The Sudden Departure of Julie Hamill
- Erin DiMaggio
- Aug 26
- 6 min read
On Friday, August 22, 2025, the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District sent a district-wide email to the community, notifying them that Julie Hamill is leaving her position on the PVPUSD school board to become a Civil Rights Assistant United States Attorney.
Some people were shocked by the announcement, calling it a "sudden departure."
Two-time PVPUSD School Board candidate Jeremy Vanderhal sent out an email titled "Unexpected School Board Vacancy."
He also wrote, "As a reminder, I was the runner-up in the 2022 and 2024 elections."
It is no surprise to me that Julie Hamill did not finish her term.
Just last fall, in 2024, while advocating for the passage of the massive school bond (an increase in property taxes) in front of a packed audience at the Palos Verdes Golf Club, Hamill said,
"Being on the Board has ruined my life."
Since taking the Oath of Office on December 14, 2022, Hamill has frequently sent out emails expressing her anger and frustration with the status quo.
Some of the titles of her newsletters include, but are not limited to:
On October 10, 2024, Hamill wrote in her monthly newsletter,
If you have ever watched a school board meeting from start to finish, you would see what I have seen: Hamill at the end of each meeting, expressing fatigue and what appears to be an interest in being anywhere but on the Board.
Hamill sent out an email on May 29, 2025, and then remained quiet for the rest of the summer.
On August 13, 2025, she was absent from the board meeting, leading me to conclude that she was no longer involved. Two weeks later, we received the announcement of her departure.
Looking back on her short tenure on the Board, it's essential to recall a few key facts.
2022
When Hammill announced she was running for the School Board in 2022, she had tons of support from the Moms and Dads, as well as citizens, who opposed the lockdowns, masks, and the COVID-19 vaccine Mandate.
And then there was another group of people who voted for Hamill; they had all gotten their COVID-19 vaccines and didn't mind the mask mandates, but they hated taxes.
CANDIDATE FORUM
On September 12, 2022, during the PVPUSD School Board Candidate Forum hosted by the Chamber of Commerce at the Fred Hess Community Building, Julie Hamill was the only candidate out of nine who didn't show up in person for the debate.
Hamill zoomed in from vacation and from behind the telescreen when the topic of facilities and taxes came up, Hamill said.
"Our Demographics don’t support the passage of a Bond here. I don’t think it’s going to happen. And, we shouldn’t be asking our residents to pay more taxes.”
And, right there, that line alone won Hamill the vote of the Homeschoolers, the people who don't have children, and the Homeowners who are already strapped for cash and still paying off PVPUSD's Debt Service from the last Bond because she was the only candidate to emphatically say, "No Bond!"
TURNING POINT
And then, in a shocking turn of events, almost two years later, Hamill did a 180-degree turn on June 26, 2024.
Hamill and the PVPUSD Board of Education voted unanimously to place the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Classroom Repair/ Student Safety Measure on the November 5th, 2024, ballot.
Not only did Hamill vote yes, but she also worked together with the YESONSOS Bond Committee, quietly behind the scenes, telling her buddy John Tabis about the Save PV Schools Instagram Account. Suddenly, all of the Covidians and Activists took delight in advocating for the Bond using Hamill as their poster child and said, "Hey, look! Even Julie supports the Bond."
I got bombarded with questions from our subscribers, mostly asking,
"If Julie supports it, why don't you?"
My first thought was,
"HELLO! Have you met me?"
I am not a follower.
I am a critical thinker.
I didn't support the Bond for the same reason I didn't support
lockdowns and mass uniform compliance.
I did my homework. I researched the science of the bond.
I found that the majority of Homeowners in Palos Verdes don't have
children attending school in PVPUSD.
And, for those that do,
"PV isn't Vegas. What we spend here and earn here doesn't stay in PV."
The only reason our schools remain great is because of the extraordinary extra support they receive from overly involved parents who donate generously to provide everyone with what the State should provide.
Then, there's the quintessential question,
"Why should homeowners have to pay more in taxes for something they don't use? "
I have heard all the reasons like, "Good schools are good for property values, etc..." Please insert Charlie Brown's Teacher here:
"Wah Wa Wa Wah Wa Wa" - "You should wear a mask for me because my mask only works if you wear one."
WE ALREADY PAY AN UNFAIR SHARE!
Palos Verdes Homeowners pay some of the highest property taxes, and all of our money goes to Los Angeles County, where the politicians steal our money and redistribute it to whomever they believe should receive it.
I am not going to support a corrupt communist system that takes my money from my family and gives it to illegal immigrants in other cities.
Julie attempted to address this issue and considered suing the State, but she was outvoted and her concerns were ignored. Since the Board wouldn't listen to her, she concluded that the only way to fix the facilities was to use the same formula: "Tax the Homeowners MORE."
When my subscribers who have followed me since 2021 reached out to me to ask about why I was suddenly opposed to voting for the Bond, simply because Hamill said it was "The least bad of bad options,"
I felt a sense of obligation to my readers who trusted me in 2022 when I said, "Vote for Julie," to tell them the whole truth. That's why I wrote a very long, detailed explanation called 'Momma Drama.
That blog triggered Hamill so much that she called my good friends and told them she was going to get a restraining order against me. My guess is she wanted me to be scared, but I found this quite humorous, since I had told her months prior that I didn't want to talk to her or associate with her, so there was really no need to restrain ME since I was consciously avoiding her. I didn't know my keyboard was so dangerous. But that's old drama, and there's no need to repeat it.
The question remains:
Who is the real Julie Hamill?
Here's what I know from watching every board meeting:
Hamill demanded transparency on the school board but was inconsistent in her actions.
She did not want videos of her speeches at public events to be posted online.
She claimed to be a 'Free Speech Absolutist' but tried to silence critics.
She advocated for parents' rights but supported policies that contradicted this stance.
CONCLUSION:
SILVER LINING:
The silver lining, as much as it saddens me to be involved in Momma Drama, the one thing that Julie Hamill has remained 100% consistent on and has not wavered on is the Fact that:
Boys are Boys. Girls are Girls.
On February 24, 2024, Hamill wrote a Blog Post titled "Two Very Important Documents: Mae M. v. Komrosky Decision and Legal Challenge to Unconstitutional Facilities Funding."
On multiple occasions, Hamill has requested that the school board include a discussion about following federal laws related to Title IX, mental health, and protecting children's privacy on the agenda.
I am looking into my crystal ball, and while Julie Hamill will never say what her next play is, because she's a Chess player. Hamill used some of us as her Pawns to get elected. Still, if I had to bet, I think, she's positioned herself to do what she couldn't do on our School Board and that's start filing massive lawsuits for Civil Rights Violations for unfair funding formulas, the destruction of women's sports and a whole lot of other things she wanted to accomplish but couldn't because she was always outvoted 4 to 1.
I am rooting for her to win because we are all in the same fight. We have different strategies and moral values, but ultimately, I believe we all share a common goal: to protect the kids.
And, in the meantime, a position is open on the PVPUSD School Board, and there are tsunamis of lawsuits headed their way.
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