An executive with the Partnership for Economic Development and a former college teacher active in the Havasu Foundation for Higher Education will represent Lake Havasu City on the governing board of the newly formed Joint Technological Education District.

At a special meeting Thursday, the Governing Board of the Lake Havasu Unified School District unanimously selected James Gray and Pamela Meyers as the district's contribution to the body that will oversee the Western Arizona Vocational Education District or WAVED.

Board President Becky Goldberg, who was a candidate for one of the seats, wasn't present for the vote.

Gray is the PED's marketing director and Meyers, who holds a Ph.D. in health and nutritional sciences, serves on the HFHE board of directors and heads its public relations committee.

"I'm very excited to be back in education at a different level," said Meyers, who was in the audience when the board voted. "The JTED is a monumental step for this community ... If it hadn't been for vocational education, I wouldn't be where I am right now. So this is a passion for me, it really is."

Board member Pat Rooney said Gray's connection to the PED, which works to attract jobs and businesses to Lake Havasu City, was a strong selling point for his appointment.

"They've got a vested interest in seeing the JTED is successful. Here you have a large organization that's geared toward this," Rooney said.

Gray could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The board members' discussion of who to appoint came down to whether the district would be better served by someone with school board experience, such as Goldberg, or an outsider.

"(Either way) we're going to have adequate representation because they're all people in our community," Rooney said. "I'm not concerned about adequate representation. I want to get a broad base. I don't want parochial thinking."

Board member John Creason echoed Rooney's sentiments.

"This is a new venture we're going into, and from that stand point as much new blood as we can put into it the better," he said. "To me, what's the broadest spectrum we can put in? That way we get the most out of it."

The newly appointed board members will join representatives from the Parker and Kingman unified school districts and the Colorado Union High School District at the first meeting of the WAVED board in January.

Marv Lamer, superintendent of the Valley Academy for Career & Technology Education, a JTED based in Cottonwood, will advise and train the WAVED board as it organizes and undertakes its selection of the joint district's first superintendent.

You may contact the reporter at dparker@havasunews.com.