Judge Richard E. Gordon of the Arizona Superior Court issued a ruling on Friday invalidating the candidacy of Dr. Cassandra Bolden for T.U.S.D. governing board, due to less than the required number of valid signatures (400).

Three petitions were filed in Arizona Superior Court on August 17 and 18 challenging the validity of some of the signatures submitted by candidates Dr. Bolden (who works at the Tucson Urban League) and also by Michael Hicks (who works for the City of Tucson’s Transportation Dept.)

Since Bolden only submitted 398 signatures (less than the minimum required),when 29 of the signatures were found invalid, her candidacy was no longer viable, and her name will not be on the November ballot.

Hicks’ petition challenge was ruled valid by Judge Gordon. Hicks issued a press release about the petition challenge on August 26 (click here.) Although 65 signatures on his petition were found invalid, he had 420 valid ones, over the minimum required.

Two separate petitions were filed against Dr. Bolden by Ralph Lim, and Jan Allard. The petition against Michael Hicks was filed by Ruben Carlos Romero. Bolden submitted 398 signatures and Hicks submitted 485 signatures by the deadline of August 4, in order to qualify to run for one of 2 seats open on the the T.U.S.D. Governing Board.

According to the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office August 18 was the deadline to file petition challenges to these governing board candidates’ signatures. The filing fee for such petitions in Superior Court is $236. The Judge assigned to these petitions has 10 days from the filing date to schedule a hearing and to determine the validity of the challenges. Hearings on these petitions were held on August 25 and 26. Bolden did concede that she did not have enough valid signatures in court.

See my earlier blog (with photos) announcing the 5 candidates seeking two seats up for election this November. (click here)

The other candidates are Ward 3 Council aide Miguel Ortega, attorney Armand Salese, and incumbent Governing Board member Adelita Grijalva, who has served since 2003. There were no petition challenges filed against these 3 candidates.

Questions about these petition challenges can be directed to Ricky Hernandez (Chief Financial Officer) at 520-740-8451, Pima County School Superintendent’s Office.