Election to Be Set in Inglewood for School Board Post

County education officials this week will declare a special election for the Inglewood School Board--declaring vacant the seat held by appointee Joseph Rouzan--as the result of a successful petition drive by community groups.

County Board of Education spokesman Marc Forgy said he had been notified by telephone Friday that the County Registrar/Recorders Office had validated 1,088 signatures on a petition that calls for an election to fill the seat left open when board member Ernest Shaw died in September.

The number of signatures needed to force an election was 678, or 1.5% of the more than 45,000 registered voters in the district.

Rouzan, who was named to the board in November, will be forced to relinquish his position this week, Forgy said. An election date will be set after discussion with school district officials.

The board’s decision in the fall to appoint someone to serve the remaining two years of term had drawn immediate attacks, and community groups were further angered by what they said was political deal-making in the selection process.

Rouzan, a former Inglewood police chief, was one of four finalists picked during a closed meeting that lawyers for the county counsel said violated the state’s open meeting law. The board had earlier drawn criticism by refusing to make public information on 20 applicants despite requests from newspapers which cited freedom of information requirements of the state public record law.

The petition drive was spearheaded by the Concerned Citizens of Inglewood, the United Democratic Club of Inglewood, parents’ groups and some applicants. They described the effort not as an attack on Rouzan but a reaction to the secrecy and questionable legality of the selection process presided over by board President Lois Hill-Hale.

Rouzan, a security consultant for Los Angeles International Airport, said he intends to run, but will first “touch base with people in the community. I want to see whether this is truly an indictment of the way the process was handled or an expression of displeasure with who was selected.”

Citing the expense to the district and candidates, Rouzan said it was “very unfortunate” that an election must be held.

Terry Coleman, president of the Concerned Citizens of Inglewood and a leader of the petition drive, said: “I hope the board has gotten the message that they have to listen to the public.”

Four prospective candidates said a race against Rouzan will be tough and expensive.

Larry Aubry, a senior consultant for the county Human Relations Commission and finalist for the appointment, and Gloria Grattan, a retired district financial officer and unsuccessful applicant, both said they will run.

Former board member W. R. (Tony) Draper, a manager for Hughes Aircraft Co., and finalist Claude Lataillade, a manager for TRW, said they were considering election bids.

The prospective candidates said one of the central issues in the campaign will be alleged political dealing that made up the board’s selection process and the board’s lack of accountability to the public.

More candidates may surface before the start of the 25-day filing period, which will begin 113 days before the election. The Education Code calls for the election to be held 120 days from when it is declared unless it can be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election within another 30 days. That would permit consolidation with the June 7 state primary. A separate election would cost the district $48,000, while the cost for a combined election would be split between the district and the county, Forgy said.

Inglewood school Supt. Rex Fortune said he had not been notified in writing of the county’s decision. Board President Hill-Hale could not be reached for comment.

Coleman, who is also a vice president of the United Democratic Club, said the community groups would make an endorsement after holding a candidate forum. He also said Hill-Hale has asked to speak to the United Democratic Club next week on “important educational matters.”