Gil Riego Jr.
A new Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) board trustee will be appointed today to replace Michael Waxman, who resigned from office and relocated to Washington, D.C.
Waxman was the former president of the LACCD board of trustees.
Waxman left the board at a very critical point for the LACCD because the board will also need to choose a new chancellor when Darroch “Rocky” Young will leave his top post in August.
The person who comes in to take Waxman’s position will be a crucial part of the decision as to who will be the new LACCD chancellor.
The chancellor holds the highest ranking non-elected post in the district.
Thirty-one candidates applied for the position as the new trustee, according to Carl Friedlander, president of American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, Local 1521.
The faculty guild is the teachers union and negotiates the faculty payroll issues, health benefits, retirement benefits, etc.
In a previous news release, Senior Vice Chancellor Dr. Adriana Barrera said the board of trustees had two options.
They could either have a special election or appoint someone to fill the remainder of Waxman’s term.
As of now, the trustee will be appointed by the board and there will be no special election.
This trustee will serve the remainder of Waxman’s term which is through June 30, 2009.
The appointed person will, however, have to run for office through the general elections in two years time.
“I think its better that the person is appointed rather than an election taking place right now because elections are costly and we can always use the money elsewhere,” said Friedlander. “If the cost issue was not there then I would prefer doing elections.”
According to Friedlander, conducting a special election can cost about $8 million.
The college district would have to pay this to an agency to organize the event.
Deborah Kaye, faculty chair of Los Angeles Valley College Accreditation Team, feels the same way about an election.
“Elections are expensive,” said Kaye, who is also the recording secretary of the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, AFT 1521.
“Most people from the general public do not really know the candidates as well as they would know Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, so they may not always vote for the right candidate but if the person is appointed then they are interviewed and the qualifications are assessed properly,” she added.
LACCD board of trustees meets twice a month on Wednesdays and serve as the primary decision makers involving financial, educational and personnel matters for the district.
The deadline to apply for this position was March 27.
“The appointed person should be someone who cares about education and maybe someone who has a background in education,” said Kaye. “It’s hard for someone to come in from a different background and take responsibility of this job because it is a very complex one.”
“We need an open-minded person who is always accessible and supports the faculty and the board.”
Kaye also added that the ideal candidate must also be able to ask a lot of questions and is curious enough to seek out the proper and thorough answers instead of being satisfied with the one he is given.
“The new trustee must also be someone who can work well with legislators in Sacramento, lobbying for the different issues related to the LACCD,” added Friedlander.
LACCD is the biggest community college district in America and includes nine colleges spread throughout 36 cities in the greater Los Angeles area. Elected members of the LACCD board of trustees are responsible for making decisions that concern the future of more than 130,000 students.
It is important for the trustees to come down to the colleges regularly and learn more on how each one of these campuses can be improved.
According to the LACCD Web site, Michael Waxman has accepted a position as vice president of Hyde Park Communications, which is a Washington, D.C.- based public affairs firm.
Waxman was first elected to the board in 2001 and re-elected for a second four- year term in July 2005.
A LACCD news release states that under Waxman’s leadership, the Los Angeles voters have passed two extremely important historic bond measures, totaling more than $2.4 billion, referring to Proposition A and AA.
Proposition AA, a $980 million bond measure to fund crucial renovations in the nine LACCD colleges, was passed on May 20, 2003.
It is this bond measure that paid for the recent constructions and changes to the Pierce College campus, such as the establishment of the Pierce Village and the renovations of the 30 classrooms around the botanical garden.
Proposition A, supporting the same cause, was passed by the voters in 2001.
The LACCD board of trustees consists of seven elected members and a student trustee.
Each of the elected members serves a four-year term. The student trustee serves a one-year term.
A news release by the LACCD states that the new trustee will fill ‘seat #2’ in the board of seven.
Applications will be considered today at the board meeting and the new trustee, whose name will be announced today, will be sworn in during the next board meeting on April 25.
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