Seven people applied for the vacant position in Pima Community College's Governing Board's District 5, according to a post on Blog for Arizona by Carolyn Classen. The deadline to apply was Friday at 5 p.m.

The seat has been vacant since June, after long-time board member Marty Cortez—who was first elected to the board in 1994—announced her resignation citing personal reasons. 

“I have full confidence that (PCC) Chancellor (Lee) Lambert has and will, with the support of the board and dedicated college employees, continue to move the college forward in providing educational opportunity for thousands of individuals as well as contributing to the business and economic growth of the community. It has been an honor to have served as a Pima Community College board member over the years," she said in a statement at the time. 

Cortez's current term would have expired in 2018. The person selected to fill in Cortez's seat will serve through 2016 and will be up for election in November of next year. 

Arizona law requires Pima County Superintendent of Schools Linda Arzoumanian to choose Cortez's replacement. 

Lambert says a selection committee will assist Arzoumanian in her decision-making. The committee will include two community members who live in District 5, a local business leader, faculty, staff and student representatives and the superintendent of a local school district, according to an article by the Arizona Daily Star. 

The applicants are: Cecilia Cruz, Martha Durkin, deputy city manager for the city of Tucson, Richard Fridena, an educator who ran for a seat in the PCC board in 2012, Luiz Gonzales, James Mielke, Jim Murphy and Francis Saitta, who has previously run for the PCC board and ran for the Tucson Unified School District board last year.