Updated: Friday, October 24, 2008 11:57 PM PDT
Voters face a delicious dilemma in the varied contests for Delta College trustee.
It's delicious in that each of the four districts holding elections is strongly contested. That's rare for the Delta board, where incumbents have often become rooted and unchallenged for years.
This surge of competition is a good and timely thing indeed; Delta is in sore need of new leadership. A $250 million bond measure has been grossly mishandled; the phrase most frequently used to describe the board now is "dysfunctional" — and the college leadership has been blistered by everyone from the faculty to the county Grand Jury to acceditation officials.
This is the dilemma, though: How are voters supposed to discern who among the baker's dozen of candidates should join the board at this pivotal time in the college's history?
Voters throughout the district vote on all districts. So voters in Lodi will be allowed to vote on the districts representing South Stockton and Tracy.
The candidates are a far-flung lot, from Calaveras County to Tracy to Stockton. Some have attended candidate forums, some have not. Some filed candidate's statements, others not.
Let us be frank here. Figuring out who to endorse in this sprawling campaign was a test for us.
But we did interview each candidate in person or by telephone, and also interviewed, on background, numerous faculty and staff members and other members of the Delta community.
Here is our take:
District 5, a sweeping geographic zone that extends from Rio Vista, skirts north and east of Lodi to Calaveras County and down to Linden.
Incumbent Dan Parises has decided to step down after 33 years, and two challengers have stepped forward: Al Lennox and Steve Castellanos.
We like the fact that Lennox, the CEO of an ambulance firm, knows business. He has experience balancing the budget at the Valley Mountain Regional Center for the developmentally disabled, where he has served as a board treasurer.
He's also a leader, holding national positions for the American Legion and as president of the Amador County Chamber of Commerce.
We are also impressed by Castellanos, a Valley Springs architect who has closely — and critically — followed the board's activities in recent months. Castellanos strikes us as reasoned and experienced. As a former state architect, he knows plan review and has a savvy sense of construction budgeting.
He'd be a unique asset in squeezing every last penny from Measure L.
He believes Measure L has been badly piece-mealed and that trustees should call a time-out, develop a needs assessment and master plan, and only then proceed with locking down plans.
Questions have been raised about whether Lennox in fact lives in District 5 and is even eligible to run. He says he has homes in both Amador County, outside the district, and in Calaveras County, inside the district.
We don't pretend to know the truth of the matter, but on balance, we are tilting toward Castellanos, whose interest in serving on the board seems both very genuine and, relatively speaking, long-standing.
Area 2, central Stockton.
There are two strong candidates here: Mary Ann Cox and David Rishwain.
We appreciate the others. Thomas LaBounty is an accountant with a thoughtful take on the issues. Gregory Benigno is a retailer and a real estate broker with land use experience. Motecuzoma Patrick Sanchez is a Marine veteran and a recent Delta graduate. All have a good command of the issues.
Cox and Rishwain have additional experience and valuable insight on moving Delta ahead.
Cox has promised to re-examine the Mountain House campus proposal. She hopes to undo that decision and use the savings to go forward with a Lodi campus. Rishwain is less inclined to slow progress for another examination of the Mountain House commitment, but promised to keep an open mind if the idea gets pushed by others.
The Grand Jury has criticized Delta for violating open meeting laws, and Rishwain is committed to ending. We don't doubt Cox's shares the same goal, but Rishwain's legal background will be very helpful on this.
Cox has expressed suspicion of Rishwain's membership in a prominent Stockton family and his connections to real estate developers. This isn't a city council or planning commission seat, and we don't see a conflict.
In fact, Rishwain's real estate law practice might equip him to be a leader as the college begins an aggressive building program. The Grand Jury has urged Delta to stay away from tricky public-private partnerships, but that would mean giving up the chance to leverage precious tax dollars. Rishwain's knowledge will be helpful.
Cox, a retired Delta administrator, brings a hands-on knowledge of Delta's inner workings such as finances, labor relations and college personnel practices.
Which brings us to what may be the most important job of a new Delta board — evaluating and directing the top administrators.
As with anyone who rises from inside an organization to a position of authority, there is a danger that Mary Ann Cox may play favorites. We believe and expect she is above that. Her experience in evaluating staff comes through when she says the board needs to set clear expectations for President Raul Rodriguez and hold him accountable. Rishwain has his own experience with nonprofit boards, the Stockton Redevelopment Commission and his business.
But Cox convinced us she is ready to make a big contribution to either rearranging the Delta leadership or pushing it forward.
It's a tough call, but we favor Mary Ann Cox.
District 1, South Stockton.
The candidates are Jennet Stebbins, a businesswoman; Anthony Bugarin, the 16-year incumbent; and James Grunsky, a trucking company owner.
Stebbins knows Delta quite well as both a former student and the mother of Delta graduates. She is earnest and personable, but we believe this contest boils down to either Bugarin or Grunsky.
Bugarin, a fifth-grade teacher, is serious-minded about his trustee duties. By all accounts, he has served the college well. But it is on his watch that things began to unravel. He is candid about that, saying the public has the right to be angry at the Delta board.
We do not believe Bugarin has been at the core of Delta's malaise, but we aren't convinced he is a vital part of the solution, either.
The best hope, we believe, is Grunsky, the young, energetic trucking company owner. He's a former student at Delta who has an entrepreneurial spirit; at 26, he's among the youngest licensed mixed martial arts promoters in California.
Grunsky is a political newcomer. Granted, he's a bit of an unknown quantity. Could he lack the maturity to be an ideal trustee? Perhaps.
But we believe he is smart, sincere, and will bring fresh energy to a board that badly needs it.
District 6, Tracy.
Another toughie. Incumbent Greg McCreary faces challengers Teresa Brown and Carolyn Gamino.
Gamino is running because she believes the college needs new direction. She is a hair stylist and church school custodian.
Brown is a former TV journalist who returned to college to earn both master's and doctoral degrees. She now serves as a program developer at Stanislaus State University. Brown is an articulate and polished communicator. She has a deep knowledge of Internet education and building college curriculum that's cost-effective. She is on the board of the Stockton ARC, which serves the needs of disabled people.
She isn't steeped in financial experience, but appears to be a quick learner. She'd like to untangle the Mountain House project and see if more money can be spared for projects like the proposed (but now-drastically underfunded) satellite campus in Lodi.
McCreary has served 12 years on the board. He's plain-spoken and has business experience as the owner of an insurance agency.
To his credit, McCreary opposed Mountain House and pushed for a site in Tracy proper, a site that now seems more and more appealing.
If McCreary did not face a challenger of some stature, we'd be comfortable endorsing him.
But Brown, we believe, is a strong candidate who can be a strong trustee.
So, with all due respect to the incumbents, we are suggesting that voters bring in fresh blood.
We are also suggesting that, in the future, it may be better for trustees to serve a maximum of say, eight years, instead of the protracted terms that have been typical to date.
Longevity has its merit; so does a fresh perspective.
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