Councilman Seeks Presidency : Instructor Announces for Golden West Post

Huntington Beach City Councilman Peter M. Green is running for president.

President of Golden West College, that is.

In a development that both he and a college official called “quite unusual,” Green’s candidacy for college president--which isn’t an elective post--was announced in an ad in last week’s edition of the Branding Iron, the student newspaper at the Huntington Beach community college.

Said the large type of the ad: “Go With Green . . . Peter Green for GWC President.”

Green, who is a biological sciences instructor at Golden West, said the ad was placed by a group of friends and was a way of announcing his candidacy.

“I’ve had mixed reactions from people on campus,” Green said Monday. “Some thought it was quite an improper thing to do, and others thought it was a nice way of making an announcement.”

Interest Underscored

The Green-for-president ad underscored the interest in community college circles for the vacancy at Golden West. According to the Coast Community College District, which governs the college, there have been 75 applicants for the presidency.

Candidates, in addition to Green, include acting Golden West President Fred Garcia.

Phillis Basile, vice chancellor for human resources, said Monday that an eight-member selection committee was named last week and will narrow the 75 candidates down to five. The district board of trustees then will pick the president from the finalists. Early May is the target date for final selection, said Basile.

Garcia took over the college’s reins June 1, shortly after the trustees announced that it was shifting then-President Lee Stevens to an administrative position at district headquarters. Stevens was transferred--a move the district board called “a lateral shift”--after he received a no-confidence vote from the Golden West faculty.

The ad in behalf of Green listed 25 prominent politicians, business people and educators and said that each had written a letter of support to the district in behalf of Green’s candidacy.

Supporters Listed

Those listed as supporting Green for president include Huntington Beach Mayor Robert P. Mandic Jr. and Westminster Mayor James Neal. Green said Monday that Mandic’s wife, Connie, was the one in charge of the ad and of the Citizens for Peter Green group, which was listed as having paid for the $154.95 college newspaper ad.

Green has been on the faculty at Golden West since 1970. Before that, he served as president of St. Gregory’s College, a two-year institution in Shawnee, Okla. He was an upset winner for the Huntington Beach City Council in 1984, running on an environmental platform and defeating several well-known candidates who greatly outspent him in the campaign.

“I think the college needs to be more active in the community,” Green said. He said he would continue to be on the City Council if appointed president of Golden West.