Leon and Rabinov are in a tight race for Glendale Community College board of trustees
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With mail-in ballots and voting-center votes counted by Wednesday evening, Harry Leon was leading Desireé Portillo Rabinov in a close race for Glendale Community College’s District 1 seat.
As of Wednesday evening, Leon had 3,487 votes, compared to Rabinov’s 3,340.
Unopposed candidate Sevan Benlian coasted in District 5. Benlian received 3,170 votes as of Wednesday evening..
Leon, president of the Crescenta Valley Town Council, said that if elected to the District 1 seat he would like to enhance the college’s vocational programs and help lower textbook costs..
Leon said he believes his 10 years on the the town council can help the college build its relationships with businesses and public agencies.
“It’s about bringing the community together,” he said. “They say you cannot bring two mountains together, but you can bring two people together.”
Rabinov, who serves as Crescenta Valley Town Council’s treasurer, said she wants to strengthen transfer rates.. Rabinov is a senior transportation planning manager for Metro and hopes to develop public-private partnerships.
“We can try and ensure that businesses come to the campus and help students get internships or help them transfer into job-readiness programs,” Rabinov said.
Benlian, an architect and former chairman of the Glendale Design Review Board, said he would like to address student homelessness, getting the Garfield campus to the same level as the main campus and finding the funding to recruit professors and develop educational programs.
“I went to Glendale Community College when I didn’t have much, but from there I was able to transfer to a university,” Benlian said.
“I now hold a master’s degree in architecture and development [from Woodbury University] and a master’s degree in construction engineering from USC, and I’m pursuing my doctorate at USC in policy and planning, and I credit all of that back to GCC. And it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am,” he added.
Benlian would like to ensure that current and future students have the support to transfer to their university of choosing, adding that it is equally important to strengthen vocational-training programs.
“In today’s world, we lack some of those programs,” he said. “Some people focus too much on degree programs or on business careers and those vocational programs become neglected.”
