Candidate for
Board Member; Contra Costa Community College District; Ward 5

Political Philosophy

HIGHLIGHTS/SUMMARY

• Public servants should serve the public not private interests. They should always ask what the public wants, not impose their opinions on the public.

• My qualifications for Ward 5 Trustee include being a financial analyst for 17 years, a high school math teacher for 10 years, and now a college math professor.

• My goals as Ward 5 Trustee include keeping elected officials, high school teachers, business leaders, and the public in Ward 5 aware of what is happening at the College District. I also will keep in touch with faculty, staff, and students by visiting the campuses and taking at least one course per year.

• I want the College Board to establish 3 advisory committees to advise the Board including on how to raise funds locally and lobby the Legislature for more funding for our 3 colleges.

• Current District bureaucrats keep insisting that a 17-acre campus in Brentwood is all that Far East County needs "for the next 30 years." Will the District self-destruct then? No, the District will go on for decades beyond 30 years so the District must shift to starting a full 110-acre college for Far East County.

For convenience, I have listed my major qualifications for public office (specifically for the Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board Ward 5 but also those that reflect that I have been an elected park commissioner in my community) and then the goals I have when I am elected (which I have developed by taking at least one course at each college and by talking with both District staff and listening to the public including elected officials).

QUALIFICATIONS

17-years experience as a financial analyst: 3 years at a utility regulatory agency, 8 years on Wall Street at Merrill Lynch and Salomon Brothers, 6 years with my own firm.

10-years experience as a high school math teacher: 2 public high schools, 4 private high schools, and a private K-8 school.

Being a math professor at Heald College Concord for one year.

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, University of Florida, 1975.

Master's degree in Economics, University of Florida, 1976.

Single Subject (Mathematics) Teaching Credential, California State University, East Bay, 2004.

Elected Member of the Ambrose Recreation and Park District Board 2002-2006.

5th District County Library Commissioner appointed by Supervisor Federal Glover 2004-present.

Member of Concord Naval Weapons Station reuse planning committee 2006-2008.

GOALS

Use my financial analysis skills to identify areas of College District operations which can be improved or have reduced costs to assure that enough courses are available for students to graduate or transfer to a university without long delays.

Visit city councils and other elected or appointed bodies to increase awareness of the College District as well as increase the willingness of elected officials to support the District.

Visit high schools to meet with teachers to see what it would take for them to encourage their students to attend District colleges both before and after they graduate.

Work with District personnel to expand the successful program to connect District English faculty with high school English faculties to other subject areas.

Work with our State Senators and Assemblymembers to have the Legislature commit to adequate funding for community colleges.

Work with other Board members to create 3 new committees comprised of community volunteers including former and current CCCCD students: Community Advisory Committee, Fundraising Improvement, Community Outreach.

Work with District personnel to create a regular competitive situation report which would anticipate the planned actions of competitors such as Heald College, Silicon Valley College, Western Career College, etc. so that the District can be prepared rather than always being reactive.

Continue visiting District college campuses. Ask students, faculty, and staff what improvements are needed at each campus (and center). Invite other elected officials to participate including Legislators, County Supervisors, City Councilmembers, School Board members, and others.

Encourage everyone to look at how this District started with NOTHING in 1948 and by 1974 had 3 full community colleges in just 26 years. But in the 38 years since LMC opened, the only new facilities opened to serve the County's students have been the small Brentwood Center in 2001 and 7-acre San Ramon Campus in 2006. We must realize that Far East County needs its own full 110-acre community college, not a 17-acre campus based only on a 30-year projection of growth.

Why was LMC started as a 110-acre college rather than just a 17-acre campus? Because the District's leaders in the 1970s did NOT plan for just 30 years but for far beyond 30 years. The District will not self-destruct in 30 years so why limit planning for Far East County to just 30 years?

END