Local Elections : College District Foes No Pair of Bookends : Board of Trustees Race Between French, Colby Is Something of a Study in Contrasts

The contrasts are clear between incumbent Gene French and challenger Fred Colby in the race for a seat on the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.

French began his service on the school board in 1963, when Colby was 15 years old. Colby attended Mesa College between 1968 and 1970, while French was already in the midst of determining curriculum and student needs.

French has run an almost-invisible campaign, spending next to nothing and instead relying on his incumbency by gambling that a majority of San Diegans are comfortable with the existing four-campus system.

Faculty Contributions

Colby, a fund-raising consultant for arts organizations, has spent close to $60,000 in the past three months to gain name identification, relying on contributions from more than 300 faculty members--out of 461 who work full time--who are upset with the present board, and with French in particular.

French has strongly supported a foundation established by the board. Colby has sharply criticized it. The foundation is now the subject of a legal battle between the district and disgruntled faculty members, who allege the foundation has illegally used revenue belonging to the district to set up courses that compete with its own courses that use part-time instructors.

French believes his continued presence on the board is vital while the district welcomes a new chancellor and moves to implement state legislation designed to strengthen academic links between the community colleges and the California State University and University of California systems.

But Colby argues that “it’s time for a new direction for this district,” a point he has repeated frequently during an almost nonstop campaign since the June primary, when he finished second to French in the District B race.

“We’ve got a dynamic new chancellor and we’re going to have an enthusiastic Evonne Schulze on the board,” Colby said, referring to J. William Wenrich, the chancellor, and Schulze, a longtime San Diego community and educational activist who is running for another seat against only token opposition. “I’d like to be part of that as well.”

Colby maintains that French has become far too passive in his many years of service on the five-member board, which sets policies and oversees programs at Mesa, Miramar and City colleges, as well as for continuing education classes sponsored at many sites throughout the city.

“This district is far too reactive to events, despite the fact that one out of every two adults in the city takes a course at a community college at some point in their lives,” Colby said. “There are overcrowded facilities, a failure to anticipate growth, a failure to lobby the state for all the funds we need and a failure in the outreach programs to really get the community involved in a major way.”

For example, Colby said, prominent San Diegans such as Horton Plaza developer and civic leader Ernest W. Hahn and City Councilman Wes Pratt should be persuaded to become involved in community college issues.

“We should get their input on committees and projects, such as including things such as a library or museum in a new Centre City East City Hall complex that nearby City College could be a part of,” Colby said.

Colby’s support from faculty members includes a powerful organization of teachers at Mesa College that has pumped thousands of dollars into his campaign. He says the faculty support symbolizes major problems with the present board.

“The fact that more than half of the faculty feels that they have been ignored and not treated as first-class citizens is a very important point,” he said.

Colby has also attacked French for voting for lifetime health benefits for the board after only eight years of service, in contrast to the 12-year minimum required of other state employees. Colby cites that action in asserting that French has lost touch with the district, saying French has failed to attend many meetings of faculty and administrators that should be of high interest to board members.

French has spent little time at public forums rebutting Colby’s charges. But, in an interview, the Scripps Ranch minister sharply attacked Colby for taking so much campaign money from faculty members.

“My greatest concern about this election is to see the volume of money he is raising and the source of the money,” said French, who has spent a little over $1,000 so far. “The issue is very, very clear: Do you want a teachers’ representative on the board? Because there is little question that he is in the pocket of teachers, and that is like letting the fox in the henhouse, when you have special-interest groups trying to take over the board.

“I do understand his political reality of needing some visibility, since he has never had anything to do up until now with being involved with community colleges, with being an activist for them or serving on any committees for them,” French said.

French said he does not understand why faculty members are so upset with his tenure.

“We just gave them the best two-year contract of any board in the state, with a 15% salary increase over two years, where the national average has been 3%,” he said. “There simply is a group of dissident teachers who always crusade against this board during each election. . . . They are anti-district and anti-administration and stir up the emotions of other teachers, so this is the outcome, where we have another attempt by this special-interest group.”

French maintains that there are “no other real issues” and says the district is in the best shape, financially and academically, in its history.

“We are spending $8.5 million for a new campus at Miramar, we are spending $2 million on a new police academy, there is a good positive spirit throughout the district and the district itself has been hailed as a leader for districts throughout California,” French said.

“So there are no overriding issues on why there should be a change.”

French praised the district’s agreement last year with UC San Diego, which guarantees a community college student entry to UCSD in the junior year, providing the student takes a prescribed series of community college courses and maintains a certain grade level.

The district is working on a similar arrangement with San Diego State University, he said, as another way to strengthen its role as an academic feeder to four-year universities. Until now, the community college role in this area has been weak, despite being called for in the state’s educational master plan.

French did vote in June against Wenrich’s appointment, saying at the time that he was bothered by faculty distrust of Wenrich at the Michigan community college where he served as president.

“But I am very pleased that he has been addressing the concerns that I had, that he is meeting with faculty members and talking with them personally,” French said. “Yet even here, where I supported the faculty in its concerns, I am still painted as anti-faculty.”

French declined to comment on the legal issues surrounding the district foundation because the matter is pending in court.

“But I will say that so many positive things are happening now that we need the experience of someone who has paid his dues, and it is certainly not time for a complete novice to move in.”