TVUSD Trustee Danny Gonzalez Resigns
The rumors were true: he moved his family to Texas. Now what?
As you’ve probably heard through the Press-Enterprise, Temecula Patch, or other sources, Temecula Valley USD Governing Board member Danny Gonzalez resigned from his position effective Friday, December 15, 2023.
His resignation cancels the “conservative” majority held by Trustees Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez since their election in November 2022. (Read our assessment of his time on the board.) His vacant seat leaves the board with a 2-2 split.
What happens now?
By law, the vacant seat must be filled in one of two ways:
The remaining board can appoint someone as a provisional trustee. The appointment must be made within 60 days of the resignation. The appointee would hold the office only until November 2024, when the next regular election for school board will be held.
The remaining board can order a special election now to fill the seat. A special election would have to be funded by the school district; the person elected would serve until November 2026, Gonzalez’s remaining term of office.
On Monday, December 18, the board held a special meeting to determine how to fill the vacancy. All four trustees voted to appoint a replacement rather than hold a special election. They created a subcommittee consisting of President Komrosky and Trustee Barclay to assess applications and bring applicants to the board for public interviews.
If the board cannot agree on an appointee within 60 days, they are required to hold the special election.
What does this resignation mean for the future?
Gonzalez’s resignation leaves the board in limbo. With a 2-2 split it cannot rescind any of the policies the majority passed since December 2022, nor can it pass similar policies in the near future.
In December some 5200 signatures to recall Joseph Komrosky were turned into the County of Riverside. The County is now verifying those signatures and will report later in January whether the recall petition is granted. Because the petition requires only 4280 signatures, it is likely there will be a recall election.
The recall election simply asks if Komrosky should be recalled. If voters say yes, the situation is similar to Gonzalez’s resignation: the remaining board can appoint someone to temporarily fill the seat or call an election.
Would you like to be on the School Board?
It’s a difficult and important job, and we need trustees who want to serve the community by governing well: keeping politics out of board decisions, spending TVUSD money wisely to benefit our local students, bringing people together to work on real problems.
If you’d like to take on this task, you can apply now to be appointed as the provisional trustee to replace Gonzalez until November 2024. To be chosen, you would have to be acceptable to at least three of the four current trustees. You would also have to be:
A registered voter who lives in TVUSD Trustee Area 2 (see map; the green section is area 2)
At least 18 years old
Qualified to hold a civil office
Not a TVUSD employee while holding office (if you’re a current employee, you would have to resign)
Public interviews will be held on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. All applicants must be available for interview then.
Applications and more information are on the district’s website. You can complete the application online or get an application packet at the District Office, 31350 Rancho Vista Rd, Temecula, CA. You can return the packet in person or by email; all applications must be received at the District Office by Friday, January 26, 2024, at 4:30 p.m.
Hope for the new year
We enter 2024 hoping to see the board appoint a capable person in Gonzalez’s place. We also hope to see Komrosky recalled this year and replaced.
For both seats, we need someone who supports public schools, keeps politics and religion out of their decisions on the board, and focuses on the real problems we have instead of faux “problems” promulgated by national political interests.
Happy New Year!