The Santa Maria Public Airport District board of directors has filled the vacancy created by Ignacio “Nash” Moreno’s resignation. 

The board last week appointed Marvin Rodriguez to fill the post.

Rodriguez has 25 years of experience in the aerospace manufacturing industry. For the past 13 years, he has served as vice president of operations at True Precision Machining in Buellton.

Rodriguez was one of two people to apply for the vacancy. The other was Jennifer Harrison, vice president of marketing and communications for the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.

Moreno, who served as the board president for a few years, announced at the Dec. 11 meeting that he would be moving out of Division 2 after purchasing a new home in a different area of Santa Maria.

Division 2 includes a large swath of western Santa Maria and Guadalupe.

Since Moreno’s four-year term expires in November, Rodriguez would have to run for the seat to serve beyond December.

During the Dec. 11 meeting, the board decided that Steve Brown will serve as president, with Chuck Adams as vice president, Tony Guy as secretary and Michael Clayton as vice secretary for the next year.

The Santa Maria Public Airport District spans 400 square miles and is one of 10 special districts running airports in California, where most are operated by a city or county.