Five people have applied for a chance to serve on the Omaha Public Schools board.
A vacancy was created when Mark Martinez, a board member for more than seven years, gave up his seat after being confirmed by Congress as a U.S. marshal.
The Subdistrict 7 seat represents an area from Cornhusker Road to just north of F Street and from 36th to 60th Streets.
The applicants:
ŸJohn Farnan, 42, is director of marketing for Simpson Supply, an acoustic tile distributor. He ran unsuccessfully for Bellevue City Council in 2000. His children attend the Bellevue Public Schools.
ŸRoger Garcia, 23, works as a community liaison for the City of Omaha, focusing on south Omaha. Garcia grew up in Columbus, Neb., and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
ŸJuliana Garza, 33, handles quality assurance and education and student support services for the Latino Center of the Midlands. She grew up in Texas and holds a master of public administration degree from UNO.
ŸLacey Merica, 26, is an administrative aide for State Sen. Heath Mello. She attended OPS from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating from Omaha Bryan in 2001. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
ŸBarbara Velazquez, 51, is coordinator of international and intercultural education at Metropolitan Community College. According to her application, she has been an OPS parent and step-parent since the late 1980s.
Each applicant will be interviewed by current board members in a public session Feb. 8. An appointment is expected on or before Feb. 17.
The seat will be on the ballot in the May primary and the November general election. The appointed member could seek election as an incumbent.
Contact the writer:
444-1037, michaela.saunders@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
