Paso Robles school board member steps down to take seat on City Council
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District trustee Chris Bausch is giving up his seat after being appointed to serve on the Paso Robles City Council.
Bausch will fill the District 2 council seat vacated by Maria Garcia on Aug. 4, the council decided in a 4-0 vote Wednesday.
Bausch, who served on the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees for more than six years, is running unopposed for the District 2 seat in the upcoming election and will serve in an interim role to start.
“I’m coming at this strict from a practical point of view,” Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin said of appointing Bausch. “It seems to me a matter of convenience since we anticipate Chris will be on the council in three months anyway.”
Three candidates besides Bausch were considered for the interim seat: King City Chief of Police Keith Boyd, Paso Robles Chevrolet partner and general manager Lars Jorgensen, and Rick VanSant, a former director of a global development organization who speaks fluent Spanish.
Councilmember John Hamon made an initial motion to appoint Jorgensen to the interim seat, seconded by Councilmember Steve Gregory.
Councilmembers Fred Strong and Martin cast dissenting votes, citing the practicality of appointing Bausch to the seat three months ahead of the election since he is running unopposed.
Councilmember Strong presented a motion to approve Bausch to the seat, which was unanimously supported by the council.
“Mr. Bausch, congratulations and condolences,” Martin said jokingly after Bausch was sworn in to the interim seat.
Bausch leaves Paso Robles school board
In an interview with the city councilmembers, Bausch he is willing to depart his position on the Paso Robles school board for the interim seat because he accomplished everything he wanted to do by improving the district’s fiscal position.
The council asked Bausch to address the recent controversies surrounding the Paso Robles school board.
Neither the council or Bausch explicitly addressed the discussions by the school board to strip specific protections for LGBTQ students or a resolution to defend gender-specific language.
On Tuesday, the school board voted 4-3, with Bausch voting with the majority, to protect the use of “traditional” gender-specific titles like “ladies and gentlemen” and “Mr. and Mrs.” in Paso Robles schools.
“One of the goals is just to have a good, honest meeting,” Bausch said in reference to Tuesday’s school board meeting. “Last night’s meeting was just chock full of excellent debate. Everybody had a chance to speak. We listened to great public comment.”
Bausch said as an interim city councilmember, he will consult with people such as the mayor and City Manager Ty Lewis to understand a situation if he feels something is wrong.
“If I find something that isn’t right, I won’t back away. I will go through the appropriate channels,” he said. “When something is wrong and we don’t speak up to correct it, I have a problem with that.”
“I don’t have that kind of ax to grind here at the city,” he said. “You guys are extremely transparent, and we appreciate that as voters. That wasn’t the case on the school board.”
Bausch said he believes in fully funding the city’s Police and Fire Departments and said he’d like to make finding affordable housing solutions a priority moving forward.
What will happen to the vacant Paso Robles school board seat?
Bausch’s term on the school board was due to expire in 2024.
The Board of Trustees will vote in an upcoming meeting on whether to appoint a new board member or hold a special election to fill Bausch’s seat.
“Not necessarily at the next meeting, but within 60 days I believe we provisionally appoint or order a special election, which is prohibitively expensive,” Paso Robles Superintendent Curt Dubost wrote in an email. “We are researching all scenarios and hope to have a definitive document by Monday.”
It’s the second vacancy the board will have to fill in less than a year after it appointed retired pastor Frank Triggs to fill Jim Reed’s seat in December.
