(UPDATED at 6:31 with recap.)

Wow. The Anaheim Union trustees are in a rather contentious battle to appoint their fifth member to succeed the late Jan Harp Domene.

It takes three votes to appoint.

Jordan Brandman (D-Anaheim) nominated Greg Domene (D-Anaheim), with Anna Piercy (R-Cypress) voting for the nomination. Brian O’Neal (R-La Palma) and Katherine Smith (R-Anaheim) voted against. The Domene nomination fails on a 2-2 vote.

Brian O’Neal nominated John Alvis (R-Buena Park), with Katherine Smith voting for the nomination. Anna Piercy voted against. Jordan Brandman abstained. The Alvis nomination gets a 2-1-1 vote.

Anna Piercy nominated Annemarie Randle-Trejo (D-Anaheim), with Jordan Brandman and Brian O’Neal voting for the nomination. Katherine Smith voted against. The Randle-Trejo nomination gets a 3-1 vote.

Annemarie Randle-Trejo is appointed.

Recap: Brandman nominated Domene before any discussion. O’Neal and Smith are livid that a nomination has been made. Piercy finally seconds the motion.

Smith says she resented that Brandman made a nomination before there was any chance for discussion. She complained about misspelled applications and about an applicant who couldn’t distinguish between “there,” “their,” and “they’re” as well as “to,” “too,” and “two.”

O’Neal says there isn’t time to train someone because they need to know Robert’s Rules, the Brown Act, and No Child Left Behind. He says someone with experience is needed in these tough budget times.

Piercy implies there needs to be geographic diversity. She also says that there are many intelligent people, like engineers, who can’t spell.

Smith says she’s glad they’re able to debate in this discussion. She apologizes to Domene but argues that his qualifications did not match those of many other candidates; O’Neal concurs.

Brandman talks about his late mother and says his father carried on her legacy.

Smith and O’Neal emphasize experience over sentiment.