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Trustee’s motion to move Lodi school election to November fails after legal caution
Summary
Board trustee Al Mastrafilippo moved to shift the district’s school election from April to November, citing low turnout; a staff member warned the current board was a ‘lame duck’ and the roll-call vote failed, 3–5 as recorded in the meeting transcript.
Board trustee Al Mastrafilippo moved on April 29 to change the Lodi School District’s school election from April back to November, saying low turnout in April elections justified the change.
“There's so many reasons why we don't get turnout,” Mastrafilippo said, urging the board to “move the election back to November where the people of Lodi can come out.” He said about 447 voters turned out previously and that turnout this year improved to about 500.
A staff member cautioned the board that the body meeting that night was a “lame duck” following the election and said substantive changes are generally left to the reorganized board because such changes could invite legal challenge. “This is a very substantive item,” the staff member said, urging caution before proceeding.
The motion (moved by Al Mastrafilippo and seconded by Joe Ramos) went to roll call. Recorded votes in the transcript show yes votes from Mastrafilippo and Ramos (and an additional ambiguous affirmative from Bautista’s recorded response), and no votes from Cannizzaro, LaFranco, Thomas, Dr. Sima and Cardone. The motion did not carry.
The episode concluded without any direction to staff to pursue the change; the board returned to other business and adjourned the meeting.
What happened next: the board completed routine business and adjourned. Any further action to change the election date would require a future vote and — based on the caution recorded in the meeting — likely legal review before implementation.
