Frank Hoover Appointed To Fill Vacancy On Mead School Board

As an amatuer juggler, Frank Hoover has tossed another club in the air.

The Mead School Board appointed Hoover, a lawyer who learned to juggle from his eight-year-old son, as a replacement member Monday night.

Hoover fills a vacancy left by the resignation of another lawyer, John Riherd. Hoover will serve a year and have to run for election in the November 1996 election.

The appointment is the first change to the Mead board in eight years.

Hoover is a partner in the downtown law firm Woeppel, Hoover and Kamitomo, which specializes in child injury cases.

Board president Mary Jane Thompson said Hoover was chosen from five other candidates because he had a track record as a lawyer with a social conscience (no lawyer jokes, please). Hoover has volunteered as a board member for Spokane Legal Services, which offers free legal representation to the poor, for the Vanessa Behan Respite Nursery, and has worked with the Spokane County Court Appointed Special Advocates since 1981.

“He has a real interest in community service and serving kids,” said Thompson.

Hoover said he does not have an agenda, but will play on his strength as a “concensus-builder” developed by years of legal mediation.

“My legal training will allow me to analyze both sides of an issue and balance the pros and cons,” said Hoover.

Hoover is married and has three children. Eight year-old Michael is an accomplished juggler and taught his dad a few basics. Hoover also coaches soccer and enjoys skiing.

“He may have more things to juggle than he knows,” said Thompson.

, DataTimes