A little bit about a lot of things:

•  Looks like trustee area elections are in the future for the Gustine Unified School District after all.....which is absolutely ridiculous.

You can thank a 9-year-old “voter rights” law and a high-powered legal group that has successfully sued some public agencies and implied threats of litigation against others (including Gustine) for an upcoming change in the local process......a change that I feel actually limits voter rights, apparently in the name of equality.

After resisting past suggestions that it shift from the current at-large elections to trustee area elections, Gustine’s school board begrudgingly agreed to the change last week......not because the board felt that it was the right thing to do, but because the district can’t afford to fight what would almost certainly be a losing, expensive battle if sued over the whole mess.

The board previously took a stand on principle, which I applaud. But it is also understandable that prudence won out over principle last week....no matter how hard it is to swallow a detrimental change that is being shoved down your throat.

Here’s the upshot: Currently, the district elects its school trustees in at-large elections every two years.

That means any qualified candidate can run, and voters can cast ballots for the candidates of their choice. You like John Q. Candidate who lives in Santa Nella, vote for him.....no matter where in the school district you live.

But under the format likely to be adopted in coming years (probably not until 2013), the district will switch to a system in which five separate trustee areas are created, and separate elections are held in each when that trustee’s term expires.

Think the candidate running to represent your area is a goofball, but two very well-qualified candidates are running from another area? Tough. Your only voting option is the goofball, who is a shoo-in, while only one of the two well-qualified candidates from the other area can win a board seat.

And if the trustee representing your area is not up for re-election, you don’t get to vote in that election cycle at all.

This is an improvement over the current system? Somebody please tell me how?

Actually, nobody said it was an improvement. They said it was the law; not that it was a better way of doing things.

A March 2008 letter from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights sparked the local debate. That letter stated that Gustine Unified’s at-large election system “may be racially polarized and thereby violates the California Voting Rights Act.”

The letter went on to say that the at-large system may dilute the ability of Latino residents to elect candidates of their choice to the school board or to influence the outcome of a school board election.

As it was explained to the school board last week, the five trustee areas will include at least one that is predominantly minority.

I can understand trustee area elections in larger cities and districts. They make sense in some cases and they aren’t unheard of locally. The West Side Community Healthcare District board has five designated areas of representation, for example, although finding a candidate from each is often challenging.

I don’t think the current at-large system is broken.

But then, I have never felt it was an entitlement that the candidate of my choice is the one elected, and I’ve always found that the best way to influence the outcome of an election is to vote.....which is a right that all citizens share equally in our democratic process.

•  Nice program Friday night at Orestimba High, where winter homecoming and the kickoff of the school’s centennial celebration were both featured.

The recognition of past championship basketball teams was a nice gesture, and I found Bob McConnell’s brief presentation on the history of Orestimba very informative.

Most of all, though, it was great to see a large crowd on hand for the festivities, complete with the school band, cheerleaders and an enthusiastic student section rooting for the Warriors.....that’s the atmosphere which transforms a game into an event!!!

•  Simply amazing....Gustine Rotary’s 10th annual Hops & Bangers was a huge success, once again packing the GPS Hall with guests who spent the evening sampling their favorite brews, specialty sausages and other tasty treats.

In addition to raising money for Rotary community service projects, this year’s festivities also benefited Dylan Spinelli of Gustine, who is battling leukemia.

Seemed like there was a wonderful mix of age groups this year, and everybody was having a great time for a very good cause!!!