El Segundo : Voters to Choose Trustee

In a 4-0 vote, the school board decided against appointing someone to fill the vacancy created when President Alan West was elected to the City Council on April 8 and will let voters choose a replacement for the remaining year of his term in the November election.

The board will be short one member for the next six months, but district officials say the vacancy should not affect business.

“It’s better to go six months with a vacancy than trying to tell voters who the next board member will be,” said Trustee Dave Jones.

The district also may have avoided spending about $7,500 on a special election, board members said. Voters could petition for recall of a board-appointed trustee and mandate a special election with signatures from 1.5% of voters in the last election--or about 150 names.