ELECTION ’12//HAYWARD SCHOOL BOARD | The central figures in the tawdry affair erupting at the Hayward school board over the past two weeks, will not seek re-election in the fall.

The 5 p.m. deadline for candidates to complete filing for the Nov. 6 ballot came and went Friday without paper work from either Jesus Armas or Maribel Heredia. An alleged affair between the two school board members featuring salacious text messages has been the talk of the school district since the revelation was reported July 25 in The Citizen.

Since both incumbents failed to meet the requirement, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters has extended the deadline to Wednesday, Aug. 15, but not for Armas or Heredia.

Maribel Heredia, Jesus Armas

School board member Luis Reynoso, however, will appear on the ballot as one of six candidates vying for three open seats. Elections in Hayward are at-large contests with the top three vote-getters joining the five-member board at years end.

Other candidates to qualify for the ballot include former city council candidate Sara Lamnin, Heather Reyes, John Taylor, Annette Walker and Wandra Williams.

The decisions by Armas and Heredia not to seek re-election may allow the often polarized board a chance to regroup in the next year. Armas, a former Hayward city manager and school board member since his appointment in 2010, had pulled papers for his seat late last month, but failed to complete the filing. Heredia, a board member since 2008, was believed to be eyeing re-election before reports of an improper relationship between her and Armas, the board’s president, were published last month. Heredia, in fact, never pulled papers with the registrar’s office.

During last Wednesday’s shortened special meeting, Armas gave no sign he would be opting out of re-election. However, there were rumors throughout the day suggesting Heredia was poised to resign from the board. That did not happen, although the rumors were heightened when she arrived 15 minutes for the ultimately truncated 20-minute special meeting abruptly adjourned by members William McGee and Reynoso. Both objected to recommendations given to staff July 25 being omitted from the agenda packet during the past hearing. The notes made specific references to the Armas/Heredia affair.