Arts Bound: Eight years of part-time pay...

Arts Bound: Eight years of part-time pay for full-time work have sent Los Angeles Board of Education member Mark Slavkin packing. . . . Slavkin, the board’s West Valley representative, will go to work for the Getty Foundation’s Education Institute for the Arts in February, though he’ll remain on the school board until June.

Valley Marshal: He’s no David Hasselhoff, but Brooks Gardner says he’s honored to be named grand marshal for next year’s San Fernando Valley Fair. . . . Who’s Brooks Gardner? He’s a veteran actor and Burbank resident--and perhaps best known as the rugged cowpoke on commercials for Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus Restaurants.

Big Name? In those ads, Gardner snatches fish out of a rushing stream or stares down a hungry bear. But did the fair draw a big enough name? “This is someone who laughs with bears. He tells nature to shut up, and nature does,” said fair spokesman Vince Maffei. “He represents the Valley and the wholesome family atmosphere of the fair.”

Road Test: The Glendale Freeway was spared a pounding on Tuesday when a scheduled road test was postponed until Saturday. . . . A Caltrans van will spend the day on a 500-foot stretch of the freeway near Fern Lake, testing the road by dropping weights up to 16,000 pounds onto it.