PUSD Candidates at a glance
PUSD Candidates at a glance
- Hayley Buettner has been elected President of the PUSD board for two consecutive years. She is a 16-year resident of Porterville and the mother of two boys. Buettner has a bachelors from USC and a masters in business administration from Chapman University, and has spent the last two years completing a master of governance. She served seven years of active duty in the military as a Navy supply officer and currently helps her husband run his dental office in Lindsay. “I will work tirelessly to bring together students, parents, teachers, administrators and the community to provide the best possible education for all our children,” Buettner said. “I am ready and eager to devote the time and energy that this community deserves.”
- Pat Contreras in the incumbent for Trustee Area 2. Contreras has been an educator for 35 years and a school principal for PUSD for 24 years. She has three children who have graduated from Porterville Unified schools. “As a trustee, I am proud o put children’s educational needs first,” Contreras said.
- Sharon Gill attended Belleview Elementary, Bartlett Jr. High, Porterville High, Porterville College and California State University, Bakersfield. She has a bachelors degree in nursing, a public health nurse certificate and is employed as a nurse instructor by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Delano.
She has been married for 47 years to her high school sweetheart, Brent Gill, and has three children — all professionals with college degrees, who attended Porterville schools. She is also a grandmother to five grandchildren.
- Fred Beltran has been a Porterville resident for 49 years. He retired after 32 years with the City of Porterville, with Public works construction, supervision and city budget experience. Beltran attended local schools since second grade. He is bilingual, and has served for more than 30 years — as a volunteer with numerous community projects and clubs, and providing manpower and doing social and charity work for several non-profit organizations.
He and his wife Elva Beltran have been married for 37 years and have four grown children.
- Tom Velasquez was raised in Porterville and graduated from Porterville High School. He is the father of five children, all of whom attended Porterville schools. He also has a grandson enrolled in the dual immersion program at Santa Fe Elementary. A store manager of a leading drug chain, Velasquez has extensive experience and management skills. He is the past president of the Exchange Club, sits on the Board of Directors of Plano Development and the Exchange Club, and is a member of St. Anne’s Church.
- Linda Peterson is a Tule River Reservation Tribal Elder who went to college after years of being a successful business woman. She received her multiple-subject credential and began working for the Tule River Tribe as the Education Outreach Coordinator. A graduate of Leadership Porterville 1991, Peterson is the committee chair in the Porterville Step-Up gang prevention program. “I am an outside-the-box thinker and feel I can bring a fresh, new perspective to the board.”
Compiled by Recorder reporter Esther Avila.
