Mercer to Head Junior College Board

A San Fernando Valley resident has been elected president of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees.

Georgia Mercer of Tarzana will replace Kelly Candaele, who was president for one year. The board’s vote was unanimous.

Mercer was appointed to the body two years ago to fill the unexpired term of the late Kenneth Washington and then ran successfully in 1999 for a permanent seat on the seven-member board.

Sylvia Scott-Hayes, who was elected to the board at the same time as Mercer, will be vice president. Scott-Hayes, an administrator at Cal State Los Angeles, is the only Latino board member.

Mercer’s selection from about 30 applicants in 1998 raised the ire of several African American community activists and district Trustee Althea Baker, who wanted a black board member to replace Washington. The late board member was a black South-Central Los Angeles resident.

Mercer, a former teacher, was an activist on education, health and juvenile justice issues. She was also Mayor Richard Riordan’s representative to the West Valley at the beginning of his first term. She ran unsuccessfully for the Los Angeles City Council in 1997, losing to Cindy Miscikowski in a runoff.

Mercer said Wednesday that she will take leadership of the board at a time when the district is in the “best financial situation it has been in, possibly, since its inception.”

Mercer said she will continue the board’s initiative to upgrade and rehabilitate campuses.

“That is one of our greatest goals, because we’re not able to compete with some of the newer districts,” she said.

She also said the district would try to create more private sector partnerships and increase the colleges’ rate of transferring students to four-year institutions.

“I’m following in some very good shoes,” she said, “but I’ll probably show a greater emphasis on our child care capabilities, both as trainers of child care professionals, and as providers of child care. Often that’s a barrier for women, who can’t find quality and accessible child care.”

One of the world’s largest community college systems, the nine-campus Los Angeles district serves about 104,000 students.