Teacher to Run for College Board Seat

Tom Stafford, a substitute teacher in the Oxnard Elementary School District who last week withdrew his bid for a seat on the county school board, has filed for a seat on the Ventura County Community College District board of trustees.

He changed his mind to avoid a possible conflict of interest, Stafford said.

“If I’m working as a substitute in the district and was on the board that covers that district, it would be a conflict of interest,” the 62-year-old Oak View resident said.

Stafford did not know about the possible conflict before he filed the papers for the county school board because “I didn’t check closely enough,” he said.

Stafford is running for the District 3 seat that includes Casitas Springs, Ojai, Fillmore and part of Camarillo.

The UCLA graduate has been a candidate in state Assembly and county supervisorial races and considers each of the previous failed campaigns a success.

“In my opinion I’ve won every race,” Stafford said. “Just being in there and being in the forums and getting the story of the Green Party out, that’s a success.”

Greens, Stafford said, believe government should be only as big “as necessary and only at the level that’s necessary.”

“We’re not against big government, necessarily,” Stafford said.

Stafford said the “double blessing” of the GI bill and his being able to attend L.A. City College enabled him to go on to the UC system and earn a degree.

“I still believe that a free public education should be the cornerstone of our society,” Stafford said.