Napier, Kelly newest school board members for Tehachapi Unified
The Tehachapi Unified School District will welcome two new faces to its board sometime this month.
Kern County certified its Nov. 3 election results to the state on Dec. 1. After additional election results were tabulated, Tyler Napier and Tracy Kelly prevailed.
In Tehachapi Unified Area 1, Seat A, Napier will replace incumbent Leonard Evansic. Napier won with a vote of 1,825 (43.62 percent), followed by Paul Kaminski with a vote of 1,566 (37.43 percent), and Evansic with a vote of 793 (18.95 percent) with 11 of 11 pre
cincts reporting.
“I want to start by thanking those who have supported me in the election process,” Napier
said Friday. “When I began this journey, I really had no idea if I could gain enough momentum to be elected. I am so fortunate to have the support of so many friends, family and even those who don’t know me. I am also fortunate to have a couple great ‘coaches’ throughout the process and I will continue to lean on them for mentoring and coaching. It is very humbling to have received so much support and I hope to make each and every one of them proud.”
As a lifelong resident of Tehachapi, father of six children and an employee of the city of Tehachapi, Napier said he has a tremendous passion and desire to see the community grow and thrive.
“And that starts with the education and health of our children. We owe it to them to commit every bit of energy and resources we have available to us to help them succeed,” Napier said.
Napier went on to say that, in order to be successful, the board, administration, teachers and students need to work together in a mutually supportive manner.
“This is an effort that must be addressed as a team, not just as individuals or the board. We need the collective input and support from the board, superintendent, staff, parents and students,” he said.
Napier can be reached via email at tylernapier@gmail. com.
In Tehachapi Unified Area 3, Seat F, Kelly will replace incumbent Dean Markham. Kelly won with a vote of 3,455 (58.32 percent) followed by Markham with a vote of 2,469 (41.68 percent) with 14 out of 14 precincts reporting.
Kelly said the biggest takeaway he had as a candidate was realizing the level of support he received from people he never met.
“Without people pushing me to figure out what my issues were going to be, what I was in it for and why I was running, I don’t think I ever would have made it,” Kelly said.
Also contributing to his success were the virtual meet and greets as well as socially-distanced meetings Kelly hosted within the community before the election.
“For me, it was something that I wanted to do. I think it also showed people that I cared enough to put myself out there,” Kelly said.
As a newly-elected board member, Kelly went on to say he was “in it for the kids,” adding the district needed to be “more transparent.”
“The more our staff feels supported, the better off our community is as a whole because our kids, in the classroom, will feel more secure, more safe and be more engaged with a happier school staff,” Kelly said.
Asked what he felt were key issues in the district, Kelly said, “I want our board to be more proactive in our education and our community... We need to go out and find our community, and bring them in. There are plenty of people willing to help, we just need to find them and ask.”
Kelly can be reached at tracykelly1220@gmail.com.