Murrieta Valley Unified To Fill Vacant Board Seat By Appointment

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education Tuesday voted 3-1 to fill the vacant Trustee Area 3 seat by appointment, with Trustee Nancy Young voting against.

“People in this trustee area elected somebody who openly stated she was against culture wars and spoke out adamantly against their constant attacks on our most vulnerable students at almost every board meeting,” Young said at the October 7 special meeting, referring to former Trustee Yvonne Munoz who resigned last month. “We all know the only reason they want to appoint somebody is to get one more culture warrior on this board, and then the community will be dealing with four of them.”

Young said the only way people in Trustee Area 3 would be fairly represented was for a special election to be held to fill the seat, even though it would cost the district about $50,000.

Board Clerk Eleanor Briggs pushed back on Young’s assertions that the decisions of the board majority were politically motivated, calling it “tired rhetoric.”

“I can take a lot, but one of the things I will not take is to say that I am disingenuous in my belief in standing up for kids in this community, for parents in this community,” Briggs said. “And the true fact is, Miss Young, is that the three of us were elected by parents in our community, therefore our voice represents — it may not represent 100%, I’m fully aware of that — it represents the majority of parents and students in this district.”

Eight members of the public spoke at the meeting, five in support of filling the vacancy through appointment and two in favor of holding a special election.

Those in favor of appointment pointed to the cost of holding a special election and the fact that the district has a precedent of filling vacancies through appointment. The two who spoke in support of a special election said that it was the only way to ensure the residents of Trustee Area 3 would have a say in who represented them.

The decision came two weeks after the board failed to make a decision on how to address the board vacancy.

Applications for the vacancy will be accepted through October 20. A subcommittee of Young and Trustee Christine Schmidt will then review the applications to ensure those who applied are eligible for appointment. In order to be eligible, applicants must be at least 18 years old, a registered voter in Trustee Area 3 and not legally disqualified from holding civil office.

The board is expected to make a provisional appointment at its October 28 meeting to fill the seat until November 2026.

More information can be found here on the district’s website.