Ohlone candidates have mostly praise for school; Three candidates are vying for two seats
- October 13, 2010
Ohlone College leaders have to like the way the race is unfolding to represent Fremont on the community college district's board of trustees.
With two seats up for grabs, incumbent Garrett Yee and challengers Jan Giovannini-Hill and Ishan Shah can't say enough good things about the school, the board and the administration.
"I'm really pleased with what I see there," said Giovannini-Hill, an administrator at Cal State East Bay, who lost a 2006 election bid to outgoing Trustee John Weed.
Shah, a recent Mission San Jose High School graduate who just enrolled at Ohlone, said he is looking to "sustain what we have."
All three candidates acknowledge that the school isn't facing many divisive issues for the board to tackle.
Like all community college districts, Ohlone has been severely impacted by state funding cuts, which forced the school to reduce classes last summer. However, community college financing is set by the state, and there is little the board can do to generate more revenue.
In prior elections, the board itself has been one of the biggest issues.
An accreditation commission scolded trustees two years ago for trying to micromanage the college's affairs and failing to unite behind board decisions -- charges that several board members privately blamed on their colleague, Bob Brunton.
But Brunton lost his 2008 re-election bid, and the board decided to focus primarily on broad policy issues instead of the nitty-gritty operations of the school.
As a result, board meetings have become less contentious and much shorter, typically ending around 9:30 p.m. instead of 11:30 p.m., Yee said.
The board's two major actions this year have been to put a facilities bond initiative -- Measure G -- before voters this year and to change the system for electing trustees.
Rather than allow challengers to pick the trustee they want to run against, races are now set by city, with two seats reserved for Newark and the other five representing Fremont and part of Union City.
No one challenged the two Newark incumbents, Rich Watters and Bill McMillin, both of whom will be automatically re-elected.
In Fremont, however, Weed's decision not to seek re-election, after more than 30 years on the board, set up the three-person race for two seats.
Jan Giovannini-Hill
Giovannini-Hill says she understands "public higher education from the inside out," having worked for 40 years at Cal State East Bay.
"I think with my background, I can be the complete package -- someone who can bring seasoned knowledge and a lot of life experience," she said.
All four of Giovannini-Hill's children have taken classes at Ohlone. she said.
Noting that one of her sons, who was laid off from the NUMMI auto plant earlier this year, is taking classes elsewhere, Giovannini-Hill said she'd like to see Ohlone offer more vocational classes that could be of use to unemployed manufacturing workers.
She'd also like to shift the gender balance on the board, which currently consists of six men and only one woman.
Giovannini-Hill supports current board policy to eventually lease out the land fronting Mission Boulevard to developers, but not to sell it.
As for other ways to raise more revenue, Giovannini-Hill acknowledged there wasn't much the college could do independent of the state.
She said that students might want to consider paying fees to build new facilities that could be rented to the public.
Jan Giovannini-Hill
Age: 61
Occupation: Financial analyst for Cal State East Bay
City of residence: Fremont
Family: Married with four children
Education: Master's in public administration/organizational change, Cal State East Bay
Elected positions held: None
Other experience: Secretary of the Tri-City Democratic Forum, Fremont Police Department volunteer, led Fourth of July Parade organizing committee twice.
Party affiliation: Democrat
Car you drive: Infinity QX4
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