PVUSD trustee Gabe Medina’s $35K demand draws criticism from local leaders

A school board trustee’s demand for $35,000 from his own district to avoid a defamation lawsuit has sparked outrage and disappointment among education leaders and elected officials in the region, with one prominent politician calling it an attempt to “swindle” taxpayer dollars.

Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee Gabe Medina last week threatened legal action against fellow board members unless they agreed to arbitration and a financial settlement, following an unsuccessful attempt to censure him. The demand has united critics who worry the threat exemplifies a board distracted from its core mission.

“It’s just shameful to see a new school board member attempt to swindle a payment for himself using taxpayer education dollars at the expense of our students,” said Luis Alejo, a Monterey County supervisor who grew up in Watsonville attending PVUSD schools. “People like that shouldn’t be in office, period.”

Because Alejo no longer lives in Watsonville, he said he doesn’t often get involved with Watsonville or school boards. But he said when he read the news of Medina’s threatened lawsuit, he felt he had to say something and posted a blistering critique on X, formerly Twitter, expressing his disappointment at the situation developing in PVUSD. 

“I’ve been in politics 17 years and I’ve never seen any elected official attempt to make such a frivolous claim in an effort to put money in his own pocket, from his own school board or governmental body that he serves on,” Alejo told Lookout. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The controversy stems from a failed attempt to censure Medina last week, following incidents where he told trustees to “shut the f–k up” and “come at me, Barbie!” County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah had previously warned the board that trustees’ statements “appeared to invoke anti-Semitic tropes” and were potentially in violation of laws governing public meetings. The rebuke from Sabbah and the censure vote followed heated discussions over whether the board should rehire an ethnic studies curriculum consultant who some Jewish community members and former trustees had accused of antisemitism. 

In response to the censure, which failed 4-2, Medina emailed President Olivia Flores and Vice President Misty Navarro on Friday to demand that they pay him $35,000 in damages and go through arbitration. He threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against them in Santa Cruz County Superior Court if they didn’t comply. Medina later told Lookout that the resolution to censure him — which only Flores and Navarro voted to support— lacked context that, if included, would have portrayed him in a better light and said the censure was rushed and lacked due process. He added that he would drop his threat of a lawsuit and demand for arbitration in exchange for a formal apology from the board.

Alejo predicted a defamation lawsuit by Medina would face significant hurdles, noting that defamation claims by public officials rarely succeed and can be quickly dismissed through anti-SLAPP motions. SLAPP, or strategic lawsuits against public participation, are legal actions intended to stifle criticism. Anti-SLAPP statutes allow the person who is being sued to ask the court to reject the legal action because the suit relates to public issues. Alejo was previously a staff attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance in Watsonville and worked as a staff attorney with the Monterey County Superior Court.

“It is almost impossible for an elected official to prevail on a defamation case,” he said. “Especially when it concerns his own behavior as a school board member.” 

The threat has left some PVUSD leaders struggling to refocus the conversation on education. “I would just really love the board to be able to get back to focusing on our students and their achievements,” Flores, the board president, wrote in an email to Lookout, declining to comment directly on Medina’s demands.

“As PVUSD Trustees, the focus should remain on the students, the budget and good governance,” Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez wrote via text to Lookout. “In my 13 years of elected office, we have always maintained decorum, maturity and mutual respect, despite differences in opinion. The most important issue is [to] just give the focus back to where it belongs, the students.”

Trustees Carol Turley and Daniel Dodge Jr. declined to comment on the situation. Others, including trustee Jessica Carrasco and County Supervisor Kim De Serpa, who previously served on PVUSD’s board, did not respond to requests for comment. Trustee Navarro previously characterized the $35,000 demand as “blackmail.” 

The distraction from core educational priorities particularly troubles former PVUSD teacher and interim superintendent Murry Schekman. “It’s disappointing that this board is not able to focus on learning,” he said, noting the district faces pressing challenges with student achievement and budget issues.

Even those who opposed the original censure said they were dismayed at the escalation in the tensions on the board. 

Watsonville High teacher Bobby Pelz, who asked the board repeatedly during last week’s meeting to remove the censure item because he felt it would create deeper divisions, said he felt “bummed” about Medina’s lawsuit threat because it’s doing just that – further dividing the board. 

“It’s his right to do this, and he had every reason to want to do something like this,” Pelz said. “I just feel like this is another thing where we’re not going to be able to move forward.”

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