Five candidates vying for one seat vacated by Glendale Unified School District school board member Mary Boger will be answering questions posed by the Glendale Unified School District board this afternoon beginning at 6 p.m. at the district office at 223 N. Jackson St. in Glendale.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting.

The five candidates are Kevin Cordova Brookey, Todd Hunt, Elizabeth  Manasserian, Jason Nyhan and Sandy Russell.

The five applicants were chosen by GUSD board president Greg Krikorian and vice president Christine Walters, and will answer predetermined questions from all board members. Boger, then president of the board, gave up her seat due to medical reasons. Initially 16 people applied for the seat. Krikorian and Walters reviewed the applicants and narrowed that number to the top five candidates.

Below is information on the candidates in alphabetical order:

Kevin Cordova-Brookey is an actor, producer, director and company manager. He currently serves on the Glendale Education Foundation board of directors, has been the first vice president of Programs and Education for Glendale Council PTA from 2013 to present, is First District PTA Reflections chair from 2013 to present, was the president of Rosemont Middle School PTA from 2012 to 2014, is on the Crescenta Valley High School PTSA board since 2010, was she Monte Vista Elementary PTA head room representative from 2010 to 2012 and was president of Monte Vista Elementary Foundation from 2010 to 2011.

He is married to Brian Cordova-Brookey and has three children, one a 2013 graduate from Crescenta Valley High School who now attends Pasadena City College, and two other still attending CVHS.

Todd Hunt was born and raised in Glendale and attended Mark Keppel Elementary, Eleanor J. Toll Junior High and Herbert Hoover High School graduating in 1981. He is a graduate of UC Irvine with a degree in political science. He and his wife Pam have four children, all graduates of CVHS; his youngest child graduated in 2014.

He is president of the Kiwanis Club of Glendale and is very active throughout the entire community including currently serving on the boards of the Glendale Educational Foundation, Glendale YWCA, Glendale Police Foundation and Prom Plus. He is the past president of the Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council. For the GUSD, he served as chairman of the Superintendent’s Facilities Advisory Committee and Technology Sub-committee for the past three years. He also worked with district staff on Measure S projects and served on the Measure K Bond Oversight Committee and the Superintendent’s Community Advisory Committee.

He coached Little League and AYSO soccer and is a certified Special Olympics coach. He can also be found at the Snack Shack during football games and behind the grill at Prom Plus and community barbecues.

Hunt is the senior vice president at a software development firm in Pasadena.

Elizabeth Manasserian has been active in the community for many years. She is a 32-year resident of Glendale and owns her business. She was the Glendale Council PTA president from 2010 to 2012. She started the first community forum on public education with the Five Star Coalition, an organization that represents Pasadena, South Pasadena, Burbank, La Cañada Flintridge and Glendale districts.

She has traveled to Sacramento several times working with the California State Legislation on public education and public safety for kids’ issues.

Manasserian is past president of Glendale Healthy Kids and is presently the president of the Glendale Rotary Club-Noon and serves on the Glendale Education Foundation board. She has been recognized with several awards including the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year Award.

Manasserian has earned a masters degree in engineering from USC. Her two sons are graduates of USC, with one son continuing onto law school.

Sandy Russell has served for many years on PTA boards. She was president, parliamentarian, vice president of membership and chairperson for legislation while serving on the Mountain Avenue Elementary PTA board. She held the positions of president, vice president of legislation, recording secretary and leadership for the Glendale Council PTA. At Rosemont PTA she was parliamentarian and is currently serving as president.

Beyond PTA she is involved in many organizations including Local Control Funding Formula Parent Advisory Committee, is a sustaining member of National Charity League Juniors, Habitat for Humanity for Greater L.A., Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena, chairman of Verdugo School to Career Coalition, Boy Scouts of America, and is the current recording secretary for Glendale Education Foundation. She also participates in events with CV Alliance.

Attempts to contact Jason Nyan were unsuccessful.