The recent elections in Yuma and La Paz counties resulted in two new members being elected to the District Governing Board of Arizona Western College. Melissa Wright won the election in La Paz County's District Two, and Maria Chavoya won in Yuma County's District Five. For both new members, their six-year term begins this month.

Meet Melissa Wright

Wright, grew up in La Paz county and attended schools there. She has worked for the Parker Unified School District as a K-3 tutor and as the Librarian for Blake Primary School. She currently works for PAACE (Parker Area Alliance for Community Empowerment), serving as Director of Community Relations and spearheading the PAACE Coalition as community representative to tackle drug and alcohol abuse among young people. She also serves as Program Manager for PAL (Players After-school Learning Program).

Wright ran against James Brouillette to fill a seat occupied by Anna Camacho. District Two includes the cities of Wenden, Salome, Quartzsite, Vicksburg and Alamo in La Paz County.

Meet Maria Chavoya

Maria Chavoya, who grew up in Yuma County and attended schools in the area, is actively involved in community events and programs in Yuma and San Luis, Ariz. Chavoya has worked in public relations at the Gadsden Elementary School District, and has served as the Chief Operations Officer/ Program Coordinator at Campesinos Sin Fronteras and as Editor of Bajo El Sol, a local Spanish-language weekly published by the Yuma Sun. She currently works as a Community Connections Specialist at Cenpatico of Arizona.

Chavoya ran against Edward Snook; both were write-in candidates. District Five includes a major portion of the City of Yuma.

Other Board seats

Two other Board seats also were up for re-election. In District Three, which includes Wellton and the Foothills, incumbent Dennis Booth ran uncontested. Booth had been appointed to this position in August of 2011 to fill the unexpired term of retiring Board member Dr. Marjorie Barcomb.

Olivia Zepeda's position was affected by the recent redistricting. She is currently serving on the Board in District Five as an appointee filling the vacancy of Steve Shadle. In the recent election, she ran against Doug Mellon and Fernando Quiroz in District Four, where she resides under the new district boundaries, which include West Yuma County, Somerton, San Luis and South Yuma Country.

Randy Hartless from District One in La Paz County retains his position until 2014. District One includes Parker, Poston, Bouse, Cibola and Ehrenberg.

Photo by AWC Photo Services