ALPENA — After interviewing seven candidates for an open seat on the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education, the board unanimously appointed Kenneth Gembel as its newest trustee.

The board also named Adam Poll, president and CEO of the Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce, as its second choice in the event Gembel declined the board’s offer.

Attempts to reach Gembel were unsuccessful.

President Gordon Snow said Gembel moved to Alpena in 2013 and previously served on the Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and currently serves on the University of Michigan-Flint Industrial Advisory Board.

Snow said Gembel applied for the position on the Alpena school board because he enjoys advocating for education.

The board interviewed the seven candidates over two nights, with Gembel, Poll, Jessica Luther, and Sarah Fritz interviewing Monday night and Brad Imhoff, Sara Grochowski, and Amy Ward interviewing on Wednesday night. Ward also applied and interviewed for a vacant board seat in January.

“This was an incredibly talented, determined dedicated pool of applicants and we could have been happy with any one of the seven because each one would have brought something different to the board,” Snow said.

Trustee Tom Hilberg agreed.

“This is a tough decision because we got a lot of good — they’re all good candidates,” Hilberg said after the interviews on Wednesday.

Snow said Gembel now must take the oath of office and have his email account set up, which Gembel would do this week.

Trustees selected Gembel for the appointment using precedent the board set in selecting Superintendent David Rabbideau in September and Trustee Anna Meinhardt in January. Trustees list their first, second, and third choice of candidates and the top candidate is nominated for the position.

The board seat became vacant after former trustee Steven Donajkowski resigned last month after being criticized for a sexualized comment he made on Facebook about Vice President Kamala Harris. It was not the first time Donajkowski had been criticized for posts he made on social media.

The board passed a resolution to censure Donajkowski because of the comments and because those comments disrupted district operations. The resolution to censure Donajkowski states the board completely, without reservation, disavows the Feb. 5 Facebook post and comments made by him.