Many activists and community members present at a meeting on Sunday evening said they supported the appointment of Dr. George McKenna III to take up Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte’s position as a member of the Los Angeles Board of Education.

Community members observing a minute of silence remembering the late Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte at the First AME church| Photo credit: Sinduja Rangarajan

More than 200 members from various civil rights, political and community groups gathered at the meeting facilitated by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) held at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Councilman Bernard Parks, School Board Member Steve Zimmer, United Teachers Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher, Retired Assemblyman Mike Davis were some of the notable people present.

LaMotte, 80, died of natural causes less than two weeks ago. The Los Angeles Times reported that there is a debate amongst school board members over which of the two routes they should take to replace her – special elections or appointment of a person by the board.

UPDATE: The school board has decided to postpone the decision on LaMotte’s vacant seat. Click to read the report from Intersections.

Former Assemblyman Mike Davis said in an interview after the meeting that it was an organized effort to allow for community input to decide who should be the next school board representative for Los Angeles County District 1.

“It was a necessary meeting and I think it went very successfully,” he said.

Many present at the meeting on Sunday said they preferred the appointment of McKenna over special elections. Members cite several reasons for their preference for appointment over special elections. [Read more…]