By Peter Day
Staff Writer
The Lucerne Valley Unified School District's board of trustees just got a lot stronger — literally.
Mavrick Von Haug, the former mixed-martial arts champion who last month was named Honorary Mayor, was unanimously selected last Friday to fill the school board seat recently vacated by Joanne Collingham.
"I thought Mavrick was the best fit of the three for this board," school board president Jim Harvey said Monday morning. "I like the way he answered the questions in the interview. I really admired his community service."
Harvey was given the nod over longtime resident Wanda "Jean" Morgan, who previously served on the school board, and Gary E. Herdman, a previous school board candidate.
"I thought all three candidates were excellent," Harvey said. "They all interviewed very well. We wouldn't have done wrong with any of them. All of them are outstanding community members."
All three were interviewed in public during Friday's special meeting. Following the interviews the four seated board members shared their thoughts on each candidate.
"We were very transparent about this," Harvey said. "We held everything in open session. It was a pretty neat meeting."
The meeting proceedings were a bit atypical, however.
Harvey made the motion to accept Von Haug as the new board member. Board Vice-President Carmen Fox seconded the motion. But then board member Tom Hagen nominated Morgan to the fill the seat, a motion seconded by longtime board member Tom Courtney. With two motions on the table, Harvey followed parliamentary procedure, and the board voted on the most recent motion first. Courtney and Hagen voted in favor of Morgan; Harvey and Fox voted no. Then the board voted on the Von Haug motion and all four voted to name him to the seat.
The lone public comment came from the troop leader of Boy Scout Troop 154, whose scouts were in attendance to earn a merit badge.
"He seemed to be a very astute guy," Harvey said.
The man gave a detailed analysis of each candidate and voiced his preference for naming Von Haug.
Following the discussion and vote, Von Haug was sworn in by new LVUSD superintendent Peter Livingston.
Harvey believes good days lay ahead for the school board, which had experienced a bumpy ride over the past few years. An increasingly tense relationship with former board member Dawn Turnbull was resolved this past February when voters voted to recall her from her seat. (At the same time voters selected Hagen as her replacement.)
In late spring, the board announced Suzette Davis, who had served as superintendent for five years, was leaving the district. Collingham announced she was leaving the board to be closer to family, and popular principal Patricia Courtney gave her letter of resignation effective after graduation. Since then, however, the district hired Livingston as superintendent and Douglas Ferber as Courtney's replacement at the high school and middle school principal position.
During this transition period, the district will keep interim superintendent Dan Leary on board, who Harvey commend for tackling "a lot of issues that needed to be tackled" and "tightening up some loose ends."
With the recent inclusion of Von Haug, Harvey believes the board is beefed up and ready to move the district forward.
"I couldn't be happier," Harvey said "We have a good board. They (the board members) come to the table without agendas. That's really the agenda for success."