Provisional Appointee is Best Option For Pulido's Replacement

Friends and colleagues sent off recently resigned with warm farewells, memories and best wishes at the ABC School Board meeting on April 5. That night the board also approved a provisional appointment process to secure his replacement.

Among the honorees besides Pulido was the Basketball team who won the  last month. Gahr beat Mayfair High School by a whopping 15 points at the Anaheim Convention Center on March 5.

The main honoree of the night, Pulido, was met with warm wishes from neighboring cities and local organizations. Lydia Soriano of the Rotary Club of Cerritos-Artesia presented him with orchids as a sign of appreciation for his years of service on the school board.

“We don’t usually give flowers to guys,” Soriano said. “Why not give him orchids because of the purity of his heart and the labor of love that he has given to his community?”

Artesia mayor, Victor Manalo, was excited to be working with Pulido, now a current member of the Cerritos City Council.

“I know that it’s a great loss for the board, but it’s a gain for the city of Cerritos,” Manalo said.

The arduous task of deciding who and how to fill the board’s now vacant spot brought much confusion  and debate in terms of what exactly what will be put into motion. Superintendent Gary Smuts proposed two options: hold an election or have a provisional appointment – a temporary position until a regular appointment or election has been made. Boardmember James Kang said this issue will be very hard for the community.

“I think a lot of things have been disclosed on the table,” Kang said. “One thing I have in mind is if we could restrict or unrestrict the appointed board member to run for the next election or not. I know, legally, we cannot restrict them, but in the past, we have on occasion."

According to Smuts, on one occasion, the board asked all members of the community, that wanted to be appointed, to not run in the next election.

Eventually, after a semi-heated discussion, the Board had to vote on cutting off the debate itself. In the end, the Board, minus the approval of board member Sophia Tse, agreed on having a provisional appointee.

“We want to make sure the ABC community is aware that there will be an appointment,” said boardmember Olympia Chen. “The No. 1 point is publicity. We want to make sure the word gets out."

The Board invites applications from the public for the position of Board Member and intends to fill a vacancy by appointment to serve until Nov. 8, 2011.

Persons who meet eligibility criteria and are interested in receiving an application packet to serve as a Board Member should contact:

Dr. Gary Smuts, Superintendent
16700 Norwalk Blvd.
Cerritos, CA 90703
(562) 926-5566 ext. 21162

Applications must be submitted by Monday, April 25 at 4 p.m.