Paso Robles school board selects a retired pastor as its new trustee
The Paso Robles school board filled its open seat on Tuesday, selecting a retired pastor and church business manager over a Latina paraeducator who has two kids in local schools.
After interviewing 11 candidates in a daylong meeting and narrowing the field down to two, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Education voted 4-2 to name Frank Triggs to replace former trustee Jim Reed.
“I am very challenged and excited to be a part of our children’s future education,” Triggs said. “And I believe I bring some skills to the table that can help give guidance to our school district.”
Triggs has spent several years managing church budgets and staffs — often “taking churches that are in trouble and turning them around,” he told The Tribune.
And he occasionally fills in at the Bakersfield First Assembly church when other pastors need to be away, he added.
Triggs adds to the board’s conservative leaning, a point that multiple members preferred.
A scan of his personal Facebook page shows Triggs has shared posts opposing COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates, questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election and denying climate change science. Some of his posts have been identified by Facebook as containing false or partially untrue information.
School board members selected Triggs after interviewing the candidates in two separate groups, questioning one set in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The board asked 12 questions on topics including recent board decisions, potential school closure, enforcement of masks and a potential vaccine mandate for schools, and district finances.
Eventually, board members focused their decision on two main contenders: Triggs and Adelita Hiteshew, a paraeducator in the district.
Why board chose new trustee
In their debate around the two candidates, board members noted how different the two were.
Triggs is an older white man who does not have children in the district nor has he held a position in the district.
Hiteshew, on the other hand, is a younger Latina and paraeducator substitute in the district with three kids who attend local schools.
Triggs has lived in the Paso Robles area for 13 years, while Hiteshew has been a resident for 26 years, according to their applications for the school board member position.
The district’s student population is 56.1% Latino or Hispanic and 37.9% white.
“I don’t want to make this choice to make the board look more diverse,” said Trustee Lance Gannon during Tuesday’s meeting. “We just need to make a choice on what we feel is the best candidate. And if it turns out to be something different, that’s great. But ... I’m not going to make my choice on making the board look appropriate for 2022.”
Trustee Nathan Williams strongly advocated for Hiteshew’s appointment to the board.
“I think it is imperative in a lot of ways that we recognize the need of what we have here on the board and Adelita does fill a lot of those needs,” he said. “She fills a representation in a different way ... and that’s not just an ethnicity or gender, but both, as well as her involvement in (being a) paraeducator; as a volunteer, whether it’s PTA. Adelita is a strong asset to the Paso Robles school system.”
Trustee Tim Gearhardt agreed, noting that he didn’t think the board entirely needed “another bald white guy.”
Other trustees disagreed, however, noting that they favored Triggs.
Trustee Dorian Baker said she liked that Triggs “has a lifetime of experience that is applicable directly to the kinds of decisions that we have to make.”
Board President Chris Arend largely agreed and noted that it was important to him to have a conservative board member in the seat.
“In this school district here, I still believe that we have a conservative majority,” he said. “And I think that conservative majority should be reflected on the school board, (it is) not a partisan office, but it is political.”
The board eventually voted 4-2 for Triggs, with Williams and Gearhardt dissenting.
Yessenia Echevarria, co-founder of the advocacy group Paso People’s Action, said the board’s decision to appoint Triggs was “hurtful.”
“This district had the opportunity to heal and build trust with the community and they blew it,” Echevarria said.
Echevarria said now that “the community is watching,” Paso People’s Action is working on finding qualified candidates representative of the whole community that will run in the next school board election.
Triggs ran for school board last year
Triggs, who was born in Arizona, ran for a seat on the school board in the 2020 general election but received only about 7.4% of the vote, putting him behind another candidate who applied for Reed’s seat, Jim Cogan.
He previously worked as a minister in churches in Cerritos and Ojai, according to the Paso Robles Daily News, and has recently worked as a business manager for the Bakersfield First Assembly church while living in Paso Robles.
His Facebook page features posts and memes across a range of conservative talking points.
On COVID-19 vaccinations: “The problem with natural immunity is it’s free” and “Viruses come and go. Loss of freedom is forever.”
On corporate racial sensitivity: “Can’t believe we ain’t got world peace after changing the picture on a pancake box & syrup bottle.”
On government response to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement: “Never forget Democrat mayors sent SWAT teams to shut down churches and barbershops, but let looters and Antifa burn down cities.”
On climate change: A post saying Arctic ice is reaching its highest point in 20 years, which was labeled false by Facebook.
On guns: An image of a man holding a rifle is captioned, “I don’t own any assault weapons. All my guns are defense weapons.”
He has also shared several posts by Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative values in schools.
Triggs told The Tribune that the recent anti-LGBTQ incidents at the high school were shameful.
“No one should be demeaned or persecuted because of their lifestyle,” he said. “The actions of those students were inappropriate and unjustified. Opinions are wide and varied regarding sexual preferences, but regardless, the students’ demeaning actions were totally wrong.”
Triggs’ seat on the school board will be up for grabs in the 2022 election.
This story was originally published December 8, 2021 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Paso Robles school board selects a retired pastor as its new trustee."
