SANTA ANA : College Board Has Same Faces, Problems

There won’t be any new faces on the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees when it convenes Dec. 12.

By retaining the three incumbents who ran in the Nov. 8 election, voters apparently affirmed their confidence in the current board to improve education in the face of dwindling funds from the state.

Voters reelected Charles W. (Pete) Maddox, Lawrence R. Labrado and Shirley Ralston to the seven-member board by wide margins.

Maddox won in Trustee Area 2, beating his sole challenger by a 2-to-1 ratio. Labrado and Ralston defeated three challengers for Trustee Area 3’s two seats.

Maddox said the board will continue to seek ways to lower the cost of education to students.

Pointing to years of declining funding from the state, he added that the district must strive to “do far more with less.”

“We have to educate them with high-tech equipment and prepare them for the future,” he said. “We can no longer educate people just for the present because the technology is changing.”

Labrado downplayed the effects of continuing budget constraints, saying the district is in strong financial shape and that “we can’t let these little obstacles stop us in the process of educating students.”

He added, “We’ll just try to keep working the best we can with the means that we have.”

Ralston called for greater unity and tolerance on the board, which has experienced rancorous division over ethics and budgetary matters, adding that “now is the time to come together.”

She said she would encourage community groups to better acquaint and involve themselves in the district’s budget and planning process.

The most important aspect, she said, is to show students that “there is a way out of a difficult life and that is education.”