GLENDALE : Ex-Chamber Head to Join College Board

Just three months before Glendale’s municipal elections, Mary Hamilton has ascended from a candidate for the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees to a member-elect.

Last week--one week after she took out nomination papers to place her name on the election ballot--Hamilton was chosen by the college board to replace 13-year incumbent Ted Tiffany, who is retiring and will leave the board in February.

Hamilton will be sworn in shortly after Tiffany steps down and will serve the remaining two years of his term, officials said.

Hamilton, 53, a former Glendale Chamber of Commerce president and co-owner of Hamilton and Bache, an investment counseling firm, said her priority will be to protect the college’s general-education curriculum from the effects of continued cuts in state funding.

“The main thing is going to be the budget, and how we can intelligently pull back on programs and faculty without doing the college a great deal of harm,” Hamilton said.

She added that in times of public funding difficulties, “I think it’s time that financial people take their place in politics. I think we can add a new dimension.”

The board voted unanimously to appoint Hamilton, but it also considered the two other candidates that have taken out nomination papers for the April election: Martin Pilgreen, a longtime principal in the Glendale Unified School District, and Victor King, a local attorney.

In the election, the board seats currently held by board President Robert Holmes and Rae Berry will be contested. Holmes has announced he will seek reelection, while Berry, who has served three four-year terms, has said that she will step down.

Board member Philip Kazanjian said trustees originally intended to hold a special election to replace Tiffany, but decided against it when they were told by city officials that it would cost taxpayers about $100,000.

“We felt (appointing Hamilton) would be a cost savings to the public, and it also makes sense. She has a financial background, she has business leadership, and she has been involved with a number of support groups to the college, so she knows what the college’s issues are,” Kazanjian said.