Five will offer challenge to Delta trustee incumbents

By Natalie Flynn
Special to the News-Sentinel
Updated: Friday, August 1, 2008 6:15 AM PDT

Incumbents on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees will face a field of challengers this election.

That stands in stark contrast to elections in 2000 and 2004 when they ran unopposed and in 2006 when only two challengers came forward.

This year, five people have filed paperwork with the San Joaquin County registrar of voters.

Challengers are seizing on a report by the San Joaquin County Grand Jury that criticized the board for misspending the $250 million Measure L bond passed in 2004. Many have also questioned decisions by the trustees because of delays and cost overruns associated with the bond projects.

Jennet Stebbins, of Stockton, will run against incumbent Anthony Bugarin in Trustee Area One.

Mary Ann Cox, a former Delta instructor, Thomas LaBounty, of Stockton, and Motecuzoma Patrick Sanchez, a former Delta student, are running against incumbent Leo Burke of Area Two. Burke has not decided whether or not he will run.

Steve Castellanos is currently running unopposed for Area Five, since Dan Parises announced he was not seeking re-election.

Greg McCreary, next year's board president, is currently running unopposed.

Stebbins, who served on the Stockton Unified School Board in the 1990s said she has wanted to run for the Delta board for some time. "I announced before the grand jury mess came out ... I was looking for something to get back into," Stebbins said, adding she has run for many offices, looking to make change wherever possible.

One of her primary concerns for the college is the nursing program. Stebbins hopes to expand the classes.

"You are looking at a major campus. People should be drawn to it," Stebbins said. "It's just like having a world-class library in Stockton."

LaBounty, owner and head accountant of Constar Supply, is running for Area Two against incumbent Leo Burke.

His sister-in-law is an instructor at Delta and recommended he file to run for the board about three weeks ago.

He said he has plans to set the college's finances straight.

"(My goal) is on the monetary side; looking at what they've done with a quarter of a billion dollars, they have very little to show of it after four years," LaBounty said.

Sanchez, a former Delta student, hopes his connection to the college will allow him to better serve the community.

"I'd like to add integrity," Sanchez said. "The board needs a connection to the community they serve. The current members have been together for so long, they've lost sight of the people they serve."

The final candidate for Area Two, Cox, is a former teacher and businesswoman. Cox was unavailable for comment.

Castellanos, a Stockton native and former California state architect, is currently running unopposed, and hopes to refocus the board on educational issues.

"For this district ... there is a tremendous need for a greater focus on education, economic development, changing communities," Castellanos said. "Delta plays a critical role in all of that."

Castellanos was the one candidate who has been contacted by a newly formed political action committee of Delta instructors looking to put new faces on the board.

"We're hoping, at a minimum, to replace two or three people in this election," said Sam Hatch, a Delta English teacher and one of six committee members.

However, Delta history teacher Lynn Hawley said the group does not necessarily refuse to back an incumbent. They just want things changed up a little.

The group, through affiliations with the teachers' union, hopes to have at least $20,000 to pay for promotional materials to encourage people to file before the Aug. 8 deadline.

The Tracy Press contributed to this report.

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