Val Verde school board member Matthew Serafin, who was arrested in late September on a third alcohol-related offense, is losing in his bid for another term, early election results Wednesay, Nov. 6, show.
Newcomer Dolores “Lola” Holmes was in the lead in the race for Serafin’s Trustee Area 2 seat on the board of the Perris-based Val Verde Unified School District.
She had 47.71% of the vote. In second place was another first-time candidate, Hector Jimenez, with 27.51%.
LIVE ELECTION RESULTS: See a chart of the latest vote counts
Serafin, 32, trailed both, with 24.78% of the vote.
Serafin and Holmes could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning, Nov. 6.
Holmes and Jimenez made campaign issues of Serafin’s arrests and behavior while on the board.
Members of the public and Serafin’s board colleagues also raised concerns about his two previous DUI convictions and his third arrest in late September on suspicion of public intoxication outside a Riverside nightclub.
When Serafin was accused of hitting a parked car on Redding Way in Perris, he was arrested in August 2018 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
He was also arrested and charged with driving under the influence in August 2023.
Along with his arrests, Serafin was accused of using profanity in public meetings and of provoking heated arguments with his fellow board members, which prevented votes on a motion to remove him from his honorary post as board president.
Holmes, 42, is a marriage and family therapist who said her main reason for challenging Serafin was because “district decisions must focus on the students, not on personal agendas.”
The Val Verde Unified School District has 22 schools with more than 19,000 students in Perris, Moreno Valley and the Mead Valley area.
Trustee Area 2 covers an area that straddles the west and east sides of the 215 Freeway. It extends roughly from Clark Street east almost to Evans Road/Lasselle Street. It runs approximately from Iris Avenue south to the Ramona Expressway.
