New Dublin School District Trustee Forced To Step Down

DUBLIN, CA — Newly appointed Dublin School District Trustee Niranjana “Nini” Natarajan’s time on the school board came to an abrupt end Friday due to a community petition filed to nullify the appointment. The petition was filed on January 2, 2019, less than a month after Natarajan was appointed to replaced former Trustee Joe Giannini, who resigned from the board in October of 2018. She was one of two who applied for the seat.

The school district said the appointment was for Trustee Area 4, which has approximately 5,000 registered voters, and at least 75 valid signatures were needed for the petition to be sufficient. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters verified the required number of valid signatures.

“While I respect the process and the right of our community to pursue this course of action, we have a successful history of appointing board members in Dublin,” Board President Amy Miller said in a statement. “Regardless of the outcome, this challenge, and the associated special election, will cost the District tens of thousands of dollars that would be better spent on our students.”

The County Superintendent has called for a special election on June 4, 2019, to fill the vacancy.

Dr. Leslie Boozer, Superintendent, Dublin Unified School District expressed, “We thank Ms. Natarajan for her commitment to the community and desire to serve as a Trustee.”

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