2012 CCCCD Ward 5 Candidate Greg Enholm's Perspectives on the College District

By Greg Enholm

Greg Enholm discusses the Contra Costa Community College District providing perspectives and suggestions.

November 6, 2012 Election

HIGHLIGHTS/SUMMARY

• In 2006, I was asked to challenge the Ward 3 incumbent.

• In 2010, I again challenged the Ward 3 incumbent, this time, she was rejected by a majority of the voters.

• Now Ward 5 does not have an incumbent seeking election.

• My top priority is having a full 110-acre community college started for Far East County residents. I also want to replace student loans with grants and have high school students be able to take courses at our colleges if college-bound or looking for a career.

• I have endorsements including a major County-wide elected official as well as local officials.

• I have made major accomplishments with the Pittsburg City Council, the Concord City Council, and the College Board itself.

• Having seen the devastation caused by the sole emphasis on Math and English in California high schools, I want to move beyond emphasizing STEM to EMASET (English, Mathematics, Arts, Science, Engineering, and Technology).

I was a financial analyst for 17 years before selling my financial advisory firm. I was a high school math teacher for 2000-2009 and have been a college professor at Heald College Concord for one year. I am also the owner of California Electoral Data which publishes Contra Costa Electeds, a 120-page report with key information on elected officials.

In 2006, I was asked by the United Faculty to challenge Sheila Grilli for re-election. I received 16,235 votes (43%) but lost (21,495 57%) primarily because the Building Trades Council endorsed Sheila. I was also endorsed by Public Employees Union Local One.

In 2010, I again challenged Trustee Grilli with the endorsement and a donation by PEU Local One but this time there were two challengers. While we kept Trustee Grilli to 46% (20,727 votes) meaning she was rejected by a majority of the voters, we split the vote with me at 35% (15,821) and Evelyn Centeno at 18% (8,287). Trustee Grilli's margin over me declined to 11% from 14%.

I have continued to keep current with the CCCCD and have been moved by the Board to Ward 5 from Ward 3 along with at least 3,000 voters who voted for me in 2006 and/or 2010. With appointed Trustee Robert Calone (who was appointed by the Board to replace the deceased incumbent Jess Reyes) declining to be a candidate, I filed to be a candidate. This Ward election will be the first in 14 years (since Ward 3 Grilli v. Gordon in 1998) without an incumbent.

REASONS FOR BEING A CANDIDATE

My top concern is that I strongly believe Far East County (Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, and the nearby unincorporated communities including Bethel Island, Byron, Discovery Bay, and Knightsen) deserves and needs a full 110-acre community college, not the 17-acre campus at the southernmost end of Brentwood which cannot be expanded.

Far East County taxpayers have paid full taxes to the College District for 62 years paying to build and operate Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College, and Los Medanos College. Now is their turn to have all the District's taxpayers pay for a full 110-acre college for East County.

While in 2006 I was asked to challenge Sheila by the UF, I made the decision to be a candidate again in 2010 because of my own concerns about the direction of the District. As a financial analyst, I see the District is making too many avoidable mistakes in its budget matters. The Board has no one with substantial financial experience. Neither does anyone in the Administration. Financial disasters such as the Regional Training Institute and the Paris Beauty College were not justifiable.

The fact that two Board members (Nejedly and Grilli) who were present during both disasters are still on the Board troubles me a lot. How can they be trusted during these times of declining revenue to make the best decisions? They have already eliminated classified positions. Having had many of my students go on to DVC and LMC, I also believe having a former high school teacher on the Board is a good idea.

ENDORSEMENTS

I have key endorsements from Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson, Antioch Mayoral Candidate Vice Mayor Wade Harper, Antioch Mayoral Candidate Councilmember Gary Agopian, former Antioch Mayor Freitas who is making a comeback, Antioch City Council member Brian Kalinowski, Antioch City Council candidate Noel Pinto, and Los Medanos Community Healthcare District (Pittsburg and Bay Point) President the late Darnell Turner.

Antioch has the most voters (43,089 of 86,236 in Ward 5)and all my Antioch endorsers are actively campaigning for their own elections with large numbers of volunteers helping their campaigns. Their names are on signs and mailers.

EXPERIENCE WITH COLLEGE DISTRICT AND PROPOSED ACTIVITIES

Since 2004, I have been attending Board meetings and getting to know the Trustees. I have read the minutes of the College Board so I have seen the official record on the District's actions.

The most important challenge is being able to persuade at least two more Board members to support what I propose. Because I have been attending College Board meetings since 2004, I have developed strong relationships with current Board members. I even helped Trustee Nejedly with his unsuccessful Assessor's campaign in 2010 and Trustee Van de Brooke's unsuccessful Supervisor's campaign in 2012. Trustee Marquez and I have served on local councils (he in Richmond and me in East County) which give us common experience with similar communities.

The second challenge is how to put the District back on a growth track. Let's remember this District started just 63 years ago (just 5 years older than me!) with nothing. Yes, we are in trying economic times now but every difficult time ends in a full economic recovery. The District needs to be ready to grow when the funding stops dropping and begins to increase again. Let's remember we have recovered from the horrible pay cuts less than a decade ago. The challenge is to be prepared to assure the increased funding will help in proportion to the cuts made, especially in the classified staff.

The third challenge is to move the 17-acre cannot-be-expanded Trilogy campus to a location where it can grow to a full 110-acre community college, the same size as DVC or LMC, over the next 50 years. Ideally, that growth will allow any future classified staff or faculty member laid-off from CCC, DVC, or LMC to either immediately have a new position at the fourth college or one in the near future.

The fourth challenge is to make the changes necessary to have any high school student be allowed to take at least one course at one of our community colleges and to find sources to convert the terrible student loan burden into grants. Taking a community college course is the best preparation for a college-bound student or for a student interested in starting a career. We must find ways to convert student loans which now exceed credit card debt into grants using innovative methods such as loan forgiveness when a student goes into a specific job or career such as teaching in inner-city schools.

Having been a high school math teacher for 2000-2009, I saw the terrible effect that including ONLY Math and English scores in the API (Academic Performance Index) and CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam). Yes, Math and English benefited but science, arts, music, foreign languages, career education, and other subjects were severely reduced as a result (See http://www.hewlett.org/programs/performing-arts-program/arts-education for details). Thus, I want to move beyond emphasizing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to EMASET (English, Mathematics, Arts, Science, Engineering, and Technology). English (or Language Arts) and the Arts (art, music, drama, foreign languages, social sciences) are essential to student learning and should not be reduced.

I have already demonstrated the ability to have the College Board approve an action I proposed. In 2010, the Youth Council, which appointed a County Library Commissioner, was abolished. I proposed having the College District (which operates the second largest library system in the County including the Dougherty Station Library jointly operated with the County Library) appoint a Library Commissioner. I convinced the Library Commission (I have been the District 5 County Library Commissioner since 2004) to ask the College Board and I convinced the College Board to accept the offer. I then did the work to secure the approvals of the Board of Supervisors and the Contra Costa Mayors Conference. Vice Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh was appointed the Library Commissioner and DVC Library Director Andy Kivel was appointed the alternate. The high-level of these appointees demonstrates how seriously the District considers being on the Library Commission.

As an elected Ambrose Recreation and Park District Director for 2002-2006, I worked out an agreement with the Pittsburg City Manager Marc Grisham to have the Ambrose Park moved from being in the unincorporated County into the Pittsburg city limits with a pledge of $1 million by the City of Pittsburg to upgrade the park which is heavily used by Pittsburg residents. I convinced the ARPD Board to accept the agreement and the park is now within Pittsburg with the financial pledge being fulfilled.

The Concord City Council appointed me out of 25 applicants as one of 3 members of the Concord Naval Weapons Station reuse planning committee to represent people living outside Concord. I served for 2006-2009 as the committee held 36 public hearings about the 5,000 acres as well as holding monthly committee meetings. The City Council adopted our recommendation and that plan is now being put into action.

HAVING THE DISTRICT WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY

I continue to believe that the College District is failing to work with the community it serves now and has served in the past. The Board of Supervisors is advised by 70 boards, commissions, committees, and councils. The College Board is advised by just one: The Bond Oversight Committee required by State Law. Yet, I usually hear positive comments about that committee by Trustees and District Administrators.

I am proposing that 3 more advisory committees be established to advise the Board. These advisory bodies would not make any decisions. They would just offer advice. One would be a diverse Community Advisory Committee comprised of stakeholders such as faculty, classified staff, students, graduates, parents of students, elected officials, community leaders, and others. That CAC would function just like CACs at other elected agencies by holding hearings to listen to what the community has to say about the District.

Another advisory committee, comprised of fundraising experts, would advise each College's foundation on how to raise money.

The third advisory body would try to match the unmet course needs of organizations in the County with the new courses proposed by faculty which, for whatever reason, could not be offered by the Colleges. New courses proposed by faculty which cannot be offered would be posted on a website for the committee members to consider for their own organizations. The committee members would post course ideas on that website for which any faculty member could respond.

All three advisory committees could reduce the need to cut the budget when revenues from the State decline.

The Board needs to have a clearly explained and understood policy on the use of reserve funds. Those reserves should rise in good times and be spent in difficult times.

Having taken courses at all 3 colleges (and now am enrolled in a calculus course at the Brentwood Center) since 1998 and being involved at the Board level since 2004, I must say, based on 17 years as a financial analyst following 100 electric utilities, the "powers-that-be" in this District have rejected the idea of sharing budget cuts equitably by all employees. How else can solely cutting classified staff be explained?

As Ward 5 Trustee, I will argue for equitable sharing of budget cuts both in public and closed Board sessions and to anyone outside the Board meeting who wants my opinion.

But, one reason why I want to convert the 17-acre Trilogy campus into the start of a 110-acre community college for Far East County is to minimize the negative outcomes on the lives and families of laid-off or pay-reduced classified staff members.

My experience with the Concord Naval Weapons Station reuse planning committee convinces me a similar effort will result in a plan for a 110-acre community college for Far East County fully supported by the residents there.

HISTORY OF WARD 5 ELECTIONS: 2000, 2004, AND 2008

Let's look at the history of Ward 5 elections. In total contrast to Wards 3 and 4 where incumbents have been re-elected since 1998 and 1994, the Ward 5 incumbent was defeated in 2000, 2004, and 2008. Amazingly, Jess Reyes defeated Greg Feere [54% 32,737 to 46% 28,134] in 2000 only to lose to JoAnn Cookman in 2004 [57% 29,696 to 43% 22,416], and then Jess defeated JoAnn in 2008 [57% 33,866 to 43% 26,141]. Clearly, Ward 5 has rejected the incumbent three times in a row.

CCCCD Ward 5 Election Results

Year	2000	2004	2008
First Place	32,737 54%	29,696 57%	33,866 56%
Candidate	Reyes	Cookman	Reyes
Second Place	28,134 46%	22,416 43%	26,141 44%
Candidate	Feere*	Reyes*	Cookman*
Difference	4,603	7,280	7,725
Total Votes	60,871	52,112	60,007
Registered	NA	83,566	90,043
Turnout	NA	65,483	74,836
Overall %	NA	78%	83%
Ward 5
Undervote	NA	13,371	14,829
Pct Undervote	NA	26%	25%
*Incumbent

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