I was wrong.

I was absolutely sure that when the Manteca Unified School District board decided that they were going to appoint a replacement for Alexander Bronson – who resigned among allegations and charges of election fraud – that vocal teacher and activist Leo Bennett-Cauchon would force a special election by gathering the necessary signatures in a petition.

I would have bet on it.

But in today’s issue of The Bulletin, Bennett-Cauchon took out an ad that explained why even though he was tempted to push for the election – noting that democracy is always the best course of action – that would have ended up costing the district more than $350,000, he thought better of it.

Think what you will about the man. He’s not a favorite at school board meetings for his tendency to get to the lectern more often than one would think is necessary. His positions are oftentimes unpopular, and his convictions – often steadfast – make him an easy target for tomato throwers in the back of the room who don’t line up on the same side of the spectrum.

When it came to replacing Bronson, however, he was the man who held the keys in his hand.

If he didn’t like Stephen Schluer – who, ironically, works the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault unit for the Manteca Police Department and was the Detective that interviewed him when accusations of inappropriate conduct surfaced – he could have singlehandedly cost the district a bundle of money simply because he wanted the democratic process to ring true.

And if Schluer was just elected anyway, Bennett-Cauchon – who said in a public meeting that he held at a Manteca restaurant that based on some of the items in the district’s budget the cost of a special election seems justified – could have chalked it all up to the democratic process.

He is, however, in my opinion flawed in some of his logic. That same democratic process that he so vehemently champions was trampled on when – for the sake of legal purposes, allegedly – two board members who didn’t reside in their trustee areas decided to run for public office. And even after questions were raised about their legitimacy, they forged ahead with no regard to what would end up happening to the district when the bombshell ultimately fell.

Now the district is faced with picking up a tab that could be as high was $80,000 for the recall election of Ashley Drain, which will almost assuredly make it to the ballot. Her best course of action, in my opinion, is just to resign before that process reaches a point that forces the district to foot the bill for an election that will more than likely not be nearly as favorable as the one she went through in November.

If the recall measure qualifies and then she chooses to resign, that’s $80,000 down the drain. Bennett-Cauchon can say that spending $350,000 is justified because it allows the people’s will to reign supreme, but I don’t think that lighting a match to nearly six figures simply because one is too stubborn to read the writing on the wall is fair to the kids that are so often referenced as the reason that people seek these positions in the first place.

That’s a lot of books – or, should I say, tablet apps.

I have to say that I respect the man’s passion and his drive and his desire. And the fact that he’s willing to go so far as to take a newspaper advertisement calling for peace shows that in spades.

But calling for a truce shouldn’t override the fact that there are people on the board who were elected under circumstances that were questionable enough for the Secretary of State’s office to investigate and the San Joaquin District Attorney’s office to prosecute.

Rules are rules – or better yet, laws and laws – regardless of how archaic and confusing they may be at the time. Giving shelter to those who don’t comply sends an equally negative message to the children of the district – that it doesn’t matter if you skirt the boundaries as long you’re justified in doing so or believe that you were at the time. Ignorance of the law is not a defense that has ever worked in any courtroom and I don’t think it will start working now.

I was wrong.

I thought for sure that Bennett-Cauchon would force that election.

And I give him absolute credit for not doing so.

Now if he’d just publicly acknowledge the other 100,000-pound elephant in the room a true attempt at healing might actually be possible.