer, including any officer appointed in lieu of election or to fill a vacancy, by the service, filing and publication or posting of a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition.” According to California law, if the voting population is less than 50,000, the number of signatures required for a recall petition is 20%. With roughly 21,000 registered voters in Beverly Hills, proponents were charged with gathering approximately 4,200 valid signatures. Proponents of the recall told the Courier that collecting thousands of signatures “would be very difficult to get.”
The proponents failed to comply with the California Elections Code 11021, which provides, “the original of the notice of intention, along with an affidavit of the time and manner of service, must be filed with the local elections official within seven days of being served.” Nor did they publish a copy of the notice of intention, which is required “at least once in a newspaper of general circulation.”
As of press time, no additional action has been taken regarding Faintich or his employment with the district.
