PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 835
The
BOXHOLDER
THE RANCHO SANTA FE NEWS
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VOL. 13, N0. 3
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
FEB. 3, 2017
SDUHSD splits in superintendent vote By Aaron Burgin
In good company
Three-time Farmers Insurance Open winner Phil Mickelson finishes the tournament tied for 14th at Torrey Pines Golf Course, which came to a close on Sunday. At the end of it, 22-year-old Jon Rahm won the tournament. Mickelson was just one of a number of players with ties to Rancho Santa Fe to compete in the event, which included Pat Perez and Jamie Lovemark. See story about Lovemark on page 18. Photo by Bill Reilly
Pictured left to right: Rita J. Szczotka, Susanne Rohrbaugh, Wendy Walker, Dr. Sean Daneshmand, Marjan Daneshmand, Tamara LaFarga-Joseph and Miriam Smotrich ready for another “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” event this year. Courtesy photo
Miracle Circle gears up for Breakfast at Tiffany’s By Christina Macone-Greene
RANCHO SANTA FE — Miracle Babies is spreading the word about its auxiliary’s third year anniversary. In celebration of Miracle Circle’s milestone, it is once again hosting “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” at La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla this year. The Keynote speaker for the Feb. 22 luncheon event is holocaust survivor Edith Eva Eger, Ph.D. Headquartered in San Diego County, Miracle Babies was founded by Rancho Santa Fe residents Marjan Daneshmand and her husband, Dr. Sean Daneshmand. The nonprofit’s mission is to help families facing a fi-
nancial strain whose newborns are in the neonatal intensive care unit with monetary assistance. Additionally, its mission also branches out to supportive services for families by way of education and research. “We are so excited to kick off 2017 with our ‘oh so fun’ Breakfast at Tiffany. This year we are blessed with our keynote speaker, Dr. Edith Eva Eger,” said Rita J. Garcia-Szczotka, development director and Miracle Circle president. “We will be adding a few extra fun things to jazz it up a bit this year. Brandon Noel will be spinning records with a saxophonist, a fabulous ‘jewelry pull’ by Kendra
Scott, custom cookies by the winner of ‘Cake Wars’ at each place-setting and the decor will be so Tiffany’s.” Garcia-Szczotka described Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s history as an amazing one. “Dr. Eger will touch each soul in the audience with her humanistic approach to life, business, and relationships which will conjugate with her topic on love. Her book, due to be released in September, ‘The Choice — Escaping The Past and Embracing the Possible,’ will no doubt be a bestseller and will be translated into many lanTURN TO MIRACLE ON 14
REGION — The San Dieguito Union High School District has a new superintendent, but the board vote was far from unanimous. The board voted 3-2 to remove the interim tag from Eric Dill’s title. Dill, the associate superintendent of business services, had been serving as acting superintendent since July 1, 2016, when former superintendent Rick Schmitt left to take the top job at the San Ramon Valley Unified School District in Northern California. John Salazar and Maureen “Mo” Muir voted against his hiring, criticizing the decision in a joint letter sent to The Coast News and other media outlets. “We vote no because we believe approval of him is premature,” Salazar and Muir wrote. “We were given the choice of one candidate for the most important job in our district. The other three trustee’s refused to consider anyone else.” Board president Amy Herman, who voted in favor of Dill’s contract, said that Salazar and Muir’s assertion was not true. The school board conducted an initial search for a permanent replacement last fall, but put the search on hold after an unsuccessful first round of interviews. According to a previous news release, Dill did not apply for the permanent position during the first round, but district officials met with him in closed session shortly before winter break and ultimately decided to offer him the job. Herman said that the board had unanimously voted in closed session to proceed with hiring Dill, and it wasn’t until the day of the vote that Muir and Salazar expressed any reservations about the picks. “We were able to ask Eric any question we wanted and we all did, the interview process was very thorough, and there were no objections raised,” Herman said. “That is what makes this very surprising and disappointing.” The school board conducted an initial search for a permanent replacement last fall, but put the search on hold after an unsuccessful first round of interviews. According to a previous news release, Dill did not apply for the permanent position during the first round, but district officials met with him in closed session shortly before winter break and ultimately decided to offer him the job. The minority board members said that search firms told them that better
Eric Dill is named superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District after the school board voted 3-2 to remove the interim tag from his title. Courtesy photo
We were able to ask Eric any question we wanted and we all did...” Amy Herman President, SDUHSD Board
candidates would emerge at the beginning of the calendar year. “We believe we have a responsibility to our students, parents, faculty, and taxpayers to at least explore, during this optimal time, what other candidates may be available,” their letter read. “While Mr. Dill may be the best candidate, we don’t know that he is the best one for this district because he is the only person that was considered.” Salazar and Muir were also critical of Dill’s advocacy for lease-leaseback arrangements — several of which were recently rescinded at the same board meeting where Dill’s contract was approved — as well as for the 12.5 percent raise given to district employees last year, which they said raised the district’s budget obligations by $15 million and is contributing to a reported $10 million budget deficit. Dill has been with the school district — which serves students at five middle schools and four high schools in Encinitas, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe — since 2001. He was promoted to his current role in 2010 after serving as the executive director of business services and the director of risk management.