Where new Merced high school trustee lives to be discussed at meeting

Where trustee Greg Opinski lives will be the focus of some discussion during a Merced Union High School District board of trustees meeting in Atwater on Wednesday – about a month after he admitted he didn’t live in the area he was elected to serve.

State education code requires school board members to live in the districts they’re elected to serve. Opinski told the Sun-Star in January he wasn’t living in Area 1 when elected in November because he was going through a divorce.

He also said he believed he could live outside Area 1 on a temporary basis and remain eligible for office. The board of trustees will only discuss his residency during the meeting and has not placed any decision for vote on the agenda.

He did live in the area when he submitted the paperwork to run for office, according to the Merced County Registrar of Voters Office. He still owns the house in Area 1, though he has not been living in it, according to school records. He has entered into a contract to buy another home in the area, school records show, and is renting an apartment in Area 1 in the meantime.

The Area 1 seat on the board generally covers Merced north of Highway 99, roughly bounded by Highway 59 and Athlone Road, along with Olive Avenue, McKee Road, Yosemite Avenue and Kibby Road. According to public records, Opinski lived on Fallbrook Drive in Merced for 10 years, which is within the district.

Opinski, a local building contractor-developer, defeated incumbent trustee Ida Johnson for the Area 1 seat by 33 votes in November. Johnson was on the board for eight years.

The closed session portion of the board meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. and the open session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Atwater High School Library, 2201 Fruitland Ave.

This story was originally published February 10, 2015 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Where new Merced high school trustee lives to be discussed at meeting."