See It: LBCC Trustee Candidates Spar Over Board Actions That Ended Some Vocational Certificate Programs (Classes Remain) And Enacted "Two-Tier" Prices For Some Intersession Classes; LB/Lakewood Voters Will Decide <nobr>April 8</nobr>

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(Mar 24, 10:25 a.m.) -- LBREREPORT.com links below to on-demand video of a Mar. 17 candidate forum, organized by the LBCC Community Engagement Club, in which candidates for LBCC's governing Board of Trustees clashed on policy disputes that grew from opposition public testimony at Board meetings into concerted political action...on which voters will have the last word on April 8.

Left to right: Blesofsky, Ursua, Slaughter, Kellogg, Zia, Baxter

The LBCC races may also have fallout in simultaneous Long Beach City Hall races, since LBCC's current policies are the result of voted Board actions that included incumbent Trustee Doug Otto (now running for Mayor) and incumbent Trustee Roberto Uranga (now running for 7th dist. City Council.)

Incumbent Trustee (and retired LB Councilman) Jeff Kellogg, who weathered the LBCC controversies amid several years of budget challenges, is seeking reelection. Two other incumbent Trustees (Dr. Thomas Clark and Mark Bowen) chose not to seek reelection, creating two open seats.

A number of LBCC faculty members, plus students and others who voiced opposition to LBCC Board actions, organized a political action committee which has fielded a slate of candidates: Blesofsky, Slaughter and Zia.

Dr. Marshall Blesofsky is challenging incumbent Trustee Jeff Kellogg (Los Cerritos/Cal Hts/Bixby Knolls, NLB)
Gregory Slaughter (retired LBCC professor/retired police lieutenant) faces Dr. Virginia "Ginny" Baxter (taught US History at LBCC, now oversees LBCC Foundation/Alumni Office) (ELB)
Sunny Zia (Port of LB contract compliance manager) is on the ballot versus Stella Ursua (Pres. Green Education, Inc.) (South Central/WLB)

Over the past roughly two years, controversy has flared over the Board's budget-driven elimination of eleven vocational programs that previously offered program certificates...although classes in those areas still remain at LBCC.

Another flash point has been the Board's decision to implement AB 955, Sacramento legislation that enabled (but didn't require) a handful of community colleges (including LBCC) to charge higher prices for some intersession classes ($265/unit for nonresident students, $225/unit for resident students, compared to regular costs of state-subsidized $46/unit.) The Board's action made LBCC the first and to date only CA community college to implement this.

LBCC's administration, the Board majority and supporters say it gives students the option of accessing classes that otherwise wouldn't be feasible for LBCC to offer; critics say it created a system in which poorer students may not be able to access programs they want. Critics have also cited what they call overly generous salaries and perks for some high level LBCC administrators.

As visible in the video below, candidates Blesofsky, Slaughter, Zia and Ursua variously criticized -- and indicated that if elected they'll change -- LBCC board actions voted by Kellogg and supported by Baxter.