CHULA VISTA
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Five candidates are running for two seats on the board of Southwestern College, which has had four presidents in a little more than two years and lost all four of its vice presidents in the past 14 months.
In May, the county grand jury criticized the board for micromanaging. The college president spent the end of August trying to figure out how an item was added to a board agenda without his consent.
The item would have had the board consider whether to extend the employment of vice president Greg Sandoval for three months. Sandoval resigned in the wake of sexual-harassment allegations in June, then unsuccessfully tried to rescind his resignation.
Meanwhile, the college is asking voters for a tax increase to pay for a $389 million bond measure, Proposition R, to repair and upgrade the main campus in Chula Vista and its satellite campuses in National City, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro.
The college board oversees a budget of $96 million that funds the education of about 18,000 students.
Brett Davis, Jean Roesch and Mitch Thompson are running for Seat No. 1 on the five-member board. Nick Aguilar and David Agosto are running for Seat No. 3. The seats do not correspond to geographic areas. Candidates for each seat are elected by voters from throughout the college district, which covers all of South County and Coronado.
One issue that divided the board is whether Sandoval's contract should be extended.
Davis, of Chula Vista, who owns a nutrition business, said he would be open to considering Sandoval's status if he is elected.
“There would have to be something really that never came out,” Davis said. But if new information was brought to light, “I'd probably look at it.”
Davis, who owns a nutrition business, said that although incumbent Roesch has done a good job in her two terms, he supports term limits.
Davis opposes Proposition R, which would impose an annual surcharge of $19.60 per $100,000 in assessed value on property tax bills.
“I agree the facilities and buildings are in desperate need to be repaired, but it's simply irresponsible to ask constituents to accept an increase in their property taxes” in the current economic climate, he said.
Roesch, of Coronado, is running on her experience as a Southwestern board member, a local high school guidance counselor and a former Coronado Unified School District board member.
She downplayed the loss of the college's vice presidents. “We have an opportunity to take our time and hire people that will really be a top-notch fit for the college,” Roesch said.
Roesch, who took out papers to run for the county Board of Education, said she ultimately decided to run for a third term at Southwestern to support new president Raj Chopra and the bond measure.
She said she would like to begin meeting regularly with the Academic Senate, the faculty governing group, and with the student government.
“I think the board needs to be on campus more to hear the concerns,” she said.
Roesch also said that she hopes a Basic Skills Committee recently formed at the college will help it better deal with the large percentage of students who arrive at Southwestern underprepared for college-level studies.
Thompson, a financial consultant who lives in Chula Vista, said his business experience is his edge.
“I just viewed the board as not having some skill sets – things like a finance background,” Thompson said.
He endorses the grand jury report's call for term limits for community college board members and campaign contribution limits for board members' campaigns. He's undecided on the bond measure.
“It would be an answer to a lot of needs, but the college has gone through quite a lot of expansion in the last few years,” Thompson said.
He's concerned that the college hasn't examined closely enough the operation costs of its facilities – costs that could take money away from instruction.
As a board member, he would like to review the college's efforts at increasing the transfer rate, including what more the college can do to help the Sweetwater Union High School District better prepare its students for college work.
Aguilar, of Bonita, is on the county Board of Education.
He said the leadership turnover has been costly. He praised president Chopra, but he also wondered whether having an experienced vice president for business would have resulted in advice that prevented the cutback in classes this year. Aguilar understands the cuts mean some students have been turned away.
Aguilar also cited the grand jury's contention that board members overstep their roles as policymakers as one that needs to be addressed. The college's accrediting organization raised the concern four years ago. Losing accreditation could affect the value of the college's degrees and its eligibility for financial aid.
“It puts access to higher education for the South Bay community very much in jeopardy,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar founded a task force to plan South County's career technical education. Since Sweetwater withdrew from the task force, he said, he will propose approaching local charter schools about ways to coordinate their curriculum to do better vocational education.
Agosto, also of Bonita, has been on the board since 2000. He didn't return phone calls for this story, but in a written statement said construction of new satellite campuses on time and under budget was a major achievement.
In a third term, he would like to help the college achieve full accreditation, closely monitor spending of Proposition R funds, ensure that the San Ysidro campus opens on time, lead the district's improvement in computing services for management and teaching and repair the college's image.
Agosto said, “I led the very difficult process of clearing up mismanagement at the top which necessitated the departure of a CEO,” and that the new president needs consistent board support.
Agosto also said that he's concerned about claims of ethical misconduct by board members and staffers, and wants to make sure the allegations are handled fairly.
Chris Moran: (619) 498-6637; chris.moran@uniontrib.com
