Dublin USD June 4 Special Election: Background, Polling Places

DUBLIN, CA — Dublin Unified School District, Area 4, voters are days away from a final opportunity to select their new trustee. Tuesday's Dublin USD, Area 4, Special Election has just two candidates on the ballot for the trustee seat: Gabrielle Blackman and Niranjana "Nini" Natarajan. The post opened after Natarajan, who was appointed to the trustee seat in December, was ousted February 1.

Natarajan's fall came quickly after her appointment: Community members had a 30-day window to challenge the DUSD board's December decision to appoint her. A petition to nullify that appointment was submitted to the Alameda County Registrar of voters on January 2, and the registrar determined the petition contained the required number of valid signatures.

To challenge the appointment, signatures from 1.5 percent of the registered voters were required. Since the appointment was for Trustee Area 4, which has approximately 5,000 registered voters, at least 75 valid signatures were needed for the petition. The registrar determined the petition had 126 valid signatures.

A petition organizer told the East Bay Times earlier this year that the organizers didn’t have anything specifically against Natarajan but just wanted the voters to choose their trustee.

Blackman, who is Natarajan's sole challenger on the June 4 ballot, unsuccessfully ran for the school board in 2016.

The upcoming special election comes on the heels of district turmoil. DUSD superintendent Dr. Leslie Boozer abruptly stepped down from her post in March. Longtime school board member Dan Cunningham also resigned just weeks before Boozer's last day on March 26. Dr. Dave Marken took over as DUSD's interim superintendent on April 15.

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF POLLING PLACES FOR THE JUNE 4 SPECIAL ELECTION.

Read the full East Bay Times report here.