Tustin School Board District Area 3
In attendance was incumbent Lynn Davis, a representative for Tustin School Board District Area 3 who was first elected in 2018 and is seeking re-election in the upcoming Nov. 8 election.Davis was previously an at-large member of the school district from 2002 to 2018. He has an MBA in finance from Harvard University and is a self-employed business consultant.
“Tustin Unified produces top-level educational results year after year. Our community members benefit tremendously because we do so well,” he said.
Davis touted some of his accomplishments during the forum, including saying he had saved taxpayers’ money by refinancing some of the schools’ bonds—thanks to his background as a CFO.
He also mentioned what he called Tustin’s success in addressing school safety. According to Davis, Tustin Unified was the first in Orange County to hire mental health professionals in 2014 to help children with mental issues and prevent future bad behavior. Since then, he said, the district has expanded such positions to 10 from three.
“We are the leader in Orange County when it comes to school safety,” he said.
He also discussed plans to prepare schools for those who try to get onto campus unauthorized.
“By the end of this month, every employee will have hands-on training on what to do in case of a school intruder,” he said.
Also in attendance was Kelly Felton, who is also running for the seat. Felton is a former USC breast cancer research scientist and current biological sciences professor at several colleges in California, and she has two sons who attend Tustin schools.
“I started attending school board meetings and I noticed that the meetings were not attending to parents’ voices,” she said.
She said she decided to run for the board to be that “parent’s voice.” She said that if elected, she would advocate for stronger math, science, and anti-bullying programs.
Felton said that through the past several months of campaigning and speaking to community members and parents, she has received feedback regarding various issues in the schools such as kids being bullied in bathrooms. She also said parents are concerned about unmanned entry and exit points at schools.
She said that if elected, she would address those concerns by advocating for more anti-bullying education programs and involving parents more. She said she will focus on encouraging parents and teachers to work together.
“I do believe parents are the primary educators of their children. They have parental rights all the way up until they’re 18,” she said.
Tustin Mayor
Rebecca “Beckie” Gomez is seeking to fill the open mayor seat on the Tustin City Council. She was elected to the city council in 2020 and previously served as its mayor pro tem from 2010 to 2018.Gomez said she has been a Tustin resident since 1988, where she and her husband, John, raised their three children.
She said feedback is important to her, and she will often seek it while walking at the park or when shopping at the supermarket.
“It’s really informative to find what people’s concerns are,” she said.
Gomez retired in 2021 from serving as dean of the health science division at Cypress College. She has held various management and consulting positions in hospitals and outpatient clinics and has spent more than a decade coaching youth sports.
She said her experience managing and leading different groups gives her an advantage.
“Tustin needs a mayor in council who has a demonstrated track record of accomplishments in various areas. I hope to represent Tustin with honor and dignity because leadership matters,” Gomez said.
Austin Lumbard, Tustin’s current mayor, was also in attendance and is seeking re-election. He was elected to the city council in 2018 and previously served on the city’s planning commission.
He is a former reserve deputy for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and currently represents Tustin on the Orange County Fire Authority board of directors. He is also an attorney for a construction and engineering company.
Lumbard said during his time as mayor, Tustin has balanced its budget, paid down pension liabilities, and relocated—after some parents protested—the city’s temporary homeless shelter from being near an elementary school to a former U.S. Army Reserve building.
He said he makes it a priority to respond to residents through email and social media and emphasized that their input is important.
“My job is to work as your mayor, to represent you, [and] to come up with the best possible solutions to the issues facing us,” he said.
Lumbard also said that as mayor, he has prioritized transparency and hearing divergent points of view.
“You cannot serve as a mayor of the city and only listen to one side of an issue,” he said.
With five children—three of whom are old enough to attend Tustin Unified schools—Lombard said his family is rooted in the community of Tustin.
Tustin City Council
Ray Schnell, a Fortune 500 executive, entrepreneur, and business adviser, has been a Tustin resident for 10 years and is running for the Tustin City Council District 3 seat, which encompasses the northeast part of the city.As the son of a former Air Force general, Schnell said his father imparted to him traits of faith, family, hard work, and individual responsibility which, he said, he now bestows to his two daughters.
“My call to service, which was passed down after my father, and I’ve passed down to my children, is a reason why I’m doing this,” Schnell said. “I want to serve my neighbors here in Tustin.”
Schnell said one of the key pillars of his campaign is government accountability and transparency.
“I would have an open-door policy,” he said.
In addition, he said public safety is a top priority. Schnell said he is the only candidate running who has the full backing of both local police and fire.
“They know my commitment to public safety is absolute for both fire, police, and school safety,” he said.
Frank Gomez, a former Montebello councilor from 2009 to 2011, mayor from 2011 to 2012, and former Montebello Unified School Board Trustee, is in the running for Tustin City Council District 3.
Gomez is a Harvard-educated chemistry professor at California State University–Los Angeles and a local and statewide leader of science education. He has lived in Tustin for about 10 years.
Gomez said some big issues the city faces are affordable housing, climate action planning, and inflation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a former councilor, he said he helped save Montebello from bankruptcy and being taken over by the state, and that his public service experience makes him a superior candidate.
He also touted his endorsements that come from what he said was a “wide swath of people from all political persuasions.”
Some of his endorsements include Allyson Damikolas, Tustin School Board member; Letitia Clark, Tustin city councilor; and U.S. Rep. Katie Porter.
His final remarks to those attending the forum encouraged voters to choose experienced leaders.
“It’s the bottom of the 9th and you have a choice of playing your best players with MLB experience, or those just brought up from the minors. Whom would you choose?” Gomez said.
The forum was hosted by the Tustin Chamber of Commerce.
