WESTSIDE SEEKS TRUSTEE BOARD OPTS TO SEEK APPLICANTS RATHER THAN APPOINT ELECTION RUNNER-UP.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Westside Union School District trustees will fill a vacant board seat by seeking applicants for the post rather than appointing a former board member who lost a recent election.

Board President Gwen Farrell wanted to appoint former trustee Christine LeBeau to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Deborah Rutkowski-Hines, but the suggestion died at Tuesday night's meeting for lack of a motion from a board member.

Farrell said she could have the made the motion herself but sensed that support for the idea was not there.

``I felt at that point it would die for lack of a second,'' Farrell said.

Rutkowski-Hines, who was elected to the board in 2003, resigned from the board Jan. 2, citing personal reasons.

In the November election, LeBeau was the sole incumbent running but came in fourth in a race for three seats. The seats were won by newcomers John Curiel, Linda Jones and Joan Sodergren. LeBeau lost by 65 votes.

``We had an election. Ms. LeBeau did not win. The voters wanted a change,'' Curiel said. ``Considering a direct appointment I feel would have been a violation of the public's trust.''

Jones said the seat is an elected position and should be open to anyone in the public who thinks he or she can make a contribution.

``I think it's important that the public, that they have access to the process. I think by doing a direct appointment, we rob the community of participating in the process,'' Jones said.

The Westside board at Tuesday's meeting also suggested changes to current board policy on filling vacancies, including enlarging the advisory committee and changing its role in the selection process, Superintendent Regina Rossall said.

Currently, the committee is generally made up of representatives from each of the district's four employee groups, a parent and a community member, and they come up with questions to ask board applicants.

Under the proposed changes, board members would each appoint someone from the community to serve on the committee, making it an eight-member body.

The committee would listen to the responses of the candidates as they are interviewed and give feedback to the board on applicants' strengths and weaknesses, Rossall said.

The proposed changes will be discussed at the Feb. 7 meeting.

Farrell said she felt, with three new trustees, it would help to have someone with experience on the board.

``I felt it would be a quicker solution because there are three brand-new board members who are trying to learn the job,'' Farrell said. ``I thought that would be the better way to go to bring back someone who was seasoned. The new board chose to go a different way.''

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com