Delta trustee race suddenly crowded

Written by Jennifer Wadsworth
Thursday, 07 August 2008


The day before a filing deadline, three people have turned in papers to run for Greg McCreary's Tracy-area seat on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees.

Three candidates have filed to run against longtime San Joaquin Delta College governing board trustee Greg McCreary for the Tracy seat — one of four spots slated for the general election ballot.

Tracy physician James Halderman, elementary school food service worker Carolyn Gamino and university administrator Teresa Brown filed just days before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.

McCreary registered for re-election in mid-July for what could be his fourth term and his turn as board president.

This year marks the first time the 70-year-old retired teacher’s spot on the board has met with some competition.

McCreary, who was unavailable for comment, has said that he welcomes challengers and the public’s renewed interest in Delta governance.

Gamino today said it made her upset to learn that with a few days left to file, no one had declared intent to run against McCreary.

The lifelong Southside Tracy resident told her husband Larry Gamino — a Tracy City Council candidate — that she was going to Stockton that afternoon to register.

Trustees, she said, “are not being held accountable. Somebody needed to run against these people to get them to answer questions about their mismanagement.”

Like Gamino, Tracy anesthesiologist Halderman read that still no one had stepped up to compete against the incumbent.

Brown, who works at the California State University, Stanislaus, Stockton extension, registered on Wednesday.

Trustees create and enact school policies and hire the college president, among other responsibilities. Elected members get a $400 monthly stipend and qualify for district-paid health benefits.

Criticism by state and academic agencies of board mismanagement has sparked more interest this election than in past years.

Teachers formed a political action committee at the college to rally more people to run against the rarely challenged incumbents. The aim, members said, is not necessarily to support opponents, but to keep sitting trustees accountable.

Typically, because no one or very few run against Delta trustees, the incumbents are re-appointed in lieu of an election.

This year, for the first time in many years, that will apparently change.

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