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Pat Kernan, a candidate for the Pleasanton Unified School District board of education, is photographed on Thursday, August 17, 2006, in Pleasanton, Calif. (Cindi Christie/Contra Costa Times)

Questions about whether Pleasanton school board member Pat Kernan lives in the district have led to inquiries by both the school district and county prosecutors.

An opinion issued Wednesday from the school district's lawyers said the longtime school board member meets the residency requirements. However, Julie Testa, a Pleasanton parent who earlier this month asked the district to look at the issue, said there are still unanswered questions. She has asked the Alameda County District Attorney's Office to also examine the issue.

Testa, who has criticized the district on issues such as campus overcrowding, said questions on Kernan's residency have floated since the 2006 school board election, when Kernan was among two incumbents running unopposed. Months earlier he had sold his Pleasanton house and bought one in Camino in El Dorado County. Other issues have come up since, including him being a board member on the El Dorado Community Foundation. The charity, which works to enhance life in El Dorado County, lists him as a Camino resident on its Web site.

Kernan, an attorney, was appointed to the board in 1997 and uses 3630 Andrews Drive, apartment No. 302, as his address with the district.

Testa said that residency questions picked up this past fall with more talk of a possible parcel tax measure. Earlier this month, she brought her concerns to Superintendent John Casey, prompting the review by district lawyers from the San Ramon-based law

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firm Lozano Smith.

In a letter issued Wednesday, attorney Harold Freiman gave many examples that he said support Kernan's residency in Pleasanton. The letter said that Kernan maintains a rental address, which is also where he practices law. His driver's license has a Pleasanton address, as does his vehicle and voter registration. It also said he was excused from jury service in El Dorado County because he lives in Pleasanton, has significant business in the area, has a business license issued by Pleasanton, has a license from The State Bar of California using the Pleasanton address, is a member of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, does all of his banking with Pleasanton branches, belongs to a Pleasanton church and gets medical care in Pleasanton. Kernan also said that before an early April hip surgery, for which he has been recuperating in Camino because his apartment has no elevator, he was spending as much as 70 percent of his time in Pleasanton.

Kernan, 58, said he kept the district informed of his moves and received previous legal advice on whether he could serve. He said he sold his Tanglewood Way home in Pleasanton about April 2006 and immediately moved to an apartment. He later moved to another apartment before getting a unit in the same complex a couple months ago. That his where he is living now, as are two of his six adult children, while his wife lives in Camino.

He said his work for his Law Offices of Patrick J. Kernan and a previous firm where he worked briefly has always been primarily in the Bay Area. He said he puts his Camino business office on his Web site because Pleasanton's business license rules do not allow him to advertise the local location. He said the listing on the El Dorado Community Foundation Web site is an error that he will have corrected.

Pleasanton school district spokeswoman Myla Grasso said the district has known about Kernan's residences but went ahead with the legal review because someone from the public questioned it. She does not see the district doing more.

"I think he's been very transparent about it," she said. "At this point we're satisfied."

But Testa said the facts show that Kernan's Pleasanton address is not his home, but rather where he works. She cites his wife living in Camino and their property ownership there. She also said parts of the district's legal analysis support her claim, such as the fact that Kernan was called to El Dorado County jury duty in the first place. Other things, such as his chamber membership, are not relevant, she said.

"Evidence shows that is where he intends to make his long-term home," she said.

Meanwhile, Testa also brought her complaint to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.

Senior deputy district attorney Jeff Stark said his office recently received the request and will determine if it there are significant allegations to warrant an investigation. He said each case in which an elected official's residency is questioned has its own specifics. He said that, for the most part, such cases are handled by the state Attorney General.

Reach Eric Louie at 925-847-2123 or elouie@bayareanewsgroup.com.