On February 27, Anaheim Union High School District Trustee Jan Harp Domene passed away unexpectedly at home at the age of 60.  Elected to a four-year term in 2010, her untimely death left the seat vacant with more than two years remaining on the term.

On March 8, the AUHSD Board of Trustees decided to fill the seat by provisional appointment until the voters fill the seat in November 2012 for the remainder of the term expiring in 2014.  The deadline to request an application for the seat was Thursday, March 29, at which point 21 candidates had requested an application.  Wednesday, April 11 was the deadline to submit their applications, and 13 candidates did so.

Thursday, April 19 at 6:00 PM is a special meeting of the AUHSD Board of Trustees to allow the public to comment on the 13 candidates.  On Wednesday, April 25, at 5:00 PM, the AUHSD Board will hold a special meeting to interview the 13 candidates.  The following day, on Thursday, April 26, again at 5:00 PM, the AUHSD Board will hold a special meeting to vote on the appointment.  If the board fails to make an appointment by the end of Friday, April 27, the seat will remain vacant until the November 2012 election, when the voters fill the seat for the remainder of the term expiring in 2014.

It will take 3 votes to fill the seat, as the four AUHSD Trustees need a majority vote to fill the fifth seat.  The four AUHSD Trustees are Board President Anna Piercy (R-Cypress) and Board Members Jordan Brandman (D-Anaheim), Brian O’Neal (R-La Palma), Katherine Smith (R-Anaheim).

This is the most recent in a series of vacancies in elected office in Orange County in the past three months:

• On January 23, Orange County Public Administrator John Williams’s resignation in a settlement with the County took effect (though he attempted to hang on to the office until February 7).  The Supervisors have not filled Williams’s seat, but Measure A has been placed on the June ballot to convert the elected Public Administrator into an appointed position.
• On January 31, Orange County Auditor-Controller David Sundstrom’s resignation to accept a similar position in Sonoma County took effect.  The all-Republican OC Board of Supervisors almost appointed Republican Shaun Skelly to the vacancy, but Skelly withdrew.  The Supervisors are slated to determine tomorrow on how to proceed on filling Sundstrom’s vacancy.
• On February 1, Stanton Councilman Ed Royce Sr.’s resignation due to ill health took effect.  His resignation from the Municipal Water District of Orange County Board of Directors took effect the same day.  On March 13, the majority Republican Stanton City Council appointed Republican Rigoberto Ramirez to fill the vacancy.  On March 14, the all-Republican Municipal Water District of Orange County Board of Directors appointed Republican Wayne Osborne to fill the vacancy, effective March 21.
• On February 12, Villa Park Councilman Bob Fauteux passed away suddenly at the age of 79.  On March 27, the all-Republican Villa Park City Council appointed Republican Rick Barnett to fill the vacancy.

The 13 candidates seeking to fill the vacancy on the Board of the Anaheim Union High School District are:

• John Alvis (D-La Palma), 69, served on the Centralia School District Board of Trustees from 1988-2005 and is currently President of the Kiwanis Club of La Palma and Vice Chair of the La Palma Traffic Safety Committee.  In 2006, he came in third out of five candidates for two seats on the La Palma City Council.  He also unsuccessfully sought an appointment to the AUHSD board in late 2007 after the untimely death of Denise Mansfield-Reinking.  (Harald Martin was appointed to the seat, but petitions forced an early 2008 special election that Jordan Brandman won.)
• Maureen Christensen (R-Anaheim), 48, serves on the Anaheim City School District’s Measure BB Bond Oversight Committee.
• Dominic Daddario (R-Anaheim), 64, is a businessman.
• Helena De Coro (R-Anaheim), 65, is a music professor at Cypress College.
• Lori Dinwiddie (NPP-Buena Park), 44, is the Safety Chair for the PTSAs at both Kennedy High School and Walker Jr. High School.
• Greg Domene (D-Anaheim), 61, is Domene’s widower and works in the computer industry.
• Jackie Filbeck (R-Anaheim), 54, is a Field Representative in Assemblyman Chris Norby’s office, with a long track record as a PTA parent, Anaheim Little League board member, JUSA board member, and NJB board member.  She made an unsuccessful bid for the Anaheim City School District Board in 2010.
• Rod Hall (R-Anaheim), 80, is a retired teacher active in the Anaheim Lions Club.
• Kenneth Jenks (R-Buena Park), 57, is an insurance salesman who is active in his church.
• Art Montez (D-Buena Park), 62, is active with LULAC and was a Centralia School District Board Member from 1998 until 2010, when he was defeated for re-election.
• Annemarie Randle-Trejo (D-Anaheim), 49, is a twice-defeated candidate for AUHSD: she came in sixth out of eight candidates in her 2006 bid and third out of four in her 2008 bid.  She is a behavior interventionist for the Anaheim City School District.
• Forrest Turpen (R-Anaheim), 74, is West Coast Regional Director for Christian Educators Association International.
• Shanin Ziemer (NPP-Buena Park), 41, is President of the PTA at Buena Terra Elementary School and Cultural Arts Chair of the Fourth District PTA.

The average age of the applicants is 59.

The applicants include 7 Republicans, 4 Democrats, and 2 people registered as No Party Preference (known as Decline-to-State in pre-Prop 14 parlance).

They include 8 Anaheimers, 4 Buena Parkers, and 1 La Palman.

AUHSD includes the entirety of the City of Cypress, along with portions of Anaheim, Buena Park, La Palma and Stanton.  AUHSD includes grades 7-12, with K-6 education provided by the Anaheim City School District, Centralia School District, Cypress School District, Magnolia School District, and Savanna School District.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should note my day job is working in the Fullerton office of Assemblyman Chris Norby.  Consequently, one of my co-workers is Jackie Filbeck, who is one of the candidates for the AUHSD seat.)