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MyspaceHistorically the most overlooked, unexciting, and often uncontested election in the Santa Barbara political landscape, the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees contest this election season is going to be anything but. With the filing deadline looming — and, more importantly, after months of public outcry about the manner in which city college administrators and trustees have reconciled state budget cuts with the school’s day-to-day offerings — a formidable foursome of candidates, including former mayor Marty Blum, officially threw their hats in the ring Tuesday afternoon for the four available seats on the seven-member board. Joining Blum in the race is current SBCC Association of Continuing Education Students spokesperson Marsha Croninger, former SBCC and UCSB Global Studies professor Peter Haslund, and certified public accountant and SBCC parent Lisa Macker.
The four new candidates (pictured above), who purposely announced their candidacy together on Tuesday outside the County Elections Office in a show of solidarity for one another, are running individual campaigns but with a unified purpose, said community organizer Ted Rhodes, who is helping oversee their efforts. “They all are people who are interested in restoring the trust in the trustees and they all share a common concern about openness and shared governance,” Rhodes explained.
The four-pack of challengers join incumbents Joe Dobbs, first elected in 1971, Des O’Neil, elected in 1994, Kathryn Alexander, elected in 1965, and Sally Green, who was elected in 2006, in the race. According to folks in the election office, three other individuals have pulled papers but have not officially filed for candidacy. The deadline is August 6.
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Comments
I am glad that this slate of candidates is running and I fully support their efforts. To many members of the current board are asleep at the wheel while great damage is being done to the College by thoughtless decisions by the administration. All of this is being done in the name of the budget, but the cuts are all at the bottom affecting part time teachers, students, and members of the community. No pain is being felt by six figure administrators. Ask the current board about what car the current President leases while she cuts programs for seniors and families.
lbsaltzman (anonymous profile)
August 5, 2010 at 12:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you to these four candidates for their interest in education and SBCC.
Some new minds on the SBCC Board of Trustees are definitely needed. 30 year+ terms are TOO long.
thunder (anonymous profile)
August 6, 2010 at 8:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What good news! This is an excellent and experienced group of candidates. Our community and its college will benefit greatly from the civic mindedness of the four candidates. Please restore balance to SBCC. The overpaid administrators and out of touch Trustees need to be balanced by decisionmakers who care about the people of SB.
artfarm (anonymous profile)
August 6, 2010 at 10:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The FOUR NEW CANDIDATES elected to the Board of Trustees will be a welcome change in my book. The Trustees who sit on the Board now have not shown that they can listen to all positions and ACT in times of challenge and independently of Serban. Alexander and Villegas have come close to it, but they have lacked support from the others who are obviously under her thumb. The Board chose the new President and she does not have the leadership style to be head of a community college. They are responsible for her still being there. After all, they "unanimously" gave her their approval recently. The buck stops at the current members of the Board. Thank the incumbents for their time (most served over 15 years - aren't there term limits???) and vote for vital, new Board members to lead the college into the future.
1wahine (anonymous profile)
August 8, 2010 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Marty Blum will bring the same style of fiscal irresponsibility and union compliance that has bankrupted the City of SB to SBCC. If you like the mess at City Hall and want to see the same mess at SBCC - then bring back Marty!
reality_check (anonymous profile)
August 8, 2010 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)