Out of six candidates, attorney Peter Morgan appointed to replace Dana Dean

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

The BUSD Board of Trustees has a new member: Peter Morgan.

The board gathered Wednesday for a special meeting to select a replacement for Dana Dean, who resigned in March when she was appointed to the Solano County Board of Education.

Of six candidates for the position, Morgan was unanimously approved by Trustees Rosie Switzer, Steve Messina, André Stewart and Gary Wing. The other five applicants were Thelma Bentley, Ellen Blaufarb, Rick Ernst, Nicole Nunes and Tina Thorn.

Rather than hold a special election, the board had opted to appoint someone to complete Dean’s term, which was set to expire this November before the board’s recent vote to switch elections to even-numbered years.

Should that change be approved as expected by the Solano County Board of Supervisors, Morgan will serve as a trustee until November 2014.

The appointment process was in an open format, as outlined for the candidates and public by Switzer. “We’re going to ask you nine questions. You will have a one-minute time limit,” she said Wednesday. “One minute is a really long time when you have to think of an answer quickly.”

Among the questions: “What is your vision for the Benicia Unified School District?” After the questions, each candidates had two minutes to give a closing statement.

The final vote was by roll call, and Morgan was the board’s unanimous choice. He was sworn in by Solano County Superintendent of Schools Jay Speck.

Morgan and his wife Iona moved to Benicia in 2005. He told the board they moved here because of the schools.

“We had young children and the reputation and the services offered by this school district is what drew us,” he told the board during questioning.

“My oldest daughter has had the benefit of going through the middle school and graduating from Benicia High School. She had a wonderful experience there. I have a kindergartner who is in Matthew Turner (Elementary School). My reason to participate is to preserve the great experience my daughter has had for my kindergartner.”

Morgan is an attorney and senior vice president for the Charles Schwab Corp. in San Francisco.

He recently joined the Benicia Education Foundation and participated in the Run for Education.

“I don’t come to this with an agenda or platform of change or expectations. What I want to do is offer the expertise, skills and talents that I have,” he said.

After being approved by the board, he said, “It’s a big job and opportunity. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I do appreciate the engagement of the other applicants. It could have been any one of us. I hope you all continue to participate.”

Morgan’s first meeting as a trustee will be next Thursday, May 2.