The Moreno Valley Unified School District Board of Education last week voted to fill the Trustee Area 1 seat vacated by Board Member Jesus Holguin through provisional appointment.
“Right now, with our budget crisis, to add an additional $68,000 when it isn’t the appropriate time for [the Trustee Area 1] election should be considered,” Board President Brandy Clark said at the June 25 meeting.
Holguin announced last month that he would be resigning from the board, effective June 28, writing that recent reflection on his personal and professional commitments led him to the decision to focus on other aspects of his life.
At the June 25 meeting, Holguin said he chose the June 28 effective date in an effort to allow the board time to call for a special election that could be aligned with the regular November elections for the second and fifth districts.
“I just wanted to remind board members that this is an opportunity to allow the community to express their vote to elect the representative for my trustee area,” he said after Board Clerk Susan Smith made the motion for the seat to be filled through provisional appointment.
For Smith, who was deeply concerned about the $68,000 cost to add the Trustee Area 1 special election, making a provisional appointment was the only reasonable option given the circumstances.
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“If you had chosen not to run…in 2022, then we would have had a regular election for your seat right then,” she said. “We could have elected somebody else in 2022 when it was already up for election.”
Clark also pointed out her concerns with having three board seats up for election at the same time, potentially putting the district in the position of having a largely inexperienced board while facing significant budgetary concerns.
“I’d like to give the opportunity to the public to come before the community and this board,” Clark said. “We’ll essentially be able to interview this person, and it will be done in open session. The entire public will know who is being appointed, and they will be a part of the process.”
Holguin has served on the board since 2002. His term was not set to expire until 2026.
In other board action: The Moreno Valley USD Board of Education adopted the district’s budget and approved the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, as well as a 5% increase to the board member monthly stipends.
A full recording of the meeting can be found here on the district’s YouTube channel.
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