The Vicious School Board Race That Became a Battle for the Soul of Beverly Hills

BEVERLY HILLS IS A PLACE with a handful of operating gas stations, at least 59 dermatologists and one of the most widely recognized city names in the world. It doubles as an international emblem of opulence, with the most swimming pools per capita in the region and an estimated 11 billionaires living in its 5.7 square miles. 

But it is also a small town — population roughly 30,000 — where mayors give out their cell phone numbers and people know not just their neighbors, but also their neighbors’ cousins’ wives. Residents whisper about the latest gossip outside the petting zoo at the Sunday farmers market or while waiting for bagels at The Nosh.

And that talk has turned vicious lately, as an exceedingly nasty campaign for two seats on the Beverly Hills Unified School Board has fractured the tight-knit community. There have been dueling restraining-order applications filed by opposing candidates, endless feuds in neighborhood WhatsApp groups and at least 12 police reports over stolen campaign signs, amid charges of doxxing and harassment. 

Advocates on both sides have cast the race as nothing less than a battle for the soul of Beverly Hills. It is a high-octane and moneyed version of similar brawls playing out in school board races and other local contests across the country, where the flames of the national culture wars leave little ground unscorched.