California: Nonpartisans in Name Only?

From California Progress Report: ....Most voters want candidates who represent centrist positions and embody a combination of ideologies from a variety of political points of view. Extremism on either end appeals to a narrow few. But rarely are centrist candidates supported by their political parties.
Nonpartisan races, where party affiliations are not supposed to matter, should now be called NINOs, for Nonpartisan In Name Only, as more and more nonpartisan races are ruled by party politics.
School board races are nonpartisan and were established that way for a reason: Everyone was supposed to come together for the greater good of the children and the benefit of public education.
Sounds a bit naïve now, doesn’t it? My suggestion to local political leaders recently that perhaps nonpartisan races should be, well, nonpartisan, was met with incredulity and bemusement, as if I were delusional..... [more]