As Election Day Nears, Here’s A Close Up Look at Campaign Finances in Pasadena’s School Board Races

A total of eight candidates are in the running for four Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board of Education seats. 

As November 8 approaches, Pasadena Now takes a look at how much money each candidate has raised. 

DISTRICT 1 

Kimberly Kenne – Incumbent 

Based on the campaign finance reports filed with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk records, incumbent PUSD Board member Kimberly Kenne has the most money among the pool of candidates to spend for her campaign to be reelected.

Interestingly, she has not reported any contributions to her campaign. Instead her campaign filing documents as of Sept. 29 show that she loaned herself $100,000, which is the limit for self loans. 

Kenne spent $6888 on ads, mailings, voter information, contact software and Candidate Statement Fee. 

Kenne has been a Board trustee since 2011 and currently serves as Clerk for the Board. The founding member of the Pasadena Education Network has two grown children who attended PUSD schools through middle school.

Billy Malone 

As of Sept. 29, Billy Malone received contributions totaling $3,934. Malone spent $1215 mainly on flyers, voter information and data. 

In a second campaign finance filing on Oct. 18, Malone reported that he got an additional $2000 in contributions from the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, bringing his contributions to $5,934. 

In a third filing on Oct. 27, Malone reported that he received an additional $475, bringing his total contributions to $6409.  

Malone has been an Altadena Town Councilmember since 2013 and currently serves on the Council’s Land Use Committee. He is on the Board of Directors for the Altadena Chamber of Commerce.

DISTRICT 3

Michelle Richardson Bailey – Incumbent 

District 3 incumbent, Michelle Richardon Bailey raised $15,468, according to her campaign disclosure statement filed on Sept. 29. 

Bailey’s total expenditure amounts to $5000, all of which was spent on campaign consulting services firm, Blue State Consulting. 

Her second filing on Oct. 25 showed that she got $22,475 in contributions. 

Her latest filing on Oct. 27 shows that she got an additional $1000 in contributions, bridging her total contributions to $23,475. 

Richardson-Bailey and her three children are products of PUSD schools. She is a Board member of the California Association of Black School Educators.

Patrick Amsbry

District 3 candidate and Rose Bowl Aquatics Center Board member Patrick Amsbry, who is challenging incumbent Michelle Richardson Bailey received a total of $34,538 in contributions as of Sept. 28. 

Amsbry has spent $6,087 mainly on advertising and political data intelligence. 

DISTRICT 5

In District 5, Patrice Marshall McKenzie and Xilian Stammer are competing for the seat currently occupied by Elizabeth Pomeroy. Pomeroy is not seeking reelection. 

Patrice Marshall McKenzie

As of Sept. 24, Patrice McKenzie received a total of $24,289 in contributions of which she spent $11,410. 

But a string of her latest campaign finance filings show that she received an additional $23,165 from Sept. 25 to Oct. 22. 

This brings her total contributions to $47,454. 

McKenzie graduated from PUSD schools and is employed as the Deputy Chief of Staff for a Los Angeles Unified School District school Board trustee. She was a co-chair of the successful Pasadena Measure O School Bond campaign.

Xilian Stammer

Xilian Stammer, who is running against McKenzie for the District 5 seat, received $10,057 in contributions as of Oct. 22. 

Stammer has spent $8,852 as of Oct. 22, according to her latest campaign filing documents. 

Stammer worked as an administrator in the PUSD as Director of Special Projects for State and Federal Programs. She also recruited teachers from China for the PUSD Mandarin Dual Immersion Language Program. She is a Board member of the Friends of the Pasadena Library Board.

DISTRICT 7

The District 7 seat is currently occupied by Scott Phelps who has decided not to run for reelection. Juan Pablo Alban and Yarma Velázquez are vying to replace him. 

Juan Pablo Alban

As of Sept. 29, Juan Pablo Alban’s contributions totalled $24,945 of which he spent $11,640. 

Alban works in his own law firm and is the Vice Chair of the School Site Council at Blair High School where his son is a student. 

Yarma Velázquez

District 7 candidate Yarma Velázquez’s contributions as of Sept. 24 amount to $26,412. 

Velázquez spent $15,833 at the time of her first filing.  

Her second campaign statement filed on Oct. 27 showed that she got an additional $5,417 during Sept. 25 to Oct. 22, bringing her total contributions to $32,336. 

Velázquez is a professor in the Chicano/a Studies Department at Cal State University Northridge is competing for the seat occupied by Scott Phelps.