4 Seeking Seat on Community Colleges Board

It is a three-campus community college district that only now is emerging from a years-long budget crisis and enrollment slide.

One incumbent trustee is running unopposed. Another is calling it quits.

But four would-be trustees are crowding the ballot Tuesday to take the place of Timothy D. Hirschberg, a one-term member of the Ventura County Community College District governing board. The Area 3 seat held by Hirschberg represents Camarillo, Santa Paula, Piru, Fillmore and the Ojai Valley.

Five trustees are responsible for setting district policy and overseeing a $73.8-million general fund. The three campuses serve about 28,000 students, up more than 12% from a year ago.

The field includes a police commander, private university administrator, Simi Valley adult education teacher and a substitute teacher who has lost bids for the County Board of Supervisors and state Assembly.

Santa Paula Police Cmdr. Bob Gonzales faces private school administrator James E. Niles, adult education teacher Lois Harrion and substitute elementary school teacher T.G. “Tom” Stafford for a seat on the five-member board.

Longtime Trustee Allan W. Jacobs, who represents the Simi Valley area on the board, is unchallenged.

Administrators at Ventura, Oxnard and Moorpark colleges face a variety of issues, including funding shortages, unfilled positions, antiquated computers, employee contract squabbles, expanding services, improving the transfer rate and processing a backlog of financial-aid applications.

To some candidates, dramatic policy shifts are needed to push the district further toward its goal of expanding vocational education programs and getting more students enrolled at the University of California and Cal State campuses.

Others want to lower student fees and make access to higher education much easier.

Niles, president of the Mesa Union School District board, said he wants to strengthen the services available to community college students.

“Community colleges offer equal access to a four-year degree in your own backyard,” said Niles, who works for the University of Phoenix. “But because students get very little pre-enrollment counseling and support, the dropout rate from beginning to end is close to 40%. That is unacceptable. We need to cut the dropout rate in half.”

Niles questioned the wisdom of spending $340,000 for an overseas recruitment effort when Oxnard College is short several academic counselors. Trustees approved the overseas recruiting program in an effort to attract foreign students, who are charged more than $120 per unit or roughly 10 times what California residents pay.

He also said the number of core classes that are transferable to universities should be expanded, and the colleges should offer day care to students with children.

“When class schedules are put together, the needs of single parents and working mothers need to be considered very carefully,” he said. “Community colleges are the entry point to higher education and hopefully a better life for a lot of people.”

Gonzales, a Santa Paula native and boyhood chum of Ventura College President Larry Calderon, does not offer much criticism of the existing college district administration.

But he said his experience as a police commander and president of the Santa Paula Union High School District would help the community colleges expand and thrive.

“If we can do that, our students will go straight from our classes into a four-year college,” he said.

Gonzales said he would support a new student center at Oxnard College but declined to take a position on the recent controversy over the hiring of a new president for that campus.

Earlier this year, trustees rejected the finalists selected by committee--including former interim President Ruth Hemming--and launched a new search. Hemming was then replaced as acting president by Judith Valles, a former colleague of Chancellor Philip Westin during their days at Golden West College in Orange County.

“I can’t comment on that because I don’t know what happened,” Gonzales said. But “we can’t settle for someone who happens to apply. We have to find the best person for the job.”

Hemming, who has returned to her administrative post at Ventura College, is backing Harrion, a nursing teacher from Camarillo who has a daughter enrolled in the district. Hemming personally lent $10,000 to the Harrion campaign, according to county election papers filed last week.

In all, Harrion has raised more than $17,000 for her campaign--far more than any other candidate.

The closest in fund-raising is Gonzales, who raised $1,869 by Sept. 30. But Gonzales failed to file additional paperwork that was due last Thursday, elections officials said, so that total may be much higher.

Gonzales, who reported receiving $100 each in campaign contributions from Trustee John D. Tallman and former Chancellor Al Fernandez prior to Sept. 30, did not return telephone calls Monday.

Fernandez was the district’s chancellor between 1982 and 1988. Now he is a private consultant hired by the district to coordinate the renewed search for an Oxnard College president, which officials hope to complete by year’s end.

Both Stafford and Niles filed papers indicating that they would spend less than $1,000 on their campaigns.

Harrion said that if she is elected, she would bring problem-solving skills and a host of other attributes to the board of trustees.

“The sensitivity I have as a teacher is important,” she said. “I have sound knowledge of management, a sense of humor, human skills and a respect for individuality.”

Harrion has spent almost $10,000 of her campaign war chest, including $5,500 in campaign mailers. She has more than $7,000 left to spend before election day.

Stafford, a white-bearded substitute teacher who lives in Oak View, portrayed himself as the product of a poor family who has mastered the ability to work well with others. He ran unsuccessfully in 1994 for the 35th Assembly District won by Brooks Firestone (R-Los Olivos). Two years earlier, Stafford lost to Susan K. Lacey in a run for county supervisor.

He said his priorities would be to make higher education more easily available to residents by working to lower costs and improve financial aid. He also criticized the board’s decision to oust Hemming from Oxnard College.

“There seems to be a lack of communication between the board, the staff and other interested parties within the community college district,” Stafford said.

“I have made one campaign promise: I would make myself available for listening to problems,” he said.

“I’d probably do something like [state Sen.] Jack O’Connell does--sit out there for a couple of hours every few weeks with a card table talking with anyone who shows up.”

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The Candidates

Four candidates are contesting the open trustee seat Nov. 5 for Area No. 3, which represents Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ojai and Piru on the five-member governing body for the Ventura County Community District. Incumbent Timothy D. Hirschberg is not seeking reelection. With student enrollment rebounding and the district more financially stable, the major issue is planning for continued growth in terms of course offerings and location of additional satellite centers.

Bob Gonzales

Age: 45

Occupation: Santa Paula police commander

Education: Associate degree from Ventura College, bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of LaVerne

Background: Gonzales said he is running because his education at Ventura College was the turning point of his life and allowed him to transfer to a four-year college. He is president of the Santa Paula Union High School District and a former trustee with the Santa Paula Elementary School District.

Issues: Gonzales wants to increase student enrollment, thereby increasing funding for the college district. He supports improving class offerings at campuses in Camarillo and Santa Paula, while starting classes in Ojai, Fillmore and Leisure Village. He also wants to reduce reliance on federal and state funds by attracting out-of-state students.

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Lois Harrion

Age: 53

Occupation: Nursing teacher at Simi Valley Adult School

Education: Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from University of Redlands, master’s degree in management from the University of LaVerne

Background: Harrion, who has a daughter enrolled at Moorpark College and has served on the advisory board for the college’s Nursing Department, has been a teacher in the Simi Valley Unified School District since 1983. She serves on the advisory board for the central county unit of the American Cancer Society and is a member of the Ventura County Commission for Women.

Issues: Harrion supports the expansion of educational programs and believes the district must take greater advantage of satellite sites. She plans to bring the perspective of a classroom teacher to the board, and develop community partnerships with business.

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James E. Niles

Age: 45

Occupation: University of Phoenix administrator

Education: Attended Ventura College, bachelor’s degree in history from Cal Lutheran University

Background: President of the Mesa Union School Board in Somis, Niles is a former community college instructor and administrator. Last year, he served on a task force studying reorganization of the community college district. He is a member of Assemblyman Nao Takasugi’s Education Task Force.

Issues: Niles believes the colleges in the district need to measure success on the quality rather than quantity of offerings. He believes the district does not do enough to place students in vocational programs or to send them on to four-year institutions. He plans to combat what he describes as a growing perception that the district is becoming less candid in its public discussions.

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T. G. “Tom” Stafford

Age: 63

Occupation: Substitute elementary schoolteacher

Education: Associate degree from Los Angeles City College, bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA

Background: The politically active Oak View resident is a founder of the Green Party of California and a member of the party’s county council. Stafford ran for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in 1992 and the 35th Assembly District in 1994.

Issues: Stafford is critical of the state’s community colleges, saying they are on a par with the educational system in some less developed nations. He contends that the cost of attending community college creates a barrier to some people seeking an education and believes tuition should be decreased. He maintains the job of the district board is to provide an education for anyone who wants one.