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Paso Robles school district candidate accused of making racist remark

September 14, 2024

Tim Gearhart

By KAREN VELIE

A candidate for the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District allegedly made a racist remark about his opponent, leading to anger in the community.

Shortly before a candidate forum at the KPRL radio station, candidates Lauren McCoy and Tim Gearhart were chatting in the lobby, in a conversation overheard by others. Gearhart told McCoy he had voted for her and that she was doing a good job, prompting McCoy to ask Gearhart why he was running against her.

Gearhart explained that seven of his racist neighbors asked him to run for office, according to McCoy and a witness to the conversation. McCoy is a black woman.

“It made me feel backwards,” McCoy said. “The whole goal is to move forward and overcome all of these adversities. I feel it is fine to have a preference about who they support, but when it comes down to rudeness and disgust because you do no like someone’s skin color, it is disgusting.”

Gearhart, a 77-year-old former board member who stepped down in 2022, said while it is correct that seven neighbors asked him to run, it was because of issues with traffic around Almond Acres Charter Academy.

“I never used the term racist,” Gearhart said. “I am not running because people do not want to have a black person on the board.”

 


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Get on your mark, get set, go, the race is on! Stay in your lane unless you want to be convinced into the racist slow lane.


-8

70% of the students in this district failed the basic skills state math test, 58% failed the language arts test. Failure this extreme is the result of terrible leadership. The school board, superintendent and administrators. The new superintendent has zero experience as a superintendent but is the highest paid in our county. When the whole organization is being led by a greenhorn what else do taxpayers expect? More failure.


22

Says more about the students and their parents.


9

Taxpayers shell out $1.7 million a year in compensation to the top 8 administrators in this district, none of which are principals. Students are forced to go to school in this state or their parents face criminal prosecution. It is the government who has the obligation to perform here. Otherwise what are we paying them millions of dollars to do? Expensive daycare?


4

Oh Paso. Not again.

And more school related bullshit.


30

In this case, Lauren McCoy is the Republican. And while I am sick of race being noted in everything, in this case you have a 77-year-old man who stepped down after being accused of memory issues, and he now wants back on the board. There are a lot of important fiscal matters on the board and it is important the public is aware of his actions,


40