Can this Tri-Cities bus driver serve effectively if elected to school board?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Richland School Board candidate is a bus driver and, if elected, could be a conflict.
- District policy and state law bar board members from benefiting in district contracts.
- He pledges recusal on transportation matters but budget and levy issues persist.
A Richland school bus driver says he’s not planning to quit his job if elected to the school board, which may limit his ability to serve and create the potential for conflicts of interest.
Jacques Bakhazi is challenging Bonnie Mitchell for her Position 1 seat on the Richland School Board. The stay-at-home mom was appointed in September 2023 to fill the seat, and is running in the Nov. 4 general election for her first full term.
Richland School District policy and state law says school board members may not benefit, either directly or indirectly, in any contract made through the directors’ or superintendent’s supervision.
Similarly, state law says neither a board member nor their spouse or immediate family members may be employed by a school district, except in cases when the board member’s spouse was working for the district before the board member joined the board.
But Bakhazi, who’s worked for the district since 2019, told the Herald he would still be able to serve while working. He does not believe his work would interfere with his ability to act independently on the board.
“Everyone has a conflict (of interest), to some degree,” he argued.
He believes, for example, that a school board member who homeschools their kids would create a more significant conflict than his job would.
The father of two Richland students said if he’s elected, he would recuse himself from any board business involving the transportation department. However, that could mean not being involved in a lot of board decisions, from personnel hirings to planning for levies.
Records show the district paid Bakhazi $4,600 last year for working an average of three hours a week.
Richland’s conflict of interest policy includes an exception for directors who have contracts with the district and are paid $3,000 or less in a calendar month.
“A director may not vote on the authorization, approval or ratification of a contract in which they are beneficially interested...,” the district’s policy reads. “Before the board approves a contract in which a director is beneficially interested, the director must disclose their interest to the board, and the director’s interest must be noted in the official minutes.”
In recent years, two school board members in Pasco resigned to avoid triggering similar conflicts of interest. Both of their spouses were looking to take permanent jobs with the district, but the board members were forced to resign first.
Voters later re-elected Steve Simmons to the board. And former board member Scott Lehrman is hoping to do the same this November.
A low-key race
The race between Mitchell and Bakhazi is one of the more low-key ones in the Tri-Cities.
Mitchell told the Herald she hasn’t met Bakhazi and hasn’t been campaigning much outside of candidate meet-and-greets or questionnaires, focusing in recent weeks on school board work.
Richland’s budget woes have been a major sticking point for the community, though Bakhazi, who lives in north Richland, is the only candidate who has chosen to challenge a school board incumbent this year.
Rick Jansons, the longtime board member and former president, is running unopposed for what he said is his final term.
Mitchell says district administrators and board members “took their eyes off the ball” on spending in the years after the COVID pandemic.
“With the help of our new director of finance, we are now keeping a close eye on the budget each month, working to align expenses with revenues, and are following a solid plan to restore financial health over the next few years,” Mitchell wrote in an election questionnaire to the Herald.
The board over the summer also declined to grant a routine extension to Superintendent Shelley Redinger’s contract, saying in sufficient progress was made on the budget and student academic growth. Her current contract doesn’t expire until 2027.
Richland School District will be going back out to voters in February to renew its four-year operations and technology levies. The district is asking taxpayers for $244 million from property taxes through 2030.
Bakhazi, who has no prior elected experience but has managed restaurants, says he’s running to address the district’s budget woes, save jobs and cut down on redundant positions.
He thinks they should hire someone with an MBA to run the business side of the district and let Redinger focus on education, despite the fact that the district already has a full-time executive director overseeing its finances.
“We need someone whose good enough to run a company, a private business,” he said.
After he filed to run for office in May, Bakhazi said he was contacted by a superior in the transportation department warning him that he could not run for office. He considered dropping out for a while, and even missed submitting his information to the state voters pamphlet, but he later changed his mind.
Despite not having an active campaign website or Facebook account, he said he’s still running an active campaign.
He added that he cares less about winning and is more focused on making positive changes for the school district.
“I just want what’s best for the kids in the district,” he said.
School board members do not receive a stipend or salary. Their main responsibilities include hiring and evaluating the superintendent, setting the vision and goals for the district, reviewing and adopting school policies, passing annual budgets and serving as a representative in the community.
Ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4 or put in county elections drop boxes by 8 p.m. Nov. 4.
Voters have until Oct. 27 for online registration at vote.wa.gov. After that, voters must visit their local county elections center in person to register or get a ballot.
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM.
