Despite lawsuit, Rives to run for Board again
PALMDALE — Former Antelope Valley Healthcare District Director Michael Rives pulled nomination papers to run for a seat on the five-member Board from which he was ousted, three months ago, following a lengthy lawsuit.
He was elected to the AV Healthcare District Board in November 2020. He was also elected to the Antelope Valley Community College District Board of Trustees in the same election. The City of Lancaster successfully sued Rives after he declined to resign due to incompatibility with the offices and the potential for conflicts.
Rives served, from December 2020, through April 2022.
On April 19, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted a complaint for quo warranto to remove Rives from his elected position on the Board.
The Antelope Valley Healthcare District Board of Directors declared Rives’s seat vacant at its April 27 meeting.
The judgment states that the forfeiture of his seat on the AV Healthcare District Board was Dec. 11, 2020, the same day he took the oath of office for the AV Community College District Board. He took the oath of office for the Healthcare District Board on Dec. 8, 2020.
Rives owes $138,607 in attorney’s fees and costs to the City of Lancaster. The AV Healthcare District is also trying to get him to return the monthly stipends he received while on the Board.
Rives pulled his nomination papers on Monday, the first day of eligibility, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder-County Clerk.
His former attorney, Steve Fox, also a former director on the Board, pulled nomination papers, on Monday.
Incumbent Don Parazo was the only other person who pulled nomination papers. The Board has two full-term seats and one short-term seat up for election.
In the Antelope Valley Union High School District Board of Education race, Carla Corona pulled nomination papers for the Trustee Area No. 4 seat held by Amanda Parrell.
Wilsona School District Trustee Vladimir Gomez and Miguel Sanchez pulled nomination papers for the Trustee Area No. 5 seat held by Victoria Ruffin.
Retired teacher Sue Strom filed nomination papers for the Trustee Area No. 1 seat held by John Rush.
In the Keppel Union School District, incumbents Georgia Halliman and Theresa McCafferty pulled nomination papers to run for re-election.
In the Lancaster School District, incumbent Duane Winn, who represents Trustee Area No. 2, pulled nomination papers to run for re-election.
All three Palmdale School District incumbents — Board President Simone Zulu Diol, Nancy Smith and Ralph Velador — pulled nomination papers to run for re-election.
On the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency Board of Directors, incumbent Shelly Sorsabal pulled nomination papers to run for reelection for Division 1, incumbent Frank Donato pulled papers to run for re-election for Division 3, appointed incumbent George Lane pulled
nomination papers to run for the short-term seat Division 4 seat, which expires in December 2024. The seat was formerly held by Lane’s son Justin George Lane, who died in January 2021, in a water truck accident.
Palmdale Water District appointment incumbent Scott Kellerman pulled nomination papers for the shortterm, two-year seat representing Division 1 that expires in December 2024.
Quartz Hill Water District Director Rodney C. “Rod” Holtz, pulled nomination papers for the Board of Directors.
Wilsona School Board incumbent Robert Harris pulled nomination papers to run for re-election.
Candidates are required to file and return completed paperwork to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Norwalk headquarters on or before 5 p.m., Aug. 12.
Candidates wanting to file paperwork in person must make an appointment prior to visiting the Norwalk headquarters. Appointments can be made online or by calling 1-800-815-2666, option 4.
Alternatively, candidates may request that their paperwork be issued to them by email or US mail if requested in advance of the deadline.