TUESDAY ELECTION PREVIEW : COMMUNITY COLLEGES : Campaigners Stress Posts’ Importance

In many parts of Los Angeles County, the only contests Tuesday are runoff elections for two seats on the Los Angeles Community College District board. As a result, concerned that a voter turnout of under 10% is likely, the four candidates stress the powerful influence that college trustees have on the district’s nine campuses and 105,000 students.

None of the four is an incumbent, but Rose Ochi and Althea Baker have enormous financial and staff support from the American Federation of Teachers College Guild local and much of the Democratic Party establishment. As in the April primary, their opponents--Pat Owens and Patricia Hollingsworth--are attempting to depict themselves as underdogs who can better serve the “little guy on campus.”

Whatever the outcome, the election will not create any new majority alliance on the seven-member board. Yet that has not stopped the four from spending a total of more than $260,000 for relatively obscure positions that pay $24,000 a year but have sometimes led to higher office.

Ochi, an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley in charge of criminal justice planning, faces Owens, an auto shop teacher and student-recruiter at Trade-Tech College, in the race for Office No. 2. Baker, a union negotiator and Mission College counselor, is running for Office No. 6 against Hollingsworth, a language arts professor at Trade-Tech who was in a 1987 runoff.

Helped Select Chancellor

Ochi is an attorney and former high school teacher who served last year on a committee which helped select Donald Phelps as the district chancellor. She says that her government contacts, City Hall experience and many civic and charitable activities will help her fight to improve state funding for community colleges.

The district, she says, needs to become more of a “doorway” to help the disadvantaged transfer to four-year universities or learn trades. Ochi says she wonders why community colleges, which charge $50 a semester, do not compete better with private vocational schools that have high tuitions. “We have to rethink our programs if they are not addressing the needs of the marketplace and student interest and demand,” said Ochi, 50, who is an alumna of Los Angeles City College.

Owens, 54, has taught in the district 19 years and disputes assertions by district leaders that the colleges are recovering from a downward spiral. “I contend they are still getting worse,” he said, claiming that vocational programs and career counseling need much improvement.

Owens, 54, has Republican Party connections and alleges that Ochi is part of a Democratic machine that seeks total control over the colleges. Ochi denies that, saying she has won support because “the colleges need leadership, not just anger.”

Raised $87,007 Fund

By late May, Ochi raised $87,007 for the primary and runoff, with many donations from organized labor, according to financial statements required by state law. In addition, she benefited from $36,500 in slate mailers purchased separately by the college teachers’ union. Owens raised $11,393 and there are no records of how much help he gained from Republican slate mailers.

In the other race, Baker and Hollingsworth both emphasize the need to improve student recruitment, counseling, tutoring and financial aid. Baker suggests more lobbying for funds in Sacramento in conjunction with other nearby districts and improved publicity about college offerings. Hollingsworth wants special effort to reopen campus libraries on weekends.

According to Hollingsworth, Baker’s role in negotiating last year’s contract for the AFT College Guild would pose a conflict of interest if Baker wins. “I’m the independent candidate,” Hollingsworth said.

Baker, however, dismisses such criticism, pointing to her endorsement by all incumbent college board trustees and some Republican groups as evidence that no one should fear her union involvement. “I think it is an advantage that I am so knowledgeable about the contract . . . I will not have to catch up or be trained,” said Baker, 39, who also works part time as an attorney. According to Baker, Hollingsworth has shown little leadership among faculty.

Doctorate on Financing

Hollingsworth, 42, came close to beating Wallace Knox in a 1987 college board runoff. She points to the fact that her doctoral dissertation at Pepperdine University was about community college financing.

According to state reports, Baker raised $70,057, including much union money, this year through the end of May. In addition, the teachers’ guild spent $38,500 for mailings on her behalf. Hollingsworth, who garnered $18,025, claims union mailings for Baker took advantage of what Hollingsworth alleges is a loophole in campaign reform laws. However, Baker stresses such aid is legal and that Hollingsworth sought but did not receive the union endorsement.

Candidates run for seats representing the entire district, which includes the City of Los Angeles and such adjacent areas as Burbank, Beverly Hills, Culver City and parts of the San Gabriel Valley and southern Los Angeles County. The contested seats are now held by Wallace Albertson and Arthur Bronson, who are retiring from the board.