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A county school board member has charged that someone sent out an email under his name which he didn’t write. 

Alameda County education officials admitted that a staff member tampered with Board member Ernest Avellar’s e-mail account in January. 

Avellar who represents Hayward and Union City, sent an e-mail to staff and constituents on the morning of Jan. 15, summarizing the Jan. 14 board meeting and criticizing County Superintendent Sheila Jordan. Later that day, a retraction of Avellar’s e-mail was sent out under his name. 

But Avellar said he didn’t send it. 

“This is identity theft,” said Avellar, who has long clashed with Jordan. 

“It’s hardly identity theft,” Jordan said. “It was a mistake.” 

Jordan said an unnamed staffer retracted the e-mail out of concern that it improperly used the county’s resources to make a political statement. 

Still, Jordan, who said she was not involved, acknowledged that the retraction was wrong. Her chief human resources officer, Rick Minnis, issued a written apology to Avellar Jan. 17. 

Avellar was a majority member of a former 4-3 split on the board that frequently clashed with Jordan in a bitter, personal feud that lost steam last year when new elections gave Jordan’s supporters a 5-2 edge. 

Avellar and fellow board member Gay Plair Cobb have continued to butt heads with Jordan and placed a series of long-standing grievances on the board’s Tuesday night agenda. Included was a censure of Jordan for the e-mail tampering. 

The meeting adjourned before Avellar’s and Cobb’s items came before the board, but Jordan said they will appear on the June 25 agenda. 

The Alameda County Office of Education has broad jurisdiction over 18 school districts in the county and runs a series of county schools for troubled youth.