(April 24, 2008) -- After calling him unfit to decide how LB schoolchildren are educated, the LB Area Chamber of Commerce's Political Action Committee today (April 24) dropped its effort to recall School Board Member Michael Ellis, one of two boardmembers elected in 2006 with the backing of the Teachers Ass'n of LB (TALB).

The development comes a little over two weeks after the reelection of two School Board incumbents (Dr. Felton Williams & Jon Meyer), precluding the possibility of TALB-backed candidates gaining a majority.

If either of two TALB-backed candidates, Rosa Diaz or Paul Crost, had prevailed recalling Ellis could have prevented a TALB-backed majority on the three-member board.

On December 4, 2007 LBUSD's Board of Education voted 3-2 (Barton, Ellis dissenting) to approve a non-binding resolution calling on Boardmember Ellis to resign.

At that meeting, LB Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Randy Gordon (photo right) was the first speaker at the public podium, calling him the worst Boardmember in LBUSD history.

Screen save: LBUSD TV/24 (Charter cable)

Chamber Board President Gordon said that if Boardmember Ellis didn't step down, the Chamber would immediately begin working to recall him.

Screen save: LBUSD TV/24 (Charter cable)

Boardmember Ellis read a statement expressing embarrassment for conduct in his personal life. He he's since taken steps to ensure it will not recur, defended his record as a Boardmember...and said he intends to complete his Schoolboard term.

By the end of the evening, Boardmember Ellis was served with a Notice of Intention to Recall that alleged in part, "Michael Ellis is not fit to decide how our children are educated -- he must either resign or be recalled."

In his written response to the Notice of Recall, Boardmember Ellis stated:

[Text underscored as in text filed with County Registar/Recorder].

The Chamber of Commerce opposed by election from the beginning and is now trying to remove me due to my consistent attack against the "Old-Boy network in the Long Beach school district. Their campaign to remove me seeks to exploit the mistakes of my personal life that have nothing to do with my service as your duly-elected school board member. The Chamber of Commerce wants to take over out schools and narrow the options of our students to simply be "workers" in their factories. I believe every student has better options than the vision of schools put forth by the Chamber of Commerce leader when he said that schools simply are there to train workers.

My tenure as a board of education member has been productive and successful. Because of my efforts to bring accountability to our school district:

1. Working parents and other members of the community are now able to watch school board meetings on TV.

2. Any member of the public can access district financial records on the internet.

As a teacher and board member, I've focused all of my efforts on how the school district can best support students and teachers in the classroom.

Boardmember Ellis was elected in 2006 when then-incumbent LBUSD Board president Dr. Suja Lowenthal first filed papers officially seeking reelection to the School Board, then abruptly entered a special election to fill the 2nd district City Council seat unexpectedly vacated by Dan Baker.

Boardmember Lowenthal announced that she wouldn't campaign for the School Board seat, and Ellis won the seat without a campaign challenger [who might have brought out issues involving Ellis that subsequently surfaced in the media.]

Efforts by LBReport.com to reach the Chamber for comment on its PAC's action were unsuccessful. Chamber VP of Government Affairs Steven Ly referred all recall-related calls to Chamber President/CEO Randy Gordon. A message left at the Chamber's offices during office hours for Mr. Gordon (who we were told was in a meeting) or others offering comment wasn't returned.

The Chamber PAC's decision was reported first on Press-Telegram.com and a website co-owned by Shaun Lumachi, the Chamber's Government Affairs Advisor, posted a written Chamber statement [not provided to LBReport.com, which has been editorially critical of now-ended City Hall funding for Chamber fundraising events.].

In the weeks preceding the election, the PT and Lumachi website both published repeated stories, editorials and op-eds focusing on Ellis' drunk-driving and other vehicle related offenses, failure to timely file disclosure documents and absences at multiple board meetings.

TALB is currently operating under a trusteeship, under the auspices of the CA Teachers Association (CTA), since fall 2007 following months of roiling controversies and internal dissention by TALB boardmembers.

The two outlets treated the internal dissention within TALB as front page news, including issues involving TALB Executive Director Scott McVarish. Mr. McVarish charted TALB's politically-confrontational course that aggressively sought to win a majority of School Board seats in 2006, ultimately winning two.

Mr. McVarish exited in mid-February 2008 shortly before part of an internal audit commissioned by CTA was selectively leaked. The audit found no criminal wrongdoing on Mr. McVarish's part, but did find other failings in TALB management.