Sheila Meyers, a member of the Orange County Board of Education for six years before she resigned last year to move out of state, was chosen Thursday to fill a vacancy on the board in a 3-1 vote that prompted an immediate threat of a petition drive against the choice.
At stake is the seat on the five-member county Board of Education left open by the Feb. 13 death of board member Frances Murphy of Garden Grove.
Meyers is scheduled to be sworn in April 23 and to fill Murphy's seat until the regular primary election in June, 1988. A petition effort, however, could force an earlier election.
Meyers has moved back to California from Washington state, the board majority said, and is thus eligible to resume service on the board. But board member Francis Hoffman, who voted against the appointment, said he doubted that she is a permanent, legal resident of the north-coastal district she was appointed to represent.
Hoffman called the choice of Meyers an "insult" to the people of the 2nd District and said she has only a nominal residence in Huntington Beach, within the district she is to represent.
"There is already a movement started to get voter signatures to petition for an election to keep Mrs. Meyers off the board," Hoffman said Thursday afternoon, about four hours after the appointment vote. "I may join that petition drive myself. I haven't decided yet. But I think the appointment of Mrs. Meyers is a disgrace--an example of back-room politics."
Meyers could not be reached for comment. Other board members who voted for Meyers also could not be reached.
County Board of Education members are paid $400 a month and usually have little visibility or public recognition. The county board's main power results from its control of the county Department of Education's $50-million-a-year budget. That department provides education for juveniles in county custody and for several categories of handicapped students.
The department also has a range of other responsibilities, including issuing the payrolls for all 28 local school districts in Orange County.
Meyers, who formerly lived in Fountain Valley, served on the county Board of Education from 1980 until she left on Feb. 10, 1986. She was on the Fountain Valley School District board of trustees 14 years before being elected to the county board.
