12 Vie For Open Temecula Valley Unified School District Board Seat

TEMECULA, CA — A total of 12 residents have thrown their hats in the ring to serve as Trustee of Area 2 following the resignation of Temecula Valley School Board Member Danny Gonzales in December.

Candidates will be interviewed at the Tuesday, Feb. 13 board member meeting, according to the agenda released last week. The meeting will be live-streamed, according to the district (see link below). Board meeting was planned at 4 p.m. at the Temecula Valley Unified School District Conference Center, Rooms A, B, C, 31350 Rancho Vista Road.

What's at stake: Gonzalez's term was to expire in December 2026. The now four-member TVUSD governing board will consider making a provisional appointment to fill the vacant seat.

"The appointment will become effective within 30 days unless a qualified petition is filed with the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools," according to the agenda.

The following applicants are scheduled to be interviewed on Tuesday:

1. Suzette Jacobsen
2. Vahan Manoogian
3. Cole Everi Mann
4. Danny Shaw
5. Emil Barham
6. Angela Talarzyk
7. Martin Bermudez
8. Cynthia Allen
9. Gary Oddi
10. Aaron Hoover
11. Andrew Letona
12. Susan Evans

The Press-Enterprise interviewed a portion of the candidates in a recent report, including Jacobson, Manoogian, Mann, and Shaw. According to that report, none of the candidates are official members of the One Temecula Valley PAC, which has opposed the conservative board and led the recall effort in opposition to governing board member Joseph Komrosky.

According to the agenda, after the conclusion of the interviews, the Board will hold a public deliberation and then take action to appoint a candidate to fill the board vacancy if they can reach a consensus.

The appointment process includes advertising the open seat to solicit eligible applicants from Trustee Area 2 (see a map here). The four TVUSD board trustees would vote on selecting a provisional appointee at Tuesday's meeting, the board's statement reads.

"The appointee may serve until the next regular District election, at which time Trustee Area 2 would be open for election for a term through December 2026," according to the agenda.

Trustee Area 2's seat will be voted on for a new four-year term in the November 2026 election.

If the board chooses to hold a special election and let the voters of Trustee Area 2 decide who should fill the vacancy, the process would cost the district thousands of dollars and as much as $200,000, according to school board member Steven Schwartz, the Press-Enterprise, reported.

A live stream of the Tuesday meeting is available here: