Pinnacle Editorial View
Three of the five candidates in the Gavilan Community College
Board of Trustees race were clear standouts in editorial board
interviews.
Pinnacle Editorial View
Three of the five candidates in the Gavilan Community College Board of Trustees race were clear standouts in editorial board interviews.
That’s a good thing, and well timed. The district stands at the threshold of tremendous growth, with plans being laid for full new campuses in Coyote Valley and Hollister. This will be the most important era in the district since its inception.
One of the five candidates has scarcely campaigned, has not participated in any of the numerous public forums available to candidates and the public or agreed to sit for an editorial board interview.
The other four – incumbents Kent Child and Elvira Robinson and challengers Dee Brown and Reba Jones – all would contribute significantly to the future of the community college. But with only two seats available, the experience of Child and the enthusiasm and innovative ideas of Brown give them the edge in our view.
Child, a retired professor who spent much of his career at Gavilan, was the voice of reason when the district’s selection of a site for the Hollister campus became contentious. Child and Robinson led the effort to assemble a citizens’ review committee, and the selection of a campus site is moving via consensus now.
By all accounts, the college is in wonderful shape. Enrollment is approaching 6,000. The school enjoys broad community support, evidenced by voter approval of Measure E in 2004, which will bankroll construction of new campuses. The district is in sound financial condition.
So why swap a successful incumbent for an untested challenger?
Brown is hardly a stranger to education. A longtime member of the Hollister School District Board of Trustees, Brown has worked as a teacher, a principal and a college instructor, where she now teaches future teachers. She has devoted her life to education, and understands it as few can.
In her interview, she shared many of the perspectives and ideas advanced by Child and Jones. The difference is her experience and her demonstrated ability to turn ideas into action. Brown suggests that each of Gavilan’s future campuses specialize, recognizing each community’s needs and assets. In addition to serving as feeders to four-year universities, Gavilan should develop its role as an affordable alternative to expensive trade schools, producing citizens with marketable skills.
Jones, also has a broad background. University educated, she has traveled widely, and displays a sincere interest in the district. She is frank about opposing a campus in downtown Hollister. She would make a fine trustee, albeit one without Brown’s history in education.
Robinson notes that, as a retired attorney, she can devote many hours to the district. But after 16 years as a trustee, she seemed in her interview to be content with the district of today.
Child and Brown have a vision for the district of tomorrow.
Child, too, retains his enthusiasm, tempered with deep experience. Every question posed to him produced a thoughtful, detailed response. He understands that each segment of the college district has different needs, and he understands those needs. He is a proponent of outreach to first-in-family college students and is a proponent of new urbanism as it can relate to college planning.
